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Tea party celebrates five years, despite questions about its present and its future Tea party celebrates five years, despite questions about its present and its future
(35 minutes later)
Maybe 8:30 in the morning isn’t the best time to start a birthday party. Perhaps that’s why so many of the chairs are empty in a ballroom at the Hyatt Regency a few blocks away from the U.S. Capitol. Or maybe it’s just because five years after the birth of the tea party, some of the excitement has left the room. Maybe 8:30 in the morning isn’t the best time to start a birthday party. Perhaps that’s why so many of the chairs were empty Thursday in a ballroom at the Hyatt Regency a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol. Or maybe it’s just because five years after the birth of the tea party, some of the excitement has left the room.
Either way, when Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) — the 5-foot-2 tea party giant—takes the stage, she doesn’t seem to notice. Either way, when Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) — the 5-foot-2 tea party giant — took the stage, she didn’t seem to notice.
“There’s a temptation in our movement that when things don’t go our way, we can take our marbles and go home,” says Bachmann, who is not running for reelection next year. No, no, no! She didn’t decide to call it quits, she’s just going to “find a new perch” from which to lead the movement. “There’s a temptation in our movement that when things don’t go our way, we can take our marbles and go home,” said Bachmann, who is not running for reelection this year. No, no, no! She didn’t decide to call it quits, she’s just going to “find a new perch” from which to lead the movement.
(“I was continually Nancy Pelosi’s top target,” she explains after the speech about her decision not to run again. “Fundraising took an inordinate amount of time.”) (“I was continually Nancy Pelosi’s top target,” she said after the speech, explaining her decision not to run again. “Fundraising took an inordinate amount of time.”)
Five years after Rick Santelli stood on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to yell about the stimulus bill and propose a “tea party in July,” and already doubters are raising questions about whether the movement will ever turn 10.Five years after Rick Santelli stood on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to yell about the stimulus bill and propose a “tea party in July,” and already doubters are raising questions about whether the movement will ever turn 10.
Rep. Steve King, the Iowa conservative, isn’t buying the doomsday scenario, pointing out that the movement has had its highest levels of energy “when we had the biggest issues in front of us that we had a chance to change.” As for today’s lackluster turnout: “I think it’s a good crowd in here given that this isn’t like Obamacare is going to be voted down tomorrow.” Rep. Steve King, the Iowa conservative, wasn’t buying the doomsday scenario, pointing out that the movement has had its highest levels of energy “when we had the biggest issues in front of us that we had a chance to change.” As for Thursday’s lackluster turnout: “I think it’s a good crowd in here, given that this isn’t like Obamacare is going to be voted down tomorrow.”
The all-day event, hosted by the Tea Party Patriots, features dozens of speakers, including Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.), Mike Lee (Utah) and Ted Cruz (Tex.) and Reps. Raúl R. Labrador (Idaho) and Louie Gohmert (Tex.). They, along with various activists, radio personalities, and state politicians are preaching to a crowd of several hundred people, mostly middle-aged or older, mostly white and many from out of town. Topics include how to grow the conservative audience, eliminating the Department of Education, continuing the fight against the new health-care law and the moral sin that is abortion. One of the biggest applause lines of the day comes when Rep. Tim Huelskamp (Kan.) says the time has come to retire John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) from speaker of the House. The all-day event, hosted by the Tea Party Patriots, featured dozens of speakers, including Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.), Mike Lee (Utah) and Ted Cruz (Tex.), and Reps. Raúl R. Labrador (Idaho) and Louie Gohmert (Tex.). They, along with various activists, radio personalities and state politicians, were preaching to a crowd of several hundred people, mostly middle-aged or older, mostly white and many from out of town. Topics included how to grow the conservative audience, eliminating the Education Department, and continuing the fight against the health-care law and the moral sin that is abortion.
“I could have sworn I read in the New York Times that the tea party is dead,” Cruz says when he takes the stage in the afternoon. His speech is mostly about how the tea party is as strong as ever and they are still going to repeal the health-care law. One of the biggest applause lines of the day came when Rep. Tim Huelskamp of Kansas started to ask, “Isn’t it high time we retired [House Speaker] John Boehner . . .” He tried to say more, but was drowned out by applause. The crowd stood and cheered for 25 seconds before he said, “Isn’t it high time we retired John Boehner’s biggest excuse [that] we only control one-half of one-third of the government?”
A few attendees hold signs with Bible passages, and one man wears a shirt that reads “Obama, Liar, Radical, Marxist, Socialist, Tyrant, Subversive.” Cruz got a warm reception when he came out to the strains of “I Love Rock-n-Roll.” “I could have sworn I read in the New York Times that the tea party is dead,” he told the gathering. His speech was mostly about how the tea party is as strong as ever and that it is still going to repeal the health-care law.
It is not a message for everyone. A few attendees held signs with Bible passages, and one man wore a shirt that read “Obama, Liar, Radical, Marxist, Socialist, Tyrant, Subversive.”
“We can disagree with the president without calling him names,” Paul says from the stage. “I disagree almost all the time, but I don’t call him names, and I am polite to him when I meet him.” It was not a message for everyone.
Lots of the partygoers are either trying to sell something or pitch a pet project. “We can disagree with the president without calling him names,” Paul said from the stage. “I disagree almost all the time, but I don’t call him names, and I am polite to him when I meet him.”
“We need the government to get out of the business of building rockets,” says Gary Anderson, who wears a shirt that reads “Tea Party in Space,” in “Star Trek” lettering. “Leave that to the private sector,” says his assistant, a woman who refers to her boss as “Mr. Anderson,” in homage to “The Matrix.” Lots of the partygoers were either trying to sell something or pitch a project.
“What do you think of the IRS?” asks a man wearing a shirt that says “Unfair the Movie.” His name is Judd Saul (he says he was named Judd because it was the sound he made when his parents dropped him as a baby), and he is the director of the movie, a documentary about the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups. He’s been standing outside the auditorium, next to another conference being held by the National Treasury Employees Union. He has been trying to hand out literature to them, to no avail. “We need the government to get out of the business of building rockets,” said Gary Anderson, who wore a shirt that read “Tea Party in Space,” in “Star Trek” lettering. “Leave that to the private sector,” said his assistant, a woman who referred to her boss as “Mr. Anderson,” in homage to “The Matrix.”
“If the IRS didn’t exist, a lot more people would be here,” he says. “I know a lot of people that are just scared to speak up . . . They’ll get audited.” “What do you think of the IRS?” asked a man wearing a shirt that said, “Unfair the Movie.” His name was Judd Saul (he said he was named Judd because it was the sound he made when his parents dropped him as a baby), and he is the director of the movie, a documentary about the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups. He was standing outside the auditorium, next to another conference being held by the National Treasury Employees Union. He was trying to hand out literature to those workers, to no avail.
Meanwhile, Norm Novitsky has his own movie to promote and he waits in a hallway to buttonhole speakers when they finish their speeches. “If the IRS didn’t exist, a lot more people would be here,” he said. “I know a lot of people that are just scared to speak up. . . . They’ll get audited.”
“It’s called ‘In Search of Liberty,’ and it’s about the Constitution,” he tells Bachmann as she walks by. Meanwhile, Norm Novitsky had his own movie to promote and he waited in a hallway to catch speakers when they finished.
“Oh good for you,” she says with a big smile. “I have to go.” She mingles for another half an hour. But that’s okay, Novitsky gets to talk to Mark Levin, the conservative radio host who ended his speech by quoting from his own book. “It’s called ‘In Search of Liberty,’ and it’s about the Constitution,” he told Bachmann as she walked by.
“You were a big inspiration for me,” Novitsky says as the two of them pose for a picture. “Oh, good for you,” she said with a big smile. “I have to go.” And then she mingled for about 30 minutes. But that’s okay. Novitsky got to talk to Mark Levin, the conservative radio host who ended his speech by quoting from his own book.
Not everyone involved with the tea party is happy about how things have gone. Just ask Dylan Stephenson, who volunteered on the Ron Paul presidential campaign (“The real tea party,” he calls it) and who has fled to the bar even though it’s still a quarter till noon. “You were a big inspiration for me,” Novitsky said as the men posed for a picture.
“I get so frustrated talking to these neocons that I need a . . . shot of Jameson,” he says, also noting that the tea party has become much more about social issues than he is comfortable with. “If the tea party wants to keep Democrats in power, they should just keep doing what they are doing.” Not everyone involved with the tea party is happy about how things are going. Just ask Dylan Stephenson, who volunteered on the Ron Paul presidential campaign (“The real tea party,” he called it) and who fled to the bar even though it was only a quarter till noon.
“I get so frustrated talking to these neocons that I need a . . . shot of Jameson,” he said, also noting that the tea party has become much more about social issues than he is comfortable with. “If the tea party wants to keep Democrats in power, they should just keep doing what they are doing.”