As the midterm elections edge ever closer, Democratic candidates and liberal pundits have stepped up efforts to characterize Tea Party candidates and their supporters as fanatics. Whether it is Bill Maher's Dog Day Afternoon-esque ultimatum to release a Christine O'Donnell video per week, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert's satire of Glenn Beck's "Rally to Restore Honor," or Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow's long-fought effort to paint Tea Party supporters as members of a dangerous lunatic fringe, it appears that Progressives lack the empathy to understand the frustration of Tea Party supporters and the imagination necessary to reframe the discourse in a way that could capture the passion of the Tea Party and channel it into constructive debates over policy, and perhaps even, support of a Progressive agenda.
After stunning defeats in 2006 and 2008, the Republicans awakened to the realization that a vast segment of the American voting population had turned against them. Republicans understood that they would have to acknowledge their mistakes, embrace this anger, and find a way to channel it if they were to return to power. At the same time, Democrats did worse than ignore these Americans: They attacked them.
Missteps of the Left
Democrats basked in the euphoria of two stunning victories. Some pronounced that a generational shift had begun. Others, feeling invincible, began to attack the Americans who began to appear on street corners, at town halls, or in parking lots voicing concern over the nation's new direction. In a concert of scorn and derision, Progressive politicians, pundits, and bloggers busied themselves articulating reasons why the "Tea Baggers" -- a predominantly gray-haired, white, zealous, nativist demographic -- are not, and should not be part of their constituency. This shortsighted tactical blunder sealed the Democrats fate for the 2010 midterm elections.
Of course, the negative attitude of Progressives towards Tea Party supporters is not without precedent. After all, it was Barack Obama himself, as a candidate in April 2008, who said that "it's not surprising . . . that" Americans in states like Pennsylvania and Ohio "get bitter" and "cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations." Obama's remarks, made in San Francisco to a crowd of wealthy liberals, is a legitimate theoretical framework with which to interpret voter cynicism towards government and the persistence of ethnic and cultural dissonance in America. However, it became the bellwether moment for those who would characterize Democrats as effete, out of touch, intellectuals.
But more importantly, Obama's remarks hurt the feelings of millions of Americans whose beliefs are much more than blindly followed abstract precepts, as Obama's statement implies. He had kicked them while they were down rather than lifting them up as he promised. This made his rhetoric of "hope" and "change" ring hollow for millions of Americans. Obama's remarks inflicted deep wounds throughout the Midwest and in other areas of the country where the Tea Party movement has now gained strength. Worse still, Conservative commentators pour salt in this wound daily as they quote Progressives who continue to caricature and mock supporters of the Tea Party and Tea Party candidates. Far from poking fun at a "lunatic fringe," Progressives are insulting millions upon millions of hardworking, patriotic Americans whose votes could ensure continued pursuit of Progressive policies.
Could it be that the unending stream of negative portrayals designed to marginalize and alienate Tea Party supporters has amplified the narrative that the country has been taken over by a "regime" as Rush Limbaugh smugly grumbles? Such an explanation seems more plausible than simply dismissing a third of the population as ignorant racists or the unwitting stooges of Conservative media moguls.
However, with apparently little concern, the American Left has chosen to dismiss this third of the population for the first two years of the Obama presidency. A third of the population whose passion and energy could ignite the type of change the Left has longed for since the 1970s. So while the Left has dedicated their time and energy to mocking these Americans, Republicans have worked tirelessly to find the right vocabulary and imagery with which to harness this key collective.
Progressivism is often about helping the common person, so there are many within the Tea Party Movement who would be natural allies of progressive policies; instead far-right conservatives have co-opted these folks to support a corporate agenda. It's a damn shame, and needn't be that way.
I have learned much watching the videos by New Left Media on Youtube. Many view this as a lampooning of Tea Party ignorance, and it is, but it also provides remarkable lessons on their thinking. Chase Whiteside's manner lets them feel comfortable to speak their minds, but also reveals they often have no idea why they support those positions. They'll rattle off the various code-words (immigration, Obamacare, etc.) about their enemy (Progressives), but when pressed they cannot point to any actual experiences where these things harmed them. So what sold them on a message so opposed to their own best interest? Glenn Beck is their buddy, he loves America as they do, so they trust his analysis (I know, I'm being generous calling it analysis, but that IS their perspective).
Like it or not, many people think this way. Many of the reactions to Mark's essay have made it abundantly clearn that people don't like to hear criticism.
Come on progressives, learn to speak to these folks. An honest telling of our positions makes it abundantly clear they want what we want, and they are on our side.
Watching the liberal shows on TV, I more than occasionally wince when I see the downright mockery/dismissiveness by the hosts of these shows aimed at the Teabags and the generally
p.o.ed of this country.
A. They don't really know macro-economics all that well.
B. They're not taught much history, unless they major in it (which requires that you be in college).
C. The media is overwhelmingly conservative. When was the last time you saw an American tv show hosted by an openly socialist, green, left-libertarian, or anarchist? They don't even EXIST, around here. Besides the Pacifica Network, maybe a third of Air America's staff, and some college towns, it's the Sahara out there.
Sorry liberal media, once people latch on to the OTHER side of the story, you lose all credibility. Keep up the great work with the 10% unemployment and most people on food stamps in U.S. history. You guys are really knocking 'em dead! LOL!
Fox is the propaganda wing of the Conservative Movement. What I find amazing is that people like yourself seem to think that there is 10% unemployment, and a sharp uptick in the poverty rate....and Republican policies of the last years had NOTHING to do with it.
But then, if one's basic outlook on life is "What I believe is right no matter what"....I guess one can believe anything if they try hard enough.
Personally I don't like ignorance, I don't like those who rant and rave without knowing the facts. I don't like bigots. Sometimes I even mock these people myself. But I don't do it on television or from my political office. I do it alone in my room, with the shades down (I can only assume I'm alone because I'm a stupid Democrat or stupid Republican or stupid benefits recipient or stupid Midwesterner or stupid New Yorker).
I don't see anywhere in this article that implies Democrats should embrace the TP or its ideas. It talks about acknowledging instead of mocking. I'm interested in seeing what comes in Part Two.
class.
It is directed at those in our government (both parties) who routinely and consistently go against our Constitution.
A good example of that was TARP, which was passed by a majority of Democrats in a dem majority Congress, but the TPM is holdin all TARP voters accountable, without regard to party.
It is hard to argue that Democrats are not in bed with Big Business just as much as, if not more than, the Republicans when you have them bailing out Wall Street, banksters, failed corporations, back door baiilouts of Big Pharma, Big Insurnace, etc. Seems Democrats in Congress have never met a bailout they don't like. That's not playin well in any quarters, least of all with the tea party.
Oh, you know those attacks against the authentic people attending town hall meeting??? Well, at my House members meetings they came in with signs showing Obama as Hitler. Poor poor misunderstand righteous victims of the mighty progressives.