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Who best defines the philosophy of the Tea Party?
During Tea party meetings and planning sessions, do people discuss a particular set of written works? Who do the members of the tea party look to for analysis of the constitution, economic policy or how to organize (besides current leaders)? I would like to better understand the movement, and I think about things in an academic/history kind of way, so any help would be appreciated. Do people read Madison and Paine?
The Tea Party movement began as libertarian, populated mostly by followers of Ron Paul. Libertarianism in the US is very cerebral and intellectual. Libertarians I've talked to really know their stuff. They have done a lot of reading, and they can discuss the libertarian agenda very intelligently and articulately. But after the 2008 election the Tea Party movement was taken over by Republicans. It has become a 'stealth' Republican movement, expanded with money from Republican sources, led by Republican leaders (like Sarah Palin and Glen Beck), and built up and promoted by Republican 'news' sources like Fox News. The Republicans are morphing the movement into simply an anti-Obama movement. They promise to fight Obama's programs, to bring change, etc. but never get too specific on the details. Republicans and libertarians have in common that they say they want smaller government, but the smaller govt. Republicans want has to do with less regulation of corporations; they still want more law enforcement and more military spending. The Republican Party tends to be very anti-intellectual. They don't trust anyone who's thinking is too deep. The Tea Party movement has also grown more anti-intellectual, trying only to harness people's (totally understandable) anger about how things are going. All you hear from them is 'We're going to stop Obama and the Democrats'. As with the GOP itself, no real alternatives are brought up for discussion.
Kerli – Tea Party