Abe Sauer/The Awl:Next to being a Republican, the strongest predictor of being a Tea Party supporter today was a desire, back in 2006, to see religion play a prominent role in politics. And Tea Partiers continue to hold these views: they seek “deeply religious” elected officials, approve of religious leaders’ engaging in politics and want religion brought into political debates. The Tea Party’s generals may say their overriding concern is a smaller government, but not their rank and file, who are more concerned about putting God in government.
The Tea Party is no longer about economics, not that it ever solely was. At the larger rallies and for the cameras (CNN or laptop), they hold forth about founding fathers, liberty, spending, deficits, TARP, kicking cans down roads, taxes, living within means and fiscal responsibility. But when the lights are off, it's all about Jesus, with "God" thrown in, on occasion for Israel.Is this big news? I don't think that anyone who actually paid attention to the Tea Party since its inception would be shocked to realize that the line between them and the Christian Right is all but non-existent. The Tea Party is the Christian Right in Yankee Doodle garb using libertarian political language to legitimize itself.
My question is whether or not this admittedly brilliant move was some sort of perfect storm of disenchanted conservative Christians organizing into something truly representative of the people, or if the deft hand of power pulled the strings we all have on our backs at times. The answer to that question has implications for how dismantling the Tea Party, and its pox on the face of Jesus in America, might work.
Jeffrey Stout/Religion Dispatches:
Anyone who follows the money trail can see that the fat cats who fund the Tea Party are essentially running the show. The Tea Party wouldn’t exist without that money supply or without constant stoking from right-wing radio and television. That’s what makes it an elite affair. The Tea Party was able to scoop up a lot of free-floating resentment and direct it against taxation and the social safety net. It’s true, however, that some of this resentment appears to be truly populist in spirit. If so, it is unlikely to sit well with the funding structure of the organization.Both? If so, that means we're in for a fun show. Maybe we just need to stand back and watch?
-Tim
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