SSブログ

Notes on the Tea Party Movement-4/5 [Our American Cousin]

                                                  October 6, 2010

                                                  Michael Molenda

                                                  Bloomington, Indiana, USA

.

4. What propelled Tea Party sentiments into visible political action?  Actions under the specific label of Tea Party began in February 2009, following closely after the inauguration of the new president, Barack Obama, and his early attempts to address the financial problems left by the collapse of major banks and other financial institutions in September 2008namely the government bailout of some of those financial institutions, a plan to refinance some of the mortgages that were threatened by the collapse of the housing market, and a financial stimulus bill.  There are several forces that converged to arouse and support the  Tea Party movement:

.

a. The base of the movement consisted of disgruntled Republican voters who were disappointed with the election of Barack Obama (77% of Tea Party supporters say they voted for John McCain).

.

b. The severe economic recession which began in 2007 to 2008 caused millions to lose their jobs, substantial portions of their savings and retirement funds, and/or their investments in their houses.  This created a wellspring of anger, looking for a target.  The most visible targets were the newly elected Democrat-controlled White House, Senate, and House of Representatives.

.

c. Beyond the 2008 election and the 2007-2009 economic recession, many Americans share a feeling that Americas status as a world power is declining.  People who are used to believing that Were Number One are beginning to question whether the country is competitive on the world stage.  This end-of-empire anxiety supports the search for enemies within who have caused the decline.

.

d. At the beginning, there were scattered rallies consisting of dozens to hundreds of people in response to spontaneous individual calls for citizen action about the new administrations financial policies (most of which were continuations of policies begun in the later days of the previous administration).  These early sparks were fanned by news organizations, such as the Drudge Report, Fox News, and websites bearing the name of Tea Party.

.

e. Conservative political-action front groups provide financial support to tea party activities and candidatesnamely, Richard Armeys FreedomWorks and the billionaire Koch brothers Americans for Prosperity, which are considered front groups in that they provide funding for ongoing operations (such as advertising and field offices)  but have few or no actual members or contributors beside their wealthy founders.


nice!(1)  コメント(0)  トラックバック(0) 
共通テーマ:blog

nice! 1

コメント 0

コメントを書く

お名前:[必須]
URL:[必須]
コメント:
画像認証:
下の画像に表示されている文字を入力してください。

※ブログオーナーが承認したコメントのみ表示されます。

トラックバック 0

この広告は前回の更新から一定期間経過したブログに表示されています。更新すると自動で解除されます。