Tea Party Rally Signals Shift
By Michael Boyajian
Jeff Green publisher of News That Matters reports that he attended a Tea Party rally this past weekend in Putnam County. He states that he observed very little racism, xenophobia or homophobia at this rally but for one speaker who was greeted with cheers from the crowd when he called Andrew Breitbart an American hero.
But aside from that this rally was different. The rally did not go after President Obama and the Democrats. In fact at this moment there was a seismic shift away from that and towards the Republican Party. The attendees here were crying out for fiscal restraint and smaller government holding establishment Republicans responsible for these issues.
The people here were upset by Republicans for their attempt to try and grab hold of the Tea Party as something of their own and they expressed it in no uncertain terms by supporting speakers who were non establishment Republicans and by challenging the Republican orthodoxy in general.
Jeff Green believes that there is an opportunity here for Democrats to pick up support from the Tea Party movement taking away a lot of the momentum Republicans have going into the election. In the end he says many of the Tea Party people will vote Republican but some could be swayed to the Democratic column if Democrats talked more about small government and less spending.
This could have an effect on the dynamic that is now at work that leads to pundits’ speculation that Republicans are going to make big gains in November’s Congressional elections. The lesson here is that there could be opportunity for both Democrats and Tea Party adherents if each side would put aside the rhetoric and listen to what one and another are saying. Something that could be difficult considering the past racism, homophobia and xenophobia of Tea Party people and Democrats’ penchant for big government and spending. Nonetheless, there are possibilities here if ever so slight that signals a shift in expectations for November.
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