The TP probably would not exist if McCain had been elected. Dems did enough things to piss the average person off and get them to start the TP movement.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I very much disagree lanyap. There is a lot of evidence that Dick Armie and others got together the funding to recruit and train the tea party in disruptive town hall meeting tactics. As a kind of side show running dog everyone paid attention to while the GOP disrupted all legislation to improve the economy. And that part of the main stream GOP plot has worked to perfection, the problem is the tea party is now cannibalizing the GOP like some Frankenstein monster.
But still as wolf pointed out, its the economy stupid, and the economy is going down the tubes due to unaddressed economic structural problems totally unrelated to deficit spending. In short, we took a long time digging ourselves into this economic hole, and its going to take a long and careful course to dig us out of the mess. While everyone demands the instant gratification none of us will get.
Obama is trying to steer us on a given course, the GOP is trying to say, back up and lets go dig ourselves into a deeper economic hole, and the tea party is saying turn hard right and run off the road, while basically behaving like the family dog who gets under the drivers feet while the car is moving. And because they are just dumb dogs, they have no idea if they are hitting the gas or the brakes. But we may be in the frying pan now, but its a hell of a lot worse to jump out and end up in the fire.
But in late 1929, Hoover tried all them tea party ideas, and instead of helping, we got 25% unemployment. Its all in knowing the difference between the gas and the brakes, and not putting the pedal to the metal on either.