Korbe's argues that this is not the case, but rather, Tea Party activists have just not been in the news as of late.
“The Tea Party as the Tea Party hasn’t been particularly visible lately, even though the actions and words of certain individuals associated with the Tea Party still redound to the Tea Party’s credit or discredit.”If you are not hot with the media, then what does that imply for the party's momentum? Will we see it begin to strike again with the upcoming election in November? Or will it begin to fade?
Furthermore, as the elections approach, will Tea Partiers get hyped for Mitt Romney? In class, we have talked about how important it will be for the Republican Party to get conservatives to really rally behind their candidate in order to compete with Obama. Will Tea Partiers lead the rally as they have many times spoken up against Obama? Will Romney struggle to receive their support, or will it be a given that the Tea Party will be in his corner? I personally think that it will be interesting to see that stance that they take as November is just around the corner. Between the Tea Party activists and the independent voters, it will be interesting to see where Americans side.
I was inspired by our conversations in class about the Tea Party to delve into the ideology for another class, Social Movement in Politics. After doing some readings and listening in Conservatism, I struggled with deciding if the Tea Party was less of an established American political party and more akin to a populist movement. You can't register to vote as a member of the "Tea Party," correct? (yet?)
ReplyDeleteWhile profiling the Tea Party for Social Movements, it became much more apparent than before that the Tea Party owes much of its fame (or infamy!) to social media and big news networks. In 2009 during the height of the Tea Party's popularity, Facebook and Twitter exploded with pages planning "tea parties" across the nation. These websites are unique in the amount of traffic they receive, and the constant sharing and tagging of the Tea Party spread its name and platform very quickly.
Additionally, I distinctly remember several Fox News Network broadcasts that followed the activities of the Tea Party rather relentlessly. FNC loved the Tea Party! Correspondents like Bret Baier reported live from protests and other Tea Party gatherings before the network scaled back their coverage when the movement slowed down...
Extensive media coverage of a new idea or new political party will almost always cause a frenzy of followers...
It cannot be true that things have changed significantly within the Tea Party or that it was a fleeting and inconsequential trend. The Tea Party's waves of popularity are almost certainly due to the media. It is alarming how powerful this entity can be in gatekeeping and promoting certain interests so aggressively. Then, when an item plateaus even slightly, the news networks instantly focus their attention on the next hot thing.
It should also be noted that this media coverage probably contributed to people joining the movement because it was new and popular (the bandwagon effect). As in any movement, these individuals may have fallen away from the party after this faded, but its core activists and loyal followers remain.
Perhaps in the upcoming election or sooner, the Tea Party will once again explode into the news and regain "popularity." For now, those interested in the movement can only hope that the Tea Party activists are hard at work planning their next move....
Quinn
Although I’m not a political scientist by any means, I doubt that things have changed significantly enough inside the Tea Party to explain its recent drop in approval. As Quinn mentions, I think a lot of it has to do with the media cycle and the fact that it is now shifting to the upcoming Obama vs. Romney Presidential race. The Republican primary drew a lot of attention and at the end of last summer I think you did hear more about Tea Partiers with candidates like Michelle Bachman involved. However when she dropped out and it became more clear that Sarah Palin was not going to run, the media attention shifted towards the other candidates such as Gingrich, Santorum, and Romney.
ReplyDeleteI think it will be very interesting in the upcoming election to see if the Tea Party shows up or makes any noise. I think if one of the previously mentioned candidates such as Palin was involved in the race there would definitely be a lot of coverage of the Tea Partiers. However now that it is a virtual certainty that the Republican nomination will be Romney, I don’t know that the Tea Party will show up. As a candidate Mitt Romney is definitely not the ideal choice for them and his record on such issues as health care in Massachusetts, which is very similar to Obama’s and will be a source of contention in the November election. So it that regards I will be curious to see if the Tea Party can at least rally around Romney in order to defeat Obama. To be sure it will not a vote for Romney so much as it will be a vote against Obama but the question is whether or not they can rally enough support for someone like Romney who is not a very inspired choice.
Dexter Tuttle