The Tea Party? Get over it already

This article was published in Spiked Online 30 April 2010

In their discussion of the Tea Party as ‘delirious’ and ‘unhinged’, liberals like Bill Clinton are exposing their own snobbery.

Since the ‘Tea Party’ movement in the US first emerged in early 2009, it has not been all that difficult to recognise its composition, outlook and reason for existence.

From the first demonstrations, to the townhall protests against the healthcare reform bill in summer 2009, to the Tea Party convention in February 2010, it has been obvious that the organisation’s make-up does not represent a cross-section of America. Tea-Partiers are mainly older, white Americans. The high proportion of the grey-haired is a notable contrast to the throngs of young people who campaigned for the election of Barack Obama in the November 2008 election.