Posted on 08/17/2011 10:12:49 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
If you thought the Tea Party was a product of GOP masterminds or the Great Recession, think again.
In an op-ed in today's New York Times, big-name political scientists Robert Putnam and David Campbell examine the origins of the Tea Party movement.
Turns out, it is basically just the latest iteration of the Christian Right.
According to Putnam and Campbell, next to being a Republican, the best predictor of a Tea Partier was the desire to see more religion in politics:
"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."
As Putnam and Campbell point out, the religious inclination of the movement explains why disapproval of the Tea Party is actually on the rise — even as Americans have grown slightly more fiscally conservative as a whole, they have become more opposed to mixing God and politics.
A recent NYT/CBS poll revealed that 40% of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of the Tea Party, compared to just 18% in April 2010. Meanwhile, Tea Party supporters have slipped from 21% to 20% in the same period. The Tea Party ranks lower than Republicans, Democrats, "Muslims," and "atheists." The only group with the same degree of unpopularity is the Christian Right.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
“Is it really? Or is that the current truth that is being pushed by the mediaobamacracy?”
I hope you’re right. It may be just that ALL the media cite poll after poll after poll with ever-lower approval numbers for the TP. I have no doubt that the vast majority of Americans share the TP’s beliefs, but millions of them still don’t know that, because nowhere (except on Fox News or talk radio) will they ever be told the truth about it. Instead, papers and networks (featuring The Wan daily, and his minions) demagogue the TP, presenting a completely false picture of an ignorant, fanatical bogeyman.
It is those millions who need exposure to the facts (somehow), well in advance of November 2012; the Left is desperate and pulling out all the stops.
Your posting #32...
Couldn’t have said it better, myself!!
The TEA Party has nothing to do with religious affiliation.
The idiots at the NYT and this Grace Wyler are clueless.
Maybe I’m stupid but I thought it was the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
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