So, for starters, you've just shown that you don't know all that much about the 'Tea Party' (including the fact that you don't seem to understand it isn't an actual political party).
Judson Phillips, Tea Party Nation:
"Tea Party Nation is a conservative American political organization considered part of the Tea Party movement. Their official website describes them as "group of like-minded people who desire our God given Individual Freedoms which were written out by the Founding Fathers. We believe in Limited Government, Free Speech, the 2nd Amendment, our Military, Secure Borders and our Country!"
[1]
The group was created by former
Shelby County, Tennessee assistant district attorney Judson Phillips in 2009.
[2][3][4] It runs a social networking site for conservative activists[5] and is best known for organizing the 2010 National Tea Party Convention."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_Party_Nation
Then, you ignore the actual data involving the Washington Post poll but manage to make a disparaging comment about where the data was posted.
Then, you completely ignore the Pew Foundation data.
So, yeah, I guess 'LOL' is all you've got then.
No, I understand it's not an actual political party.
Thus, depending on your pov, they are very difficult to define, or quite easy to paint as whatever you like.
Almost all of
their literature focuses exclusively on fiscal issues.
I've met 3 self identified TEA Party people. Two had attended rallies in Washington DC. Their focus is exclusively on fiscal issues.
One ran for political office here and rented one of my commercial units for his HQ. His campaign was focused exclusively on fiscal issues.
When I've seen their rallies etc on TV news, their signs focus almost exclusively on fiscal issues.
When I've seen (snippets) of speeches at those rallies they were about fiscal issues.
Does a TEA Party that focuses on fiscal conservatism also attract some who are socially conservative? Yes, of course. But to then ascribe that characteristic to the TEA Party makes no more sense then ascribing socially conservative views to the Democrats. A lot of the Democrats down here are blue collar Southern Baptists types. They like OSHA, they like SS, they like govt disability benefits etc. But in large part they do not support abortion or gay marriage.
No, I did not ignore what the Pew site said. I noticed this yesterday:
But support for the Tea Party is not synonymous with support for the religious right. An August 2010 poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life found that nearly half of Tea Party supporters (46%) had not heard of or did not have an opinion about “the conservative Christian movement sometimes known as the religious right”; 42% said they agree with the conservative Christian movement and roughly one-in-ten (11%) said they disagree
So 57% either don't care about social issues or disagree with the Christian conservative right.
I don't find this Judson Phillips person or the existence of the 2010 National Tea Party Convention compelling in any way:
Tea Party Nation organized the National Tea Party Convention held February 4–6, 2010.[6] Around 600 activists attended the event,[7] and Sarah Palin was featured as the keynote speaker. The event was criticized for its $549 ticket price,[8][9][10][11] as well as the fact that Palin was apparently paid $100,000 USD for her appearance.[12][source needs translation] Palin has said she will donate the fee to unspecified conservative causes.[13]
Several prominent conservative organizations refused to participate in the event due to its for-profit nature. The Tea Party Patriots advised members not to participate in December 2009.[14] Erick Erickson of the conservative blog RedState.com described the convention as "scammy" on January 11.[15] The American Liberty Alliance (ALA), initially a co-sponsor, withdrew its support on January 13.[16] Later in January, Michele Bachmann and Marsha Blackburn cancelled their plans to speak.[17]
A whole 600 people attended and they had to pay a 'known' person $100k to show up? And other "prominent conservative organizations" boycotted it?
Just one of the small splinter groups sporting the name. And IMO your insistence upon emphasizing their importance speaks more to your motivations than anything else.
I think the Dems would be better off just leaving the Repubs and Tea Party people to fight it out among themselves. No need to jump into the fray. From what I've seen the attempt to (mis)define them just motivates them. The only people you are persuading are those in your choir, so to speak, anyway.
Fern
