Tea Party movement

The Tea Party movement consists of conservative political organizations in the United States of America that campaign on a variety of issues and endorse candidates for public office. It began in 2009 via a series of protests against new laws to reform health care and the U.S. economy.

The term "movement" is used because there are many autonomous groups that identify with the "Tea Party". There is no single national Tea Party organization; there are contending organizations, but also a certain sentiment that the group is inherently decentralized. It is not, at this time, a political party. According to one national-level activist, Eric Odom, the administrator of the Tax Day Tea Party Web site, their goal “is just to facilitate an environment where a new movement would be born.”

The Tea Party movement came into national view as part of an estimated 750 city-level anti-tax protests on the U.S. tax day of 15 April 2009. It was named for the Boston Tea Party in the American Revolution and there indeed were several hundred protesters in Boston. There were small local demonstrations in February, although it is unclear if they used the name "Tea Party" at the time or have subsequently inherited the title from leaders who are now active in the named movement. Many participants say it is a genuine bottom-up movement, whose members learned from the community organizing of groups on the left, especially citing Web-inspired groups such as MoveOn.org. Subsequently, it held national protests on 4 July 2009 and 12 September 2009, and its supporters have been visible at both local and national events.

Some of the national-level groups that have supported local Tea Parties have received large funding from major conservative contributors. For example, Freedomworks and its predecessors received in excess of $10 million in funding from groups associated with the owners of Koch Industries. The funding is sometimes even more obscure: The Tea Party Patriots received a $1 million donation from an anonymous source. The donation was reported in the news media in September 2010. The donation would be divided up among other Tea Party groups by Oct. 4, 2010, at the donors request.

It has been characterized, however, by opposition and anger more than specific recommendations, by endorsement of candidates rather than policy papers. Nevertheless, its recurring themes are, most strongly, reducing the power of the Federal government and encouraging fiscal conservatism. It contains libertarians, paleopaleoconservatives and social conservatives, with inherent conflicts among them.

Formation

As mentioned, its first major protest was on 15 July 2009, but the movement considers that "Round 2". Several events took place in February 2009. There is no single originator of the Tea Party movement, but several people had roles in the beginning.

There is no love lost among some of the factions.

February 2009

Several key events took place in this month, and the timeline is worth examining in detail.

16 February

Seattle resident Keli Carender, tired of politics as usual, and decided to call a few conservative friends to set up a rally on 16 February 2009. The rally was attended by 120 people; she held one on the 23rd that had 300.

19 February

Rick Santelli is also credited with creation of the Tea Party movement, but it appears that Carender and Santelli were working simultaneously. On 19 February, Santelli, a CNBC cable-news reporter, offered to form a Chicago based Tea Party. Within hours the OfficialChicagoTeaParty.com web site was brought online. Within weeks Tea Party protests throughout New England took hold leading to the growth of the Tea Party.

27 February

Another rally took place on 27 February, resulting from a conference call on 20 February, moderated by Michael Patrick Leahy.

After February

Later rallies spread throughout the United States making Carender a celebrity. Her activism started when she was unable to influence legislators about the stimulus bill.

“I basically thought to myself: ‘I have two courses. I can give up, go home, crawl into bed and be really depressed and let it happen,’ ” she said this month while driving home from a protest at the State Capitol in Olympia. “Or I can do something different, and I can find a new avenue to have my voice get out.”

After Caleder's rallies, she worked with Michelle Malkin. She received training from the national conservative organization, Freedomworks, which has vied for leadership of the movement. Later rallies spread throughout the United States making Carender a celebrity.

National organizing

Three preexisting conservative groups have been involved in organizing, Freedomworks, the conservative action group established in 2004 and chaired by Dick Armey; dontGO, a tech savvy free-market action group that dating to August 2008, and Americans for Prosperity, an issue advocacy/activist group, established in 2004. All three insist they are assisting a genuine grass-roots movement. DontGO did create the original website, taxdayteaparty.com website, now inactive but promising a return as 1773 Media. There is a Tea Party National Advisory Team, associated with a subsequent protest on 4 July 2009, the U.S. national independence day.

Some have compared the Tea Party movement and their political allies to Richard Hofstadter's conception of "the paranoid style", which Hofstadter argued surfaces with some regularity in U.S. politics. A number of the signs at the Tea Party rallies have compared President Obama with Hitler or with Communism.

Tea Party Patriots

The Tea Party Patriots political and social action group is an outgrowth of Carrender's first political efforts. The Tea Party Patriots web site claims to be the national organization for the Tea Party movement, and the organization does emphasize its grassroots character.

Tea Party Patriots, Inc. ("TPP") is a non-partisan, non-profit social welfare organization dedicated to furthering the common good and general welfare of the people of the United States. TPP furthers this goal by educating the public and promoting the principles of fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government and free markets. Tea Party Patriots has not endorsed candidates for public office."

Chicago Tea Party

The Chicago Tea Party web site claims to welcome both liberals and conservatives to join the Tea Party movement. "Tea Party Patriots Chicago is made up of individuals who believe in liberty, constitutional principles and fiscal responsibility. We are a non-partisan, grassroots group of people committed to freedom and united by the core values and principles found in theDeclaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and theBill of Rights. Tea Party Patriots Chicago welcomes all conservatives, libertarians, centrists, Republicans, Democrats and Independents who stand for freedom and individual rights."

Tea Party Express

The Tea Party Express offers no group information at their web site other than requests to support their selected political candidates. Members of the media can contact them for information as an email address is listed at the web site.

The Tea Party Express is best known for supporting rallies throughout the US when supporters would travel by bus known as the Tea Party Express. Mark Meckler of Tea Party Patriots criticizes them as not grassroots, but run top-down by Republican campaigner Sam Russo.

Controversy seems to surround the Tea Party Express. Several media outlets have reported the Tea Party Express did not refute potentially racist remarks made during a rally. It was expelled from the National Tea Party Federation over these remarks

National positioning

While its original focus was on taxes, its scope has broadened, although it continues to be characterized more by protests and anger than an actual platform. Three national figures associated with it are Sarah Palin, Fox News host Glenn Beck, and Rep. Michele Bachmann. CNN contributor John Feehery said while it energizes the Republican base, it also presents problems.

The Tea Party combines the best elements of civic activism with some of the worst elements of fringe extremism...While most Tea Party activists are genuinely concerned about the future of the country, some others see conspiracies around every corner and use unacceptable rhetoric to communicate their displeasure with the president."

Bachmann invoked it against the H.R. 3962 Democratic health care reform legislation. After calling for a protest on Sean Hannity's television show the previous week, saying "she hoped viewers would come to her press conference and then walk through the congressional office buildings, "up and down through the halls, find members of Congress, look at the whites of their eyes and say, 'Don't take away my health care.'" Officially, her 5 November 2009 event, at the U.S. Capitol, was a press conference and not a rally, since there was no demonstration permit; an estimated 5 to 10,000 supporters attended. Appearing with her was House minority leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), U.S. House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, and Republican representatives Todd Akin (R-Missouri), Steve King (R-Iowa), Paul Broun (R-Georgia), Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) and Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana).

February 2010 Convention

A National Tea Party Convention was held in February 2010, a production of Tennessee lawyer Judson Phillips and Tea Party Nation, of which Sherry Phillips is vice president. Phillips has said he expects to make a profit on it, but many activists are complaining about the $550 ticket price and the $100,000 speaker fee to be paid to Sarah Palin. Reps. Michele Bachmann (R-Michigan) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), previously listed as speakers, have withdrawn, saying they were concerned how the convention's revenues would be spent.

Former Rep. Tom Tancredo verbally attacked both 2008 presidential candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama, always referring to the latter as "Barack Hussein Obama," whom he called a "committed socialist". He continued to say that the President was elected because "we do not have a civics, literacy test before people can vote...People who could not even spell the word 'vote' or say it in English put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House."

The issue of whether the movement should form a new political party, or take over the Republicans, was an open issue. Andrew Breitbart told Time Magazine "Form another party? Why would we want to do that? That's exactly what the Daily Kos wants us to do and we'd just be playing into liberal hands," but others disagreed.

Dick Armey expressed concern about prominent "wedge" issues such as Tancredo's position on immigration, and Joseph Farah speaking on the Birther Movement. He said "That kind of rhetoric is counterproductive. It feeds into the hands of the left and allows [the tea party] to be portrayed as people who are angry and accusatory, inflammatory. That is not what this movement has been about. We have to keep our eye on the ball; we have to work to stop people who believe the government should control vast sections of the economy." Armey suggested that President Obama was using the gays-in-the-military question specifically to divide the tea-party movement. "He's hoping the grass roots would jump on this and turn away from economic issues," Armey said. "And Obama would just love to change the subject, so my own view is, don't take the bait."

Future positioning

One of the major questions is whether the movement will stay in the Republican Party or form a new party. Fox News reports that the Tea Party could well influence the 2010 U.S. Congressional election, with most commenters assuming it will focus on Republican primaries. Groups are establishing political action committees for the financial support of candidate.

Phillips said Tea Party Nation opposed a third party, preferring to take over the Republican Party. She was joined by FreedomWorks' Matt Kibbe, who said that Conservative candidate Doug Hoffman, who drove Republican Dede Scozzafava out of the race but lost to a Democrat, Bill Owens, was an "anomaly". said the special election in upstate New York last month -- in which Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman drove the Republican candidate out of the race with the help of tea party activists -- can be considered an "anomaly." He said "I think a more practical solution is to take over the GOP... explaining that the tea party movement can have the most impact by directing volunteers and money in support of GOP candidates who reflect their small-government values. " Kibbe mentioned candidates Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania and Marco Rubio in Florida as examples of conservative challengers within a Republican framework.

Rep. Mark Souder (Indiana) is one Republican expecting a primary challenge from a Tea Party activist. "It's hard to tell if this will help the Republican Party win...What it's done is energize people. The question is what will happen with the energized people: Are we going to maintain an effective two-party system or are some of them going to split off?"

Demographics

An October 2010 poll by the Public Religion Research Institute reported:

• 11 percent of those polled say they are part of the Tea Party
• 55 percent of people identifying with the Tea Party" say they are part of the tea party agree that "America has always been and is currently a Christian nation" - 6 points more than the percentage of self-described Christian conservatives who would say that"
• "Among the differences between Christian conservatives and tea partiers is their source of news, with 39 percent of the former group saying Fox News is their most trusted source for "accurate information about politics and current events" and 57 percent of the latter group saying that."
• "Nearly two-thirds say abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, and 45 percent said there should be no legal recognition for same-sex couples." This contravenes the "conventional wisdom" that the group is principally libertarian, although it should be noted that some of the major national contributors, such as David Koch, are strongly linked to libertarianism.

According to Gallup Polls (Spring 2010) among Tea Party supporters there are

• 78% are Republicans or independents who lean Republican
• 77% are non-Hispanic whites
• 69% are conservatives
• 62% are married
• 56% are men
• 47% are 55 or older
• 23% are under 35

and they share the following beliefs:

• Concern about the US federal debt. 92% believe the federal government debt is a very serious/extremely serious threat to the nation's future well-being.
• Safety. 90% believe terrorism is a very/extremely serious threat to the nation's future well-being.
• General unhappiness over how things are going in the US. 90% are dissatisfied with the way things are going in this country.
• Disapproval of congressional Democrats. 87% disapprove of the job congressional Democrats are doing.
• Growth of the US federal government. 85% believe the size and power of the federal government are a very/extremely serious threat to the nation's future well-being.
• Congress' ability to take care of business. 83% say most members of Congress don't deserve re-election.
• President Barack Obama should not be re-elected. 83% say President Obama doesn't deserve re-election.

A Rasmussen poll in December 2009 indicated there was greater support for Tea Party than Republican congressional candidates, although it was not a formal party. When 1,000 likely voters were asked, without knowing specific candidates, who they were most likely to select

• Tea Party: 23%
• Republican: 18%
• Democrat: 36%

The poll, with a margin of error of 3%, showed that the Tea Party would split the Republican vote.

The poll of 1,000 likely voters was conducted Dec. 4-5 and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points. Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele recognized the potential threat, saying

"we can all come together...This is the conservative party of the country...We offer that ... political infrastructure, if you will, if you want to run for office or if you want to be involved politically. This is the best place to do it.

Campaign criticism on the right

Writing in the conservative National Review, Jim Geraghty questioned the possible irony of "The Tea Party movement in all its myriad forms — free-market groups, little old ladies, crusty in flag hats, fans of Beck’s 9/12 Project — have done everything one could possibly ask to derail a government takeover of the health-care system. It will be a perverse irony if their high-visibility protests end up persuading Democrats to damn the torpedoes in the face of near-certain electoral doom." He suggested that while some Democrats might lose their seats if they vote for the bill, if they fail to do so, they might enrage the Democratic base, with the Republican base already activated, and lose control of the House in the 2010 elections. It is characterized, however, by opposition and anger more than specific recommendations.

In some recent elections, it has been suggested that perceived ultraconservatives it supported to win Republican primaries may not appeal to independents or more moderate Republicans, and actually cost Republican seats by creating unelectable Republican nominees. Another view, however, is the reality that the Tea Party Republicans winning seats against Republican favorites shows organization and appeal to voters.

Delaware

Such a Tea Party candidate is Christine O'Donnell, who won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, seeking the long-Democratic Delaware seat in the U.S. Senate, formerly held by Vice-President Joe Biden. O'Donnell was endorsed by Sarah Palin. Delaware Republican chairman Tom Ross had called an O'Donnell victory a "complete train wreck" for the party.

Missouri

Out-of-state Tea Party activists have not necessarily fit local agendas. Missouri Tea Party groups issued a joint statement that they were incensed by Rep. Michele Bachmann's endorsement of Senatorial candidate Roy Blunt. Bachmann is a national favorite among Tea Party members, as is Palin and Sen. Jim DeMint, but the national figures may not be in tune with local issues.

Issue criticisms

From another conservative group that can cross party lines, neoconservatism, there is conflict with some of the libertarians and paleoconservatives in the movement. The former, represented in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, include the heads of the American Enterprise Institute (Arthur C. Brooks), the Heritage Foundation (Edward Fuelner) and the Foreign Policy Initiative (Bill Kristol) is directed at Obama Administration military spending cuts, the real message, according to Marc Armbinder, political editor of The Atlantic, is to tell the movement that defense spending is untouchable: "there will not be 'long-term prosperity' if the US military is 'hollowed out and can't defend the country." They are concerned with comments from movement figures such as Ron Paul, and Senate candidates Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Ken Buck (R-Colorado). Buck, for example, has said that as Iraq winds down,

I think the military budget will become a less significant part of the overall budget. We've obviously got a commitment in Afghanistan. We've got to figure out what the goals are there and what we can do there. So there may be less need in two or three years than there is now. I think it's still important that we promote research and development in the military budget, but some of the costs of deploying troops may be significantly reduced in the next few years.

Another conflict potentially comes between social conservatism and libertarianism. While the Tea Party has a general position against enlarged government, the social conservatives want government to enforce their strongly held moral views.

Relationship to moderates

In April 2010, Senator Scott Brown (R-Massachusetts) declined to join Sarah Palin at a Tea Party movement rally in Boston. Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia said “He wants to mainstream himself before the election.” His office said he would be busy in Washington, but he applauds the “energy and enthusiasm” of Palin and the Tea Party.

After O'Donnell's primary victory, national Republicans said they were diverting funds from the Delaware race, which they had hoped to win, to other races where they had a better chance. Karl Rove said, on Fox News,

There’s just a lot of nutty things she’s been saying that just simply don’t add up. I’m for the Republican, but I’ve got to tell you, we were looking at eight to nine seats in the Senate. We’re now looking at seven to eight. In my opinion, this is not a race we’re going to be able to win.