The Tea Party Movement

Historically, populist movements in the United States have arisen in response to periods of economic hardship, and were characterized by a distrust of business in general and bankers in particular. The Tea Party, unlike previous populist movements focused its ire at the federal government and extolled the virtues of free market principles. The Tea Party movement’s first major action was a nationwide series of rallies on April 15, 2009, that drew more than 250,000 people. April 15 is historically the deadline for filing individual income tax returns, and protesters claimed that “Tea” was an acronym for “Taxed Enough Already.” The movement continue to gather strength throughout the summer of 2009, with its members appearing at congressional

Who actually is the Tea Party activists? They are generally older than 45, mostly white, and “comfortably” middle class, “They’re often in their sixties and seventies, so they’ve had a chance to own a house and accumulate some savings.” National surveys indicate that men make up 55 percent of the Tea Party, but women tend to be more active in local groups, often leading them. Many Tea Partiers own small businesses, or did before they retired, they frequently describe themselves as “proud capitalists” who have worked hard all their lives. Grass-roots Tea Partiers make a real distinction between things that go to people like themselves, who have earned them, and the kinds of government spending…that [go] to low-income people or young people or immigrants,” whom they see as undeserving

Tea Party, however see their advocacy of lower taxes, a smaller government, and promulgation of so-call traditional values in the face of a progressive transformation of “their America’ as a patriotic calling. Their truly see themselves as patriots: their duty is to take back the country they inherited from the ‘fathers of the revolution’. The liberal side have this image that grass-roots members are uneducated, irrational people, but that is not correct, Tea Partiers are quite effective organizers, and they’re quite pragmatic in their political choices. Tea Parties also see that violence will only downplay their messages to the public, so most of their gathering has been peaceful and respectful but there are also reports of