Musings

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Tea Party Demise

Townhall Magazine is carrying a query: "Is the Tea Party dead?" They ask people to vote on it. This is widely out of reality since there was no "real" Tea Party. Firstly, it was never a "Party." It had no officers, no hierarchy, no attempts for voting for officers, no command structure, no official literature, no official money bundlers (though some did try), no art work as an emblem of the party, and, very few that attended the rallies thought of themselves as forerunners of a third party. Then what was it?

For the most part it was best defined as a flash mob. The flash mob gets out the information that there is to be a "rally" at such-and-such a place at a certain time and people interested show up. Of all the people that I know that attended a Tea Party rally that is what happened to them.

What the Tea Party did have was a message: Are you against higher taxes? Are you for smaller government? Are you against a government takeover of all medical services? Are you distressed with non-enforcement of our boarders? Are you against government bailouts? Are you against the entrenched political class? Do you accept high unemployment? And a few others that I cannot bring to mind at this time. People who attended the rallies were self sorting, wanted more information, and wanted to be a part of the movement. They also wanted to let others know how many people felt just as they do.

It was never about the Republican Party, though many Republicans did attend. It was never about white people, though most were white there was diversity in the crowds, as well as gender diversity. All attendees believed that this Country was going in the wrong direction, politicians were not listening, the debt condition was a disaster, and this country needed to be turned around. Like minded people were associating with those who thought like them.

The Tea Parties did accomplish some things: It got some people more interested in local politics, they questioned their representatives more closely, for some, they even succeeded in replacing their representatives. The interest in politics was kindled and more now paid focused attention to what was happening in their districts. Some politicians associated themselves with the Tea Party and were rewarded with support, and sometimes with a win.

Now the question is being asked: "Is the Tea Party dead." It can't be dead, it never existed. The people that attended those rallies are still alive, their ideas are still alive and retained in their hearts. Will they ever become a force in politics? That remains to be seen.

6 Comments:

  • I don't know it the tea party is alive or dead but they were certainly less public in 2012 than in 2010. Other than being anti Obama they had no cause in 2012 like anti Obamacare in 2010. Also the lame stream media did their usual hatchet job labeling them racist, sexist, homophobes.

    By Blogger John Beauregard, at 4:34 PM  

  • John, I agree with your observaton about their being less public in 2012. The flash-mob call to a rally had greatly decreased from those of the 2010 elections. I don't know why. I speculate that it was the same thing over and over again at the rallies, different speakers but the same message. Or, having seen success in 2012, they grew complacent about their strength and expected to continue to win without great effort. I really don't know but look forward to seeing a pundit with more insight than I to explain it all.

    By Blogger Marcel, at 7:45 AM  

  • Correction: that would be...success in 2010.

    By Blogger Marcel, at 7:47 AM  

  • This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    By Blogger Unknown, at 7:29 AM  

  • What I wonder about concerning the Tea Party and the Republicans in general is, are they willing to vote for a candidate that is not ideologically perfect. I believe the statistic I read was that over 2 million people who voted for McCain did not even vote in the last presidential election. And of course by not voting they essentially voted for Obama.

    Voltaire - Perfect is the enemy of good

    By Blogger David, at 6:53 PM  

  • Sometimes good is good enough and perfect is too costly. In this case perfect cost us 4 more years of Obama with all that includes.

    By Blogger David, at 7:05 PM  

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