The "Tea Party" circuit seemed to have cooled a bit until recent happenings. The Massachusetts election for a seat in the U.S. Senate went to Republican Scott Brown — a seat long held by the late Democrat Sen. Ted Kennedy. And Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska, rallied the "partiers" during their "convention." Now Virginia Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, has embraced the Tea Party movement.
A couple news items got me thinking about the political punch of “Tea Party” party.
First, was a cartoon in the Chattanooga Times Free Press showing some gleeful patriots depicted as Native Americans tossing the letters “H-O-P-E” overboard.
And a recent column by David Brooks of the New York Times took a deeper look at this quasi-political phenomenon. His column focuses a lot on polls and public angst about government. But he offers a thread about the potential for the “Tea Party” movement to move beyond a novelty to a long-term political player.
“The tea party movement is a large, fractious confederation of Americans who are defined by what they are against,” Brooks wrote. “Over the course of this year, the tea party movement will probably be transformed. If they succeed, their movement is likely to outgrow its crude beginnings and become a major force in American politics.”
I am not so sure about that.
Nothing breeds discontent with government like economic problems, and so the advent of a “grassroots” movement such as the Tea Party uprising comes as no surprise. When the economic anxiety passes, people return to the comfort zone, pat themselves on the back for affecting change and return to their two-party roots.
The roots of the Tea Party also remain important.
As Brooks states in his column, it is a movement “against” rather than “for,” and those kinds of movements struggle when it comes to longevity. Despite what some say, the Tea Party concept was distinctly partisan in its inception — a conservative Republican signature that with development of the movement will become more apparent — from my view.
A colleague, Jim Waters, the communications director for the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy in Bowling Green, gets asked to speak at a lot of the Tea Party gatherings here. He wrote a column that focused on the “Tea Party” throngs. And he questioned whether the energized throngs who attend really have the makings of longtime activists willing to stay civically engaged.
I have the same question.
Resources:
- See blog Tea Party Anger
- www.courier-journal.com/article/20100228/...
- www.courier-journal.com/article/20100228...
- www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/us/...
- www.nytimes.com/2010/01/05/opinion/...
- http://www.bipps.org/
- http://www.bipps.org/article.php/2218
I think the Tea Party trademark was just a publicity stunt by the Republican party to try to begin getting traction for the 2011 Congressional elections. Its just an advertising campagin that caught on; sort of like that song "I'd like to give the world a coke." The fundamentals in tha party are using these events to let some deamons out in person, which I have to give them credit for. Unlike their liberal counterparts, these people don't mind getting out and raising some hell over what they believe--even if its a lie. If those on the far left would put up as much of a streetfight as the tea party goers--and not just the African Americans who have a history of letting themselves be heard-- than they might get their change. Because they sure won't get it from politicians. The young, white, blogging, coffee drinking, I-PAD using, tight-jean wearing, emotional young liberal yuppies need to protest or counter-protest.
Thanks for the call for everyone to get more engaged in public matters! Mac
is it a conflict of interest for virginia thomas to be an activist for her tea party group when she's married to clarence thomas who could potentially make judicial judgements about the movement? should a spouse of a supreme court justice be a political activist?
Thanks for the great post. You ask a very interesting question. My guess is that some of the justices probably think it's a very bad idea to have a spouse involved in the political arena. I suppose if there was a clear conflict, Justice Thomas could recuse himself. But it takes a lot to get a judge to do that. We will need to keep an eye on this. Great question. Come on back and bring a friend! Mac
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