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 2008—namely 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 America’s status as a world power is declining. People who are used to believing that “We’re 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 administration’s 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 candidates—namely, Richard Armey’s 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.
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