A Tea Party to Impress Lenin and the Complicated Stance of U.S. Republicans

The Republican stance on the tea party, an extreme right-wing grassroots network, is complicated. The GOP remained very tolerant of the tea party’s remarkably stubborn attitude in pushing for government spending cuts during the American debt ceiling talks — so much so that there are concerns that Republicans may lose more moderate conservative voters during next year’s elections.

In February, the New York Times reported that Republican members of Congress were still debating whether to accept the enthusiasm of the tea partiers. It is true that the tea party, as strong supporters of the GOP, proved to have much influence over policy making. However, certain members of Congress affiliated with the tea party have maintained extreme positions, going even as far as to label Vice President Joe Biden a terrorist.

The tea party paraded its influence by successfully electing a large number of affiliated politicians into Congress during the 2010 mid-term elections. Members of Congress with ties to the tea party were those who kept some of the most hard-line stances during the recent debt ceiling talks. And despite the drastic reflections of their demands in the final debt ceiling agreement, such representatives claimed they were still dissatisfied and voted down the measure as it passed through Congress. 19 out of 46 senators with tea party ties voted against the debt ceiling bill on August 2.

Regardless of how they voted, members of Congress not associated with the tea party were criticized. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) stood against the debt ceiling agreement, while Senator Richard Lugar (R-Indiana) voted for it, but both were accused of not holding up the conservative principles of the tea party movement.

On the day the measure passed, Senator Lugar called the debt reduction a “victory for conservative fiscal responsibility.” He even later expressed his hope that the tea party would accept the measure as it passed.

Some believed Senator Hatch voted against raising the debt ceiling due to concerns of appearing to favor higher levels of government spending. Former Republican Senator Bob Bennett said, “Orrin has made the decision to highlight every ultraconservative vote he’s ever made, and he’s going around saying, ‘I was tea party before it was cool to be tea party.’”

Even powerful Republican presidential hopefuls are starting to calculate just how much of their paths should overlap with the tea party’s. The former governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, was critical of the debt ceiling, matching the tea party stance. On the other hand, Romney’s rival and former governor of Utah, Jon Huntsman, looked favorably on the debt ceiling agreement, asserting that it would help to balance American finance for the long term.

It is becoming more apparent that Republican politicians in Congress and in the running for the presidency are taking tea party ideology and demands into consideration.

The Democrats need their own tea party

A survey conducted by the Guardian seemed to indicate that the tea party’s tough tactics could alienate more moderate voters from the Republican electorate.

According to the publication, the more the tea party wields its influence, the more they will be accountable for the impact of their actions. Furthermore, a survey by the Pew Research Center showed that 37 percent of those surveyed ended up with a more negative perception of tea party affiliates in Congress after the debt ceiling debates, while 42 percent held a less favorable view of all Republicans in Congress.

Polling expert Scott Rasmussen also told the Guardian that he believed there would be plenty of backlash against the tea party for its recent activities. He stated that such backlash would come from moderate Republicans and independent voters.

Nonetheless, this is not a trend the Democrats will welcome forever. Guardian columnist Paul Harris wrote that same day that the tea party was comprised of “ordinary voters fueled by outrage and a coherent set of simply explained beliefs (small government, no taxes, fear of socialism).” Harris claimed that it was by wielding such basic foundational beliefs that the tea party was able to take down its political opposition.

The column stated that even Lenin, the Russian revolutionary, would have been impressed with the tea party’s willingness to take political risks and refusal to give into ideological compromise, also noting how the U.S. political left was unable to exhibit the same unity or passionate fighting stance.

Harris recommended that leftists create a group like the tea party through which they could project their demands through a strong, clear voice and fight against the GOP. Attempting to be mindful of moderate voters, Obama became entangled in the Republican agenda throughout the debt ceiling talks. The lesson to be taken from this is that the priority should not be to woo centrists, but to reorganize one’s own political bloc.