The authors have done America a great service with this very thorough look at the Tea Party movement. They have analyzed vast amounts of polling data and drawn conclusions that have stripped bare the elephant in the room. They have carefully lined up and connected most of the dots, with a couple of glaring exceptions.
It's evident that they were in a rush to get this book to market, but despite very sloppy editing and loads of repetition (there were times when I thought my Kindle had skipped back a couple chapters), the book is a very easy and enjoyable read.
The basic premise is that there is a "widening gulf between the beliefs and attitudes of the political elite and those of mainstream America." The authors point to the Tea Party as the front line in the current struggle of the American mainstream. They also show that the Tea Party movement is broadly based and deeply rooted, and any attempt by the political and media elite to ignore or marginalize it is done so at great peril. You can't write off "teabaggers" as racist, because the vast majority of them are not; and you can't write them off as "crazy" because most of them are quite well versed politically and make very reasonable arguments for their case against an overly intrusive government. The authors' research shows that the Tea Party movement is viewed at least as favorably as Republicans and Democrats (despite being much less known), and that the majority of Americans sympathize with their views. Any time a politician or pundit calls a Tea Party candidate "wing nut" "wack job" "Astroturf" etc., they only add fuel to the fire and further incense that majority. On these points, the authors are spot on, and their conclusions are solidly reinforced with empirical data.
One big dot that the authors fail to connect, however, is the mainstream public's lack of trust and sometimes downright disgust with the Federal Reserve, which the authors dismiss as a "handy scapegoat." A strong case can be made, and the majority of Americans agree, that the Federal Reserve and its policies are substantially, if not primarily, responsible for our current economic mess. After all, the Fed is the very pinnacle of the political elite that the authors accurately describe as the main target of public outrage, and Americans recognize this. So much so that their outcry forced 320 US Congressmen to co-sponsor a bill by Ron Paul to thoroughly audit the Fed and make its inner workings transparent. Of course the final version was like a Band-Aid on a beheading, but such is the power that the political elite wield in the hallowed halls of Congress.
The authors identify "three distinct groups" that make up the Tea Party. 1. Angered political newcomers, 2. Betrayed Independents, 3. Republican conservatives. They also propose that the Tea Party movement "did not exist at the time that President Obama took office." It is here that the authors fail to connect the most important dots. There is a fourth group that makes up the Tea Party movement, and they were definitely on the scene before Obama became President. They held Tea Parties as early as 2006, exploded onto the political scene in 2007 in the form of the "Ron Paul Revolution," have continued to advocate for Tea Party ideals and candidates, and have created dozens, if not hundreds, of alternative liberty based media outlets. It is a mistake to discount the groundswell of support for Ron Paul's 2008 presidential bid, and the indelible mark it left on the Tea Party movement - its very namesake. While the authors do make a nod to the granddaddy of all Tea Parties, Ron Paul's December 16, 2007 Tea Party, which was held on the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, and raised over $6 million in a single day, they completely ignore the Ron Paul Revolution which planted the seeds and watered the grass roots movement that we see today. The spontaneous outpouring and ceaseless energy of tens of thousands of volunteers during Paul's presidential campaign cannot be misunderestimated [Bushism intended].
In December of 2007, the web metrics firm Compete released their latest "Candidate FaceTime" metric, which measures time spent across political social networking sites. In the month of November 2007, Ron Paul supporters accounted for a staggering 87% of the time spent on political social networks among 16 presidential candidates! And this was not just a bunch of people sitting at home on their computers (some of it was). This translated into very real and widespread action through websites like Meetup.com. Every city in the United States had active Ron Paul Meetup groups where people met to discuss economics and reduced government spending, plan their canvassing activities, and cover the streets with Ron Paul signs. This enormous energy has not dissipated. Still today, there are nearly 700 active Ron Paul Meetup groups, compared to 460 for Republicans, 210 for Democrats, and 58 for Obama.
On September 2, 2008, after what most pundits believed was a failed presidential bid, over 10,000 Ron Paul supporters gathered for the Rally for the Republic in Minneapolis, Minnesota which coincided with, and was right across the river from, the Republican National Convention. This audacious, tenacious, and vivacious commitment to the principles of individual freedom and responsibility cannot be discounted. Ron Paul Republicans may only be one part of the Tea Party, but if they aren't its heart, they are its marrow.
At the rally, Ron Paul vowed, "This revolution will continue." About his presidential campaign Ron Paul continued, "I had no idea what it would lead to, but I firmly believe now, our day is coming. The conditions are such that there is room now for the defense of liberty. An idea whose time has come cannot be stopped by any army or any government." He went on to emphasize with atypical emotion, "Our day is just beginning. We're talking about many millions of people in this country and around the world who have heard this message, and it's growing, and it seems like even if they try, they can't stop us."
But they will continue to try. According to the authors, "What more and more Americans see when they look at the traditional media is an apparatus that has, continually, missed the big political stories altogether, or misunderstood them, or attempted to dismiss them until events made ignoring them impossible." If this isn't the pot calling the kettle black, then I'm growing a beard in the palm of my hand. Every mention of Ron Paul in this book makes sure to include the term "libertarian" in a dismissive manner. Paul "vilifies" and "scapegoats" Ben Bernanke, his legislation is "radical" and he inhabits the "political fringe." Mentioned as potential Tea Party presidential candidates are John Kasich, Paul Ryan, and Gary Johnson (who is every bit as libertarian as Paul, but is kid-gloved as a "libertarian-leaning Republican.") Ron Paul is not even mentioned in this mix and, even though the authors mention the substantial influence of the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) on more than one occasion, it somehow slips their minds that Paul won their presidential straw poll in February by nine points over second place Mitt Romney, and an overwhelming 24 points over third place Sarah Palin.
Please don't let these failings dissuade you from getting this book. It's 95% spot on, and you will come away with many helpful insights. The Tea Party movement would have existed in one form or another with or without Ron Paul, but the energy and organizational experience that the Ron Paul Revolution has brought to the Tea Party movement cannot be denied, and should not be ignored. After Ron Paul dropped out of the race, and his supporters began to think about what comes next, they turned their attention to the 2010 congressional elections. There was a phrase that they hoped, and believed, they would one day be able to utter, and that day looks like an approaching freight train. "Dr. Paul, your reinforcements have arrived."
