The Tea Party Movement Is A Scam - E.J. Dionne

[WillyT]

The Tea Party Movement is a Scam
By E.J. Dionne
September 23, 2010

<snip>

WASHINGTON -- Is the tea party one of the most successful scams in American political history?

Before you dismiss the question, note that word "successful." Judge the tea party purely on the grounds of effectiveness and you have to admire how a very small group has shaken American political life and seized the microphone offered by the media, including the so-called liberal media.

But it's equally important to recognize that the tea party constitutes a sliver of opinion on the extreme end of politics receiving attention out of all proportion with its numbers.

Yes, there is a lot of discontent in America. But that discontent is better represented by the moderate voters who expressed quiet disillusionment to President Obama at the CNBC town hall meeting on Monday than by tea party ideologues who proclaim the unconstitutionality of the New Deal and everything since.

The tea party drowns out such voices because it has money -- some of it from un-populist corporate sources, as Jane Mayer documented last month in The New Yorker -- and has used modest numbers strategically in small states to magnify its impact.

Just recently, tea party victories in Alaska and Delaware Senate primaries shook the nation. In Delaware, Christine O'Donnell received 30,563 votes in the Republican primary, 3,542 votes more than moderate Rep. Mike Castle. In Alaska, Joe Miller won 55,878 votes for a margin of 2,006 over incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who is now running as a write-in candidate.

Do the math. For weeks now, our national political conversation has been driven by 86,441 voters and a margin of 5,548 votes. A bit of perspective: When John McCain lost in 2008, he received 59.9 million votes.

<snip>

More: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/09/23/the_tea_party_movement_is_a_scam.html

:kick:

[bushisanidiot]

1. It's a scam. Bought and paid for by the brothers koch.

they can't buy votes. all they can do is provide funding for ads, etc.

November 2nd will show just how much Koch and the tea party republicans ACTUALLY have in this country. Listen for the sound of a deflating balloon as those whiners watch their numbers roll in.

[spanone]

5. rupert murdoch has been a serious promoter

[Kolesar]

11. & "Freedom Works" eom

[katty]

2. yes,it's a 'movement': another stupid dumping on Americans

[harun]

3. An astro-turfed scam from day one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing

[Blue Owl]

4. Injected with corporate media Viagra

to make it appear more impressive than it actually is.

[Jim__]

6. Seized the microphone?

More like their every whine and bitch has been echoed and amplified by a media that is looking to broadcast their message.

[Sheepshank]

7. Everytime some stupid project screws with the Republicans

they start whining about it all being a Democratic plant of some sort. Just waiting for the axe to drop, because Palin, Bachmann et al will be swept up in that debris. Wouldn't it be a just a total hoot if Palin is exposed as a Dem plant :)

[SteveM]

8. "Scam?" Given the collapse of political community, I'm not so sure...

the numbers cited look good for Dionne's argument, but in my adult life time the organizers/purveyors of what constituted legitimate wide-spread political discourse have gone asunder with the collapse of Big 3 T.V., dailies, radio and the Top 40. What has replaced this clearly imperfect mass-media based forum for democracy (and countervailing weight to authoritarianism) are short-term Gas Giant Movements which vie for attention and credibility. The Tea Party is another -- and rather enduring -- example of this phenomenon. Numbers don't mean much when everyone, including those in this forum, are talking about them.

[Bryn]

9. Of course it's a SCAM!

[WillyT]

10. Perfect !!!

:applause::applause::applause:

:kick:

:hi:

[WillyT]

12. Kick !!!

:kick:

[SoCalDem]

13. Corporate media hyping corporate shiny object... n/t

[butterfly77]

14. K&R...

[Tx4obama]

15. The TeaParty is part of the GOP funded by republicans. n/t

[BeFree]

16. Actually

1722 in Delaware and 1004 votes in Alaska, switched, and there is no T-bagger victory.

Which shows how little they matter and how big computer vote switching can be.

Besides, the teabaggers are just disgruntled bushco baggers. And some of them now realize how badly bushco did them. Much to their chagrin.