In addition to the customary Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union address, there was another highly publicized response: the response from the Tea Party.
Michelle Bachmann, a Republican member of the House of Representatives from Minnesota, delivered a response to the President's State of the Union address on behalf of the Tea Party, which was televised on CNN. Like President Obama, Bachmann invoked the national spirit and encouraged hope, and like the official Republican response, she pointed to the debt crisis and the failures of the economy. Her tone was more confrontational than that of Paul Ryan, directly attacking the President's policy on many counts with very few concessions.
Bachmann says that she recognizes the legitimacy of Paul Ryan's official Republican response and is not putting her speech forward as a challenge. The Republican Party says the same, that she is simply using the opportunity afforded to all Congress members to respond to the State of the Union address. But the fact remains that the speech was officially endorsed by the Tea Party and is widely being treated as a third party address, and that it was broadcast by a major news network.
What do you think of the speech and its meaning for the politics of the Tea Party? Is the Tea Party now a true third party and a major force in politics? Is this speech going to deepen the Tea Party's divide with the Republican Party? Or is it the sincere response of a conservative congresswoman that has been blown out of proportion?
3 comments:
I'm a bit confused as to what you mean by "true third party." Of course the tea Party is a legitimate third party if that's what you mean. I believe that, with all the attention the Tea Party has gotten, they can no longer be taken as a joke, though they can't be considered a really major force just yet.
I do not feel that the Republican Party will feel more divided given this speech, I believe that the Republicans has a much more invested interest in working with the Tea Party even if they do get a little airtime.
Finally, I don't see how this has been blown out of proportions. The Te Party simply asked a person they felt embodied their views to speak.
Although I agree with Dan that the Tea Party has gotten a lot of attention and cannot be taken as a joke, it is by no means a legitimate third party. At best, the Tea Party is a movement that has the sympathies of the Republican party. The most credible of sources, Wikipedia, states that "As of 2010, the Tea Party movement is not a national political party, but has endorsed Republican candidates. The Tea Party movement has no central leadership but is composed of a loose affiliation of national and local groups that determine their own platforms and agendas. For this reason, the Tea Party movement is often cited as an example of grassroots political activity, although it has also been cited as an example of astroturfing."
Further, over 80% of the members of the Tea Party consider themselves Republicans.
Nonetheless, I do believe the Tea Party movement ultimately has the potential to legitimize itself in the political context (if it stops sporting Palin and Bachmann-esque representatives in every notable speaking engagement...although that may be the fast track to Hardball and Comedy Central, it's also the fast track to political suicide).
Although many people view the Tea Party as a crazy third party that shouldn't really be taken seriously,I think its good for them to have the opportunity to televise their views on the matters. Of course addressing the wide range of topics in the State of the Union address is quite a challenge, so I didn't expect any super specifically detailed responses other than the occasional "we need to cut spending on education" or something along similar lines. I'm also glad she brought up the huge debt because it seemed like President Obama was shying away from the matter. Anyway, for all the grief the Tea Party's been given, I believe Michelle Bachmann did a rather fine job as compared to the Republican response which sounded to me like one of the lousiest infomercials I've ever heard.
Post a Comment