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Title: Studies Shed Light On The People Behind The Tea Party
Source:
The Star-Ledger
URL Source: http://blog.nj.com/njv_john_farmer/ ... es_shed_light_on_the_peop.html
Published: Aug 28, 2011
Author: John Farmer
Post Date: 2011-08-28 13:07:55 by Brian S
Keywords: None
Views: 30028
Comments: 59
Just who are the people of the tea party, the big “new thing” in American politics — or at least in the Republican Party? Lots of claims are made for them. They’re newcomers to electoral politics, some say. Conservatives to be sure, but independents, too, spread pretty evenly throughout the country, largely devoid of racial animus, and broadly representative of a large portion of the whole population. That’s the stereotype. But a vastly different description emerges in a pair of studies, one by two academic political scientists and a second by a CBS/New York Times poll, both based on extensive interviews with tea partiers. “Early on, tea partiers were often described as nonpartisan political neophytes,” write political scientists David E. Campbell and Robert D. Putnam. “Actually, tea party supporters today were highly partisan Republicans long before the tea party was born. In fact, past Republican affiliation is the single strongest predictor of tea party support today.” The tea party cohort is overwhelmingly white, male and older — on that, the stereotype is on the mark — but it “had a low regard for immigrants and blacks long before Barack Obama was president,” Campbell and Putnam report. Or, as the CBS/Times poll found when tea partiers were asked what specifically they didn’t like about Obama, “the top answer was that they just don’t like him.” From the standpoint of future politics and the 2012 presidential race, the most significant finding from the studies may involve the geographical distribution of the tea party loyalists. If the CBS/Times study has it right, the tea party participation is principally a Southern phenomenon. More than a third “hail from the South, far more than any other region,” it found, and that has important implications for the GOP next year and perhaps beyond. It’s no secret the modern Republican Party has moved dramatically to the right. Less clear, however, is how much the GOP already is a Dixie-dominated party. A Kentuckian, Mitch McConnell, is the party’s Senate leader, but must occasionally defer to the ultra-conservative Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, who commands its Senate tea party contingent. In the House, Ohioan John Boehner may be the Speaker, but the power behind his shaky throne is Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, a tea party favorite who regularly overruled Boehner during deficit negotiations with President Obama. It may be a sign of what’s ahead for the GOP that the ultra-right Texas Gov. Rick Perry, another Southerner preferred by tea partiers, has just displaced Mitt Romney as the favored candidate of Republicans. Perry went overnight from virtually unknown to a double-digit poll lead over the mostly moderate Romney. The Texas governor benefits from another preoccupation of the tea party crowd — its preference, like his, for a politics rooted in religion. Tea party leaders may parade under the banner of smaller government, but the rank and file, Campbell and Putnam stress, “are more concerned about putting God in government,” something most Americans say they oppose. While it’s clear the tea party has a chokehold on the GOP at the moment, that’s no guarantee it will hold true through the 2012 election. There is, for example, a stark contradiction in the whole tea party experience. Even as the country increasingly seems to favor smaller government — a tea party priority — it also has soured on the movement itself. Over the past year, opposition to the tea party and its no-compromise contribution to the political paralysis in Washington has more than doubled, according to the Campbell-Putnam study, exceeding even the disapproval level of those other bottom-feeders, the Democratic and Republican parties. Whatever its long-term liabilities, the tea party has been an electoral God-send for the GOP, the muscle behind its 2010 victories. But Campbell and Putnam see an ominous similarity to the 1960s anti-Vietnam War movement and the damage it did to Democratic election fortunes. Like the anti-war movement, the tea party has brought energy and passion to politics — but also a stridency and tendency to extremism that’s eventually a turn-off for voters, especially the independents and moderates vital to victory. “By embracing the tea party,” Campbell and Putnam warn, “Republicans risk repeating history.” We’ll see.
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 58.
#1. To: Brian S (#0)
What is it about the South anyway?
What is it about the South? The cultural richness of the South along with the South's pride are what really angers the North. The North no longer has an identity. What in this day and age can anyone say is great about the North? There is no real legacy that the North brings to the table. The only thing the North can do today is continue to talk down on the South. As if we, the people from the South even cared. What is it about the South? The South is the thorn in this governments side. The South continues to face, head on, issues that are important to our families and their future. God, family, home, property, States Rights, small government. It's about having the courage to stand by your convictions, even when the odds seem against you, and ignorance abounds. You, and other trash like you, talk down about the Tea Parties, but who are they, do you even know who the hell these people are you trash, do you know where they come from? They are Southerners, yes, but they are also Northerners, Westerners, and Easteners who have put their past hates aside and joined with one another against an overpoweing, greedy, corrupt and evil government. Southerners have always known what it is the feds were truley after and considering they never had the oportunities of a good education back then, like most have today, just how STUPID does that make you look? As long as you have nothing precious left to hold on to, nothing left to be proud of, nothing left to fight for, to die for, you will never understand the heart and courage of a real Southerner! JMHO!
You make a passionate defense of your beloved South, but let us not forget it is that same passionate Southern heart that accepted and defended slavery, Jim Crow, and segregation. It is a peculiar mindset that claims to love freedom unto death while so cruelly robbing others of that same freedom. IMHO, the same mentality that fostered historical slavery in the South is at the core of the South's persistent problems - a sort of communal cognitive dissonance.
Sez the idiot that loves to lick the boots of her federal masters who insist on telling us how to live ever single moment of our lives,or face federal prison. IMHO, the same mentality that fostered historical slavery in the South is at the core of the South's persistent problems - a sort of communal cognitive dissonance. You may have opinions,but it would also be helpful to have a mind to form an opinion.
Yet youse cheer the defense of a people so spiritually and intelectually corrupt as to rob others, literally, of life and freedom while claiming they have a God given right to do so.
Before you start suffering from nosebleed from being up on your high horse, you might want to consider this world famous picture taken in the 70s in that bastion of Kennedy Statism - Boston, MA. And no, I'm not from the South. I just hate stereotypes.
The working class Irish are, and always have been, the main enemy of the black man...
That may be true - it just underscored that racial prejudice isn't just limited to the South. Who knows - it may even exist in the land of Lucysmom - aka California.
No doubt. Prejudice was institutionalized and defended in the South.
I know this might not be possible due to the density of rock,but try to educate yourself. It was BLACKS that sold their fellow blacks into slavery,and it is only blacks who are still practicing slavery today. AND......,the financiers were from the north. Not to mention the fact that Lincoln stated he would be content to allow slavery to remain in the south if they didn't secede,or that people in the north (including General and President U.S.Grant owned slaves and slavery wasn't outlawed in the north until AFTER the War of Northern Aggression ended. That war had nothing to do with slavery,and everything to do with federalism.
Those mean old blacks in Africa making white American southerners own slaves! ...and it is only blacks who are still practicing slavery today. Not so. Did you know Each year, 800,000 people become human trafficking victims and are transported across international borders. According to the Texas Attorney General, 20 percent of those people (or 160,000 people) pass through Texas.
800,000?? There was an estimated 200 million people in bondage in 2001, I haven't seen anywhere that shows your bleeding heart has set any of them FREE. And here you sit, the ignorant twat you are, bitching and moaning about a system that was wiped out in our country almost 300yrs ago, WTF have you, or any loud mouthed, self-rightious liberal EVER done to help anyone trapped in SLAVERY TODAY? Modern Slavery Human bondage in Africa, Asia, and the Dominican Republic April 18, 2001. When a ship carrying hundreds of people was recently turned away from Benin, Africa, officials suspected that the children on board were human slaves. The incident once again brought attention to the problem of slavery. At this moment, millions of men, women, and children—roughly twice the population of Rhode Island—are being held against their will as modern-day slaves. Sometimes referred to as bonded laborers (because of the debts owed their masters), public perception of modern slavery is often confused with reports of workers in low-wage jobs or inhumane working conditions. However, modern-day slaves differ from these workers because they are actually held in physical bondage (they are shackled, held at gunpoint, etc.). Sudanese slaves await redemption in Madhol, Sudan, in December 1997. An Arab trader sold 132 former slaves, women and children, for $13,200 (in Sudanese money) to a member of Christian Solidarity International. (AP Photo) Modern-day slaves can be found laboring as servants or concubines in Sudan, as child "carpet slaves" in India, or as cane-cutters in Haiti and southern Pakistan, to name but a few instances. According to Anti-Slavery International, the world's oldest human rights organization, there are currently over 20 million people in bondage. Where does this slavery take place? Who are the faces behind these atrocities? Slave Trading on Africa's West Coast The slave trade in Africa was officially banned in the early 1880s, but forced labor continues to be practiced in West and Central Africa today. UNICEF estimates that 200,000 children from this region are sold into slavery each year. Many of these children are from Benin and Togo, and are sold into the domestic, agricultural, and sex industries of wealthier, neighboring countries such as Nigeria and Gabon. The most recent incident involved the MV Etireno, which was refused from ports in Gabon and Cameroon. When the ship reached Cotonou, Benin, in April, 2001, police began an investigation of the captain and crew. More adults than children were believed to be aboard. Chattel slavery in Sudan The enslavement of the Dinkas in southern Sudan may be the most horrific and well-known example of contemporary slavery. According to 1993 U.S. State Department estimates, up to 90,000 blacks are owned by North African Arabs, and often sold as property in a thriving slave trade for as little as $15 per human being. Child "carpet slaves" in India Kidnapped from their villages when they are as young as five years old, between 200,000 and 300,000 children are held captive in locked rooms and forced to weave on looms for food. In India—as well in other countries—the issue of slavery is exacerbated by a rigid caste system. Many of our images of human slavery, like the one above, date from the American Civil War. However, there are an estimated 200 million people in bondage today.
Take a deep breathe and calm down; no need to get your panties all in a twist. Sneaky said ...and it is only blacks who are still practicing slavery today. and that is what I was responding to. All I'm addressing is the fallacy offered up by sneaky that only blacks are still practicing slavery.
I think Sneaky means that only in Africa, where either due to lack of a government or it's apathy, are markets freer to fulfill their no holds barred ultimate purpose. The African Free Market Model is more in keeping with the Tea Bagger vision for the rest of us.
BullBarack! Unless of course in YOUR opinion a lack of total government control equates to anarchy. Why is it that you people can't seem to trust individuals to ever do the right thing,but you always trust governments to do the right thing?
There are no replies to Comment # 58. End Trace Mode for Comment # 58.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestFrom the standpoint of future politics and the 2012 presidential race, the most significant finding from the studies may involve the geographical distribution of the tea party loyalists. If the CBS/Times study has it right, the tea party participation is principally a Southern phenomenon. More than a third “hail from the South, far more than any other region,” it found, and that has important implications for the GOP next year and perhaps beyond.
#11. To: lucysmom (#1)
"What is it about the South anyway?"
#12. To: Murron (#11)
As long as you have nothing precious left to hold on to, nothing left to be proud of, nothing left to fight for, to die for, you will never understand the heart and courage of a real Southerner! JMHO!
#15. To: lucysmom (#12)
It is a peculiar mindset that claims to love freedom unto death while so cruelly robbing others of that same freedom.
#16. To: sneakypete (#15)
Sez the idiot that loves to lick the boots of her federal masters who insist on telling us how to live ever single moment of our lives,or face federal prison.
#22. To: lucysmom, sneakypete (#16)
Yet youse cheer the defense of a people so spiritually and intelectually corrupt as to rob others, literally, of life and freedom while claiming they have a God given right to do so.
#23. To: Get Outta Dodge! (#22)
#24. To: war, Luscysmom (#23)
#32. To: Get Outta Dodge! (#24)
That may be true - it just underscored that racial prejudice isn't just limited to the South.
#39. To: lucysmom (#32)
Prejudice was institutionalized and defended in the South.
#45. To: sneakypete (#39)
I know this might not be possible due to the density of rock,but try to educate yourself. It was BLACKS that sold their fellow blacks into slavery...
#48. To: lucysmom, sneakypete, ALL (#45)
Did you know Each year, 800,000 people become human trafficking victims and are transported across international borders. According to the Texas Attorney General, 20 percent of those people (or 160,000 people) pass through Texas.
#51. To: Murron, sneakypete (#48)
And here you sit, the ignorant twat you are, bitching and moaning about a system that was wiped out in our country almost 300yrs ago, WTF have you, or any loud mouthed, self-rightious liberal EVER done to help anyone trapped in SLAVERY TODAY?
#56. To: lucysmom, sneakeypete (#51)
(Edited)
and that is what I was responding to. All I'm addressing is the fallacy offered up by sneaky that only blacks are still practicing slavery.
#58. To: mininggold (#56)
The African Free Market Model is more in keeping with the Tea Bagger vision for the rest of us.
Replies to Comment # 58.
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