The Tea Party and the American Counter-Revolution

Since the modern tea party movement's first modern incarnation, a fund raiser organized by Ron Paul supporters on December 16, 2007 accompanied by modest protests in various cities, we have paid close attention. We watched it swell into a political force following the now-famous rant of CNBC commentator Rick Santelli on February 19, 2009. We have attended tea parties, spoken at their events, and gotten to know organizers and activists. CNN found that by 2010, 2 percent of Americans considered themselves active members of the tea party movement, and Rasmussen calculated that 29 percent of Americans had some ties to the movement.The Tea Party rose to popularity with a message of fiscal conservatism and constitutionally limited government. As soon as it became popular, it struggled over how and if to meld with social conservatism, what position to take on foreign policy, and what relationship to have to the Republican Party. Many sought to join the movement, others to co-opt it. The tea party movement has irrevocably changed the face of American politics, re-awakened old American traditions and ignited the imagination of millions of activists.Many individuals and groups with divergent messages have laid claim to the title "tea party." Regardless of whether or not the moniker survives, the core fiscally conservative and small government ideas behind the tea party movement, which have been ignored for so long by both parties, have returned with a vengeance to American politics.