Yankee Doodle Dandy Jesus

David Campbell/NY Times: 

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.

Abe Sauer/The Awl: 

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

Is it Time to Panic Yet?

Picture Source: Newsweek via Funny Or Die

Over the weekend, I was deathly ill with a high fever, and Michele Bachmann won the Iowa Straw Poll.  We now essentially have a three person battle between Mitt Romney, Bachmann and Moral Arc favorite, Rick Perry.  The post about a Mormon and two hardcore (my estimation at this point: Bachmann is for real and Perry is wielding it more as giant Jesus shaped flaming political sword) Christian fundamentalists as Republican front runners in 2011-2012 will have to wait.  Instead, I think we must first wonder whether or not there is anything to really fear.

Call me a crazy, but I believe in the idea that a party's establishment still matters.  Populism is much easier to smash apart into factions than people concerned about the status quo of their economic interests.  Bachmann and Perry do not represent the Republican Party establishment.  They do not translate very well (at this point at least until they renege on just about everything they've said) to a general election.  I think, I hope, I pray, they scare progressives enough to stop licking their wounds and make something happen.  As Teagan Goddard points out, the Wall Street Journal just published an article showing "just how dissatisfied the Republican establishment is with the current field."  Let us see how strong the money makers are.

(Is anyone else as torn as I am between how they want this to play out?  On one hand, having Bachmann win the Republican nomination would theoretically mean an almost sure defeat for her against Obama.  On the other hand, who knows what crazy things can create a cut in the fabric of time and space where we wake up one day and Michele Bachmann is the leader of the free world.  My God)