The Tea Party Patriot - image sumo tv
Politico’sJennfier Epstein, picked up on Gallup’s Tea Party poll – The question posed: Should the GOP Consider Tea Party Ideas with the result, a resounding, cross party lines, yes. It is not so much, as Epstein pointed out, that Gallup specified what the ideals of the Tea Party included, rather “leaving respondents to decide for themselves.” - while she included the following definition: “The movement draws on populist sentiments and pushes an agenda focused on reducing taxes, government spending and the national debt.” (Politico)
Gallup released the poll on Monday paired the national opinion of the Republican versus the Tea Party, with the end result that the Republican Party scored slightly higher on favorability at 47% overall, with the Tea Party garnering 39% approval. The poll included Democrats, Republicans and non-affiliated respondents, and implies that the Republican-Tea Party Movement are aligned, or in completion with one another, rather than the reality that the Tea Party Movement is a separate entity with some similar views held by established Republicans.
What would be more useful: a poll comparing the favorability of the Tea Party compared and contrasted with the both the Republican and Democrat Party. It goes without saying that Tea Party Members ran as Republican’s, gaining seats in historical proportions in the House of Representatives in this past election. Savvy politicos understand that running as an Independent and/or Libertarian, (which is the Tea Party make-up) would be akin to spitting in the wind at this point, given the fact that the Tea Party has yet to structure itself as a national political party. Therefore, running “as a Republican” would allow a brand of sorts, and an ideology which would not be anathema to the core beliefs of the fiscally conservative, constitutional based Tea Party. It is akin to the “Blue Dog” moderate conservative Democrats who ran in 2008 and joined the ranks of the majority Democrats. The difference lay in the lack of a cohesive movement on the part of the Blue Dogs, which, the end result was a partisan paring of those Blue Dogs with the rank and file Democrats. The Tea Party members of Congress, however, are not necessarily ready to run in lockstep with Party Leadership – they have a mandate that is not by political party rather by a revolution of sorts that includes all Americans.
The Tea Party Revolution:
An op-ed piece in the Hampshire Gazette, a newspaper with roots in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts, and the city of Northampton, which, one would think, would be the very bastion of progressive thought. Massachusetts after all, was one of the few States in the Union that did not follow the rest of the nation in 2010 and elect either Republican’s or Tea Party members to Congress and/or higher State offices. It is not so much that those Tea Party members or Republican’s were not on the ballot, they were, in droves, it was the fact that Massachusetts Republican’s and Tea Party Members alike did not have the political operation in force that was necessary to put one over the top – one has to understand, (even with redistricting about to take place, due to the loss of one Congressional Seat), that those who did run, came within points of toppling Democrat incumbents who had been entrenched for decades. That fact alone, coupled with a lack of experience and political intelligence, should have those in the Bay State and elsewhere on notice – the movement has legs.
The Gazette Article written by Dr. Jay Fleitman (a 2010 Republican Candidate for the MA2 Congressional District), discussed the Tea Party in real Massachusetts terms. Massachusetts one must understand has a long history of producing “radicals” who go on to provoke “political uprisings” and over the long haul, “change the political landscape”. Dr. Fleitman does justice to the Tea Party, noting where the various groups are (everywhere in Massachusetts), and draws from his personal campaign experience to paint a valid picture of the Tea Party Movement. Beyond Tea Party caricatures is a must read for those who would look to further understanding the “movement”. For that is what the Tea Party really is – a movement with political consequences. Dr. Fleitman in his closing, speaks to the American “revolution” of the 1960’s and the change effected by that movement, and does, for the first time, place that moniker on the Tea Party movement – a movement that is political in nature and has, to date, already affected change in the political landscape, and with continued growth, will continue to do so over the next decades.
Abbie Hoffman, wrapped in the U.S. Flag - image Bapfn.org
In closing, Dr. Jay has a point, and the fact that economics have driven most Revolutions from the original Boston “Tea Party” (a taxing revolution that led to a new nation), to the rejection of economics by the 1960’s hippies (Abby Hoffman, a Worcester Native, wrote the tome: “Steal This Book” – available on Amazon.com on Amazon.comwhich defined the anti-establishment movement that shaped the ideology and minds of those who now sit in the Halls of Congress. As the Tea Party continues to move forward, one must agree with Dr. Jay Fleitman assessment, those of us who witnessed the “revolution of the 1960’s, are indeed fortunate to witness a second political revolution in our lifetime - That of the Tea Party.
It is not without some caution one must view the hyperbole against the Tea Party considering it is often derided by the left, the right, and the press.
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