By Gideon Rachman
Published: October 11 2010 22:19
The Tea Party movement that is stirring up US politics means different things to different people. The intended reference is to the Boston Tea Party, the anti-tax, anti-colonial rebellion that sparked off the American revolution.
To British ears, the movement brings to mind another famous tea party – the Mad Hatter’s tea party in Alice in Wonderland, whose convener spoke in illogical and exasperating riddles. To many foreigners and American liberals, the Tea Party does indeed seem like a crazy mix of wild conspiracy theories (Barack Obama is a secret Muslim) and impractical nostalgia for an era of distant and minimal government. Shortly before leaving for the US to report on the midterm elections, a respected colleague told me that: “Obama’s problem is that he is trying to govern a nation where half the population is insane.”
On closer inspection, the truth seems more complicated and less alarming. With unemployment stuck near 10 per cent, Americans are mad as hell, rather than plain mad. The Democrats are likely to do very badly in the midterm elections next month, and may lose control of both houses of Congress.
But the Republican party and the Tea Party are not synonymous. It is rightwing populists, associated with the Tea Party, such as Sharron Angle in Nevada, Christine O’Donnell in Delaware, Rand Paul in Kentucky and Joe Miller in Alaska, who are making all the headlines. But the Republicans are also fielding traditional pro-business candidates, some of whom are very impressive. The party’s two standard-bearers in California are former chief executives of major companies: Meg Whitman, once of Ebay, is running for governor; Carly Fiorina, once of Hewlett-Packard, is campaigning for the Senate. In Ohio, Rob Portman, a serious and strait-laced former US trade representative, is likely to take the vacant Senate seat for the Republicans – and is already being touted as a future presidential candidate. In the state of Washington, Dino Rossi, the Republican candidate, is a boringly sensible businessman, who may unseat an incumbent Democrat and so hand the Republicans control of the Senate.
Even the Tea Party itself is not as “mad” as its opponents sometimes claim. Its central demand for small government and low taxes is as old as the American republic. Over the weekend, I watched Ms Angle address supporters in a bar in Las Vegas, while scantily clad waitresses plied her supporters with Earl Grey tea and other stronger beverages. The biggest cheer she got was when she promised to abolish “Obama-care” – government-funded healthcare. To European eyes, outrage at the idea that the government should guarantee healthcare for all seems peculiar. But the Tea Party people are simply drawing upon a different, distinctively American tradition. As one Angle supporter put it: “Obama wants this country to look more like Europe. And I don’t want that.”
Of course, the Tea Party has its wilder side. Video of Ms O’Donnell admitting to dabbling in witchcraft has not gone down well – and the Republican is now trailing badly in the Senate race in Delaware.
Ms O’Donnell’s story strengthens the cynical notion that if the Tea Party succeeds in grabbing control of the Republican party that will be great news for Mr Obama. This is not just because Tea Party influenced candidates are often a little eccentric. It is also because the Tea Party thinks and behaves like a beleaguered minority rather than a movement that believes it can win national power and govern. Much of its energy stems from an almost desperate anger from those Americans who feel society is changing in ways they do not like, and cannot control. The ubiquitous slogan – “I want my country back” – is not the cry of people who think the future belongs to them.
The fact is America is now too complicated a place to accommodate the simple verities peddled by the Tea Partiers. You could see it, even at the Angle rally. The candidate drew cheers by railing against illegal immigration and the federal government – and then cheerfully admitted that she has half-Mexican grandchildren and that her husband had worked for the federal government for many years.
The Tea Party is also divided over how much to stress religious conservatism; and between supporters of a muscular, militarist foreign policy and those who want to close American bases overseas. These divisions are largely concealed by an even more obvious division within the Republican party itself. Many traditional, pro-business Republicans are horrified by the populism of Sarah Palin, America’s most high-profile conservative, and her followers. As a result, the battle for the party’s presidential nomination in 2012 is likely to be lively and nasty and to leave the Republicans in bad shape, which would suit Mr Obama just fine.
For all these reasons, the Tea Party does not look set to take over America. It will probably not even take over the Republican party. But there is one important qualification to such relatively soothing thoughts – the state of the economy. If the US slides back into recession, the anger and despair that has fuelled the Tea Party will grow. At that point, a minority protest movement might just turn into something more powerful and more threatening.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010.
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