Vol. 74/No. 41      November 1, 2010

What is called the tea party “movement” encompasses various conservative groups and individuals appealing to resentful middle-class layers and working people whose lives have been shaken by the capitalist economic crisis, which they do not understand.

Incorporating competing points of view on many questions, the tea party’s only consistent, collective message is what they are against—“fiscal irresponsibility,” bank bailouts, increasing interference by big government in peoples’ lives, and squeezing of the “little guy” by monopoly and finance capital. Based in the Republican Party, tea party leaders rail against the “establishment,” criticizing the policies of both Democratic and Republican party politicians—with particular focus on the current administration of President Barack Obama and Democratic Party incumbents.

The tea party is not rooted in a racist reaction to the first Black president. If anything, the tea party is less racist than the many demagogic “popular” movements of the past in the United States. While the percentage of adherents who are Black is low, tea party leaders have sought to highlight prominent Black tea party advocates. The Tea Party Federation expelled the Tea Party Express after its leader Mark Williams wrote a racist parody attacking the NAACP.

Neither does the tea party signify a rightward shift in politics or growing social conservative attitudes among working people. To the degree that tea party figures have expressed overtly racist or otherwise bigoted remarks, their support has narrowed, as evidenced by the sharp drop in support for New York gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino following his recent antigay comments.

Attendance figures used in the Militant for both the Glenn Beck “Restoring Honor” action and the October 2 pro-Democratic Party “One Nation Working Together” rally were based on the most commonly cited and credible numbers in the press, as well as the Militant’s reporters on the scene. Both were large and driven by the effects of the unfolding economic and social crisis.

The composition of the October 2 rally was clearly more favorable to campaigning with a revolutionary working-class perspective. But it is important to recognize that among those attracted to the tea party banner are also workers and farmers who should hear a working-class explanation and solution to the capitalist system that is ruining their lives.
 
 
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