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Last weekend, when Washington was being hit by its worst-ever snow
storm, the Tea Party Movement was holding its first national meeting in
Nashville, Tennessee. I watched parts of the convention on television
and became concerned by what I saw and heard.
After reviewing two sets
of national polls, released this Friday, my concern was heightened.
Former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin gave the
keynote address. While some media pundits dismiss her, poking fun at
her lack of knowledge and verbal gaffes, I believe she must be taken
seriously. She is a dangerous populist, who delights her following with
crude appeals to patriotism, anger at Washington, resentment at all
things "foreign" and her penchant for ridiculing, as "out of touch
elites," a wide array of opponents.
She may not know history or geography, but to her enthralled base
she speaks the truth. Palin has touched the exposed nerve of anger and
alienation of some elements of the white middle class. And, in this
context, attacks against her only serve to reinforce her supporters'
feelings of being aggrieved.
Former Congressman and 2008 presidential candidate Tom Tancredo also
addressed the convention. Some will recall the splash he created a few
years back when he advocated bombing the holy places in Mecca and
Medina if the US were attacked again by terrorists.
Giving the
meeting's opening address, he was in prime form accusing President
Obama "and his left wing allies" of "looking at every opportunity to
destroy the Constitution before we have a chance to save it" and
telling the cheering crowd that "this is our country", urging them "to
take it back".
In one especially disturbing passage, Tancredo played his
anti-immigrant, anti-foreign card, charging that "people who could not
even spell the word 'vote' or say it in English put a committed
socialist ideologue in the White house. His name is Barack Hussein
Obama".
It may make some feel better to dismiss all this as the bizarre
rantings of a disgruntled minority. I think not. The polls show the
strength of this current within the Republican Party. While only 35 per
cent of Republicans consider themselves supporters of the Tea Party
Movement, 60pc agree with its views. And more than one-half of all
Republicans believe the group will make their party stronger.
They may be a minority, but they are angry, feel threatened, and
have demonstrated their ability to organise their anger into a
disruptive and, at times, violent force – as they did last summer in
breaking up healthcare reform Town Hall meetings across the US.
And despite being a minority, they have a "star" in Palin and strong
media voices like Rush Limbaugh, Fox TV's Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity.
With the Republican Party rudderless, at the moment, this current has
become the de facto leadership of the opposition to the White House.
The Tea Party's danger, then, is not so much that it will become the
majority, but that it will continue to intimidate more moderate voices
in the Republican Party.
This is not a new phenomenon. Such movements frequently arise in
periods of social dislocation and economic distress. They prey on the
fears of the middle class with appeals to patriotism, and warnings
against elites and foreigners – creating in the minds of their
supporters a life/death struggle of "us" versus "them". Appeals to
anger using chauvinism, xenophobia and racism are their trademarks.
We've seen similar efforts rise up in recent times with Jšrg Haider in
Austria, Jean-Marie Le Pen in France and Nick Griffin in the UK – and
it has now come to America.
So excuse me if I don't join those who dismiss Palin or her Tea
Party crowd or take consolation in the polls showing that 71pc of
Americans feel she is not qualified to be president. I'm frightened by
the 26pc who think she is qualified (including 42pc of all
Republicans).
The crowds that cheer her on or respond with delight to
Tancredo's bigoted remarks shouldn't be dismissed. They are reason to
be concerned, very concerned.
jzogby@aaiusa.org
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