# The Tea Party movement's overall effect on the 2010 midterms **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 16, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-movements-overall-effect-on-the-2010-midterms/553916 "2010-09-16T00:50:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-movements-overall-effect-on-the-2010-midterms/553916/101 "2010-09-23T01:26:34Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > And–that said–I have never lived in a state until now where a politician’s last name meant so much. Family connections have an effect I’ve never seen before. Yeah, the Blunts weird me out, & I’m _from_ here. The Carnahans are \*maybe \*a less outrageous case. OK, they weird me out a little too. And there was a Webster family in SW Mo., one of whom was a Roy Blunt rival before going to prison. Funny thing, I don’t remember John Danforth, John Ashcroft, Kit Bond, or Mel Hancock having this kind of blatant dynasty thing, but maybe some of them had important relatives too. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-movements-overall-effect-on-the-2010-midterms/553916/102 "2010-09-23T03:07:27Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > > [@theR](#): > > > > So how can we debate her legislative agenda when she apparently doesn’t have one? Blame the media, right? > > Christine O’Donnell has run in three primary Senate campaigns in the last four years. In one, she ran against Joe Biden. In the last, she won the Republican nomination over Mike Castle, a longtime congressman and former governor. Do you mean to tell me that at no point during any of these three campaigns she set forth no idea of her agenda, nothing about what she was against or what she would do if elected? > > I would think that the archives of Delaware’s newspapers and television stations contain plenty of information about things that O’Donnell said during those campaigns, so why isn’t the national media examining her previous runs for office in order to find out about what she’s said and what her positions are? The media certainly found out quickly enough about how long it took for her to get her college diploma and it ferreted out all sorts of information about her finances, and yet for some reason we’re supposed to believe there’s nothing out there to report on when it comes to her political goals - that when it comes to what she thinks politically she’s little but a cipher. > > So that’s why I’m calling bullshit on the media. They’re quick to spread the worst about her while simultaneously ignoring a four-year record of statements made during her three primary campaigns. > > Now, whether those statements are good or bad from either her point of view or that of the Tea Party, I have no idea. But I do know that the media is telling us virtually nothing about them and is focusing instead on personal issues, even going so far as to trumpet and make fun of things she said and did while she was still in high school. You know, it’s generally considered that the _candidate_ has some responsibility in making his/her position known to the voters. You seem to think that, in the absence of any coherent position statements from O’Donnell, that it is the responsibility of the media to start digging through the records to find the information on her views and political stances that she won’t make public herself. And then you complain because what the media chooses to publish is stuff that makes her look bad. They have NO responsibility to spin the available info to make her look good - that’s the job of O’Donnell and her campaign. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-movements-overall-effect-on-the-2010-midterms/553916/103 "2010-09-23T05:50:47Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > > [@lawoot](#): > > > > Couldn’t that also be worded as: > > > > “One notable exception to that finding is the Gallup poll, which found that other than being Rich Republican Men, self-described Tea Partiers were demographically similar to the population as a whole.” > > I think the key missing factor is age – other polls find the Tea Partiers are mostly over 45, Gallup does not. If the former is true, then the movement might be born to die in our lifetimes, just by generational attrition – that is, it represents a world-view which its members’ children do not necessarily acquire, and as Tea Partiers die off, they will not be replaced by commensurate numbers of those now young. On that note, looking at the [Pew Political Typology,](http://people-press.org/report/?pageid=949) I would say the groups most likely to make up the Tea Party’s base are the Enterprisers and the Social Conservatives – certainly not the Pro-Government Conservatives, nor the Conservative Democrats – and the Social Conservatives are “the oldest of all groups (average age is 52; 47% are 50 or older).” And, I don’t think it’s a matter of people growing more conservative as they grow older. While you could find many counterexamples, I don’t think most people change their basic political views or values much after the age of 25. No, this is a generation that sees things in a way no later generation will. And of the Enterprisers, “Only 10% are under age 30.” “Tiiiiiiime is on **my** side . . . Yes, it is!” 🆒 The youngest group, BTW, is the Bystanders; the next-youngest is Liberals; then Pro-Government Conservatives and Upbeats. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-movements-overall-effect-on-the-2010-midterms/553916/104 "2010-09-23T07:45:42Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [T]he Tea Party’s base are the Enterprisers and the Social Conservatives – certainly not the Pro-Government Conservatives, nor the Conservative Democrats – and the Social Conservatives are “the oldest of all groups (average age is 52; 47% are 50 or older).” And, I don’t think it’s a matter of people growing more conservative as they grow older. While you could find many counterexamples, I don’t think most people change their basic political views or values much after the age of 25. No, this is a generation that sees things in a way no later generation will. And of the Enterprisers, “Only 10% are under age 30.” > > “Tiiiiiiime is on **my** side . . . Yes, it is!” 🆒 > > The youngest group, BTW, is the Bystanders; the next-youngest is Liberals; then Pro-Government Conservatives and Upbeats. How old are you, BrainGlutton? I guess I’ve never put any thought into it, but if someone asked me, I probably would’ve listed you in the 50+ crowd. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-movements-overall-effect-on-the-2010-midterms/553916/105 "2010-09-23T08:50:14Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > > > I think the key missing factor is age – other polls find the Tea Partiers are mostly over 45, Gallup does not. If the former is true, then the movement might be born to die in our lifetimes, just by generational attrition – that is, it represents a world-view which its members’ children do not necessarily acquire, and as Tea Partiers die off, they will not be replaced by commensurate numbers of those now young. > > On that note, looking at the [Pew Political Typology,](http://people-press.org/report/?pageid=949) I would say the groups most likely to make up the Tea Party’s base are the Enterprisers and the Social Conservatives – certainly not the Pro-Government Conservatives, nor the Conservative Democrats – and the Social Conservatives are “the oldest of all groups (average age is 52; 47% are 50 or older).” And, I don’t think it’s a matter of people growing more conservative as they grow older. While you could find many counterexamples, I don’t think most people change their basic political views or values much after the age of 25. No, this is a generation that sees things in a way no later generation will. And of the Enterprisers, “Only 10% are under age 30.” > > “Tiiiiiiime is on **my** side . . . Yes, it is!” 🆒 > > The youngest group, BTW, is the Bystanders; the next-youngest is Liberals; then Pro-Government Conservatives and Upbeats. William F. Buckley once said to Charlie Rose in regard to conservatism vs. liberalism: “_Life is our secret weapon_.” 😃 Liberalism, socialism, communism, etc., are all naive notions of youth. Once people get some life experience under their belt and begin to develop an understanding of human nature and the way the world really works, they find themselves becoming more and more conservative. Fortunately for the U.S., the largest population segment in history - the baby boom generation - is reaching that point in life and it will have a huge impact upon the politics of the future, with its impact being bostered even further by succeeding generations which will become more and more conservative the older they get. I’m afraid the tenets of liberalism and the reverberations of the counter-culture era itself are, like Mick Jagger himself, becoming old, irrelevant and outdated. This country is solidly center-right and conservatism is asserting itself more and more aggressively as time goes by. Liberalism, socialism, etc., never stand the test of time. The horrendous experiment that was communism is way to hell and gone, and the social democracies of Europe are turning more and more rightward as the social and economic problems inherent with socialism become more and more pronounced. You may have some things on your side for the time being, but time, I’m afraid, ain’t one of them. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-movements-overall-effect-on-the-2010-midterms/553916/106 "2010-09-23T11:38:51Z")
Keep whistling past that graveyard… ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-movements-overall-effect-on-the-2010-midterms/553916/107 "2010-09-23T14:05:18Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > > > [T]he Tea Party’s base are the Enterprisers and the Social Conservatives – certainly not the Pro-Government Conservatives, nor the Conservative Democrats – and the Social Conservatives are “the oldest of all groups (average age is 52; 47% are 50 or older).” And, I don’t think it’s a matter of people growing more conservative as they grow older. While you could find many counterexamples, I don’t think most people change their basic political views or values much after the age of 25. No, this is a generation that sees things in a way no later generation will. And of the Enterprisers, “Only 10% are under age 30.” > > > > “Tiiiiiiime is on **my** side . . . Yes, it is!” 🆒 > > > > The youngest group, BTW, is the Bystanders; the next-youngest is Liberals; then Pro-Government Conservatives and Upbeats. > > How old are you, BrainGlutton? I guess I’ve never put any thought into it, but if someone asked me, I probably would’ve listed you in the 50+ crowd. 47, which puts me in the “13th Generation” (Nomadic) – the next generation after the Baby Boomers in [Strauss and Howe’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Strauss) generational-archetypes schema. Which theory I find somewhat persuasive, at least to the extent that I feel I have more in common, culturally, with people 10 years younger than myself (still within the 13th Gen) than with people 5 years older (Boomers). ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-movements-overall-effect-on-the-2010-midterms/553916/108 "2010-09-23T14:21:41Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > > > On that note, looking at the [Pew Political Typology,](http://people-press.org/report/?pageid=949) I would say the groups most likely to make up the Tea Party’s base are the Enterprisers and the Social Conservatives – certainly not the Pro-Government Conservatives, nor the Conservative Democrats – and the Social Conservatives are “the oldest of all groups (average age is 52; 47% are 50 or older).” And, I don’t think it’s a matter of people growing more conservative as they grow older. While you could find many counterexamples, I don’t think most people change their basic political views or values much after the age of 25. No, this is a generation that sees things in a way no later generation will. And of the Enterprisers, “Only 10% are under age 30.” > > > > “Tiiiiiiime is on **my** side . . . Yes, it is!” 🆒 > > > > The youngest group, BTW, is the Bystanders; the next-youngest is Liberals; then Pro-Government Conservatives and Upbeats. > > William F. Buckley once said to Charlie Rose in regard to conservatism vs. liberalism: “_Life is our secret weapon_.” 😃 > > Liberalism, socialism, communism, etc., are all naive notions of youth. Once people get some life experience under their belt and begin to develop an understanding of human nature and the way the world really works, they find themselves becoming more and more conservative. People find themselves becoming less energetic as they age, perhaps. Less horny, less restless. More inured to disappointment. And they feel a sense of life’s possibilities closing off. But they **don’t** become more state-skeptical, small-government economic-libertarian, which is the particular kind of conservatism that the Tea Party is (purportedly) all about. In fact, as you get nearer and nearer to needing Social Security and Medicare . . . As for traditionalist social-religious conservatism, the **last** thing it’s based on is “an understanding of human nature and the way the world really works.” C’mon, are ya fuckin’ kiddin’?! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-movements-overall-effect-on-the-2010-midterms/553916/109 "2010-09-23T14:48:09Z")
Started a new [GD thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=579317) to debate these age/generational issues. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-movements-overall-effect-on-the-2010-midterms/553916/110 "2010-09-23T18:22:57Z")
Hilariously, I was far more Republican and conservative in my youth. As I’ve grown older and wiser, I now think the GOP is irredeemably full of shit . The Tea Bagger idiocy proves my point. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-movements-overall-effect-on-the-2010-midterms/553916/111 "2010-09-23T20:17:52Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > Hilariously, I was far more Republican and conservative in my youth. As I’ve grown older and wiser, I now think the GOP is irredeemably full of shit . The Tea Bagger idiocy proves my point. [You’re not alone.](http://www.livescience.com/health/080310-liberal-seniors.html) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-movements-overall-effect-on-the-2010-midterms/553916/112 "2010-09-23T20:29:22Z")
> [@](#): > > Liberalism, socialism, etc., never stand the test of time. The horrendous experiment that was communism is way to hell and gone, and the social democracies of Europe are turning more and more rightward as the social and economic problems inherent with socialism become more and more pronounced. Couldn’t you just as easily say that Europe is an example that conservatism, fascism, and Naziism never stand the test of time? I mean, if you’re going to be calling twentieth-century communism “liberal”, then you also have to acknowledge that fascism was conservative. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-movements-overall-effect-on-the-2010-midterms/553916/113 "2010-09-23T23:08:09Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > Hilariously, I was far more Republican and conservative in my youth. As I’ve grown older and wiser, I now think the GOP is irredeemably full of shit . The Tea Bagger idiocy proves my point. This is my experience as well. The idea that there’s a 1) natural ideological drift rightward is silly to begin with; ever talk to an old British socialist? But even given that assumption, the idea 2) that the GOP platform corresponds to the direction of such an age-related shift; & that mainstream social-democratic welfare-state liberalism belongs necessarily in the 3) same direction as totalitarian Bolshevism & thus 4) on the same ash-heap of youthful idealism–that’s just piles & piles of unfounded assumptions. Ofttimes held by those who were silly right-wingers in their youth anyway, & still are, & want to feel superior to the normal sane people who tell them they’re foolsih. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-movements-overall-effect-on-the-2010-midterms/553916/114 "2010-09-26T01:41:01Z")
The Villages in Florida is an enormous community of senior citizens. It is a hotbed of conservatives and they welcomed Palin this year. I have spent time there and was surprised how tea bagger, ultra conservative they are. ---
**Author:** ![New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9d8465/32.png) [@New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Deal_Democrat)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-movements-overall-effect-on-the-2010-midterms/553916/115 "2010-09-27T22:26:37Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > > > Don’t worry about it. A right-populist movement prone to leader-worship? What could go wrong with that? > > That sounds like a recipe for Communism. Or fascism. ---
**Author:** ![New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9d8465/32.png) [@New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Deal_Democrat)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-movements-overall-effect-on-the-2010-midterms/553916/116 "2010-09-27T22:27:46Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > The Villages in Florida is an enormous community of senior citizens. It is a hotbed of conservatives and they welcomed Palin this year. I have spent time there and was surprised how tea bagger, ultra conservative they are. And every one of them benefits from Medicare and Social Security. ---
**Author:** ![New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9d8465/32.png) [@New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Deal_Democrat)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-movements-overall-effect-on-the-2010-midterms/553916/117 "2010-09-27T22:36:09Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > ``` > Liberalism, socialism, etc., never stand the test of time. The horrendous experiment that was communism is way to hell and gone, and the social democracies of Europe are turning more and more rightward as the social and economic problems inherent with socialism become more and more pronounced. > > ``` In Europe the political center is considerably to the left of where it is in the United States. In Europe there is virtually no nostalgia for laissez faire capitalism. In no country with universal health care has there been a politically significant demand for a return to a private system. In terms of actual policy, conservative parties in Europe are somewhat to the left of the Democrats. A right wing extremist is one who wants to restrict immigration of blacks, and Muslims, not one who wants to tear apart the social safety net that has been constructed for whites. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-movements-overall-effect-on-the-2010-midterms/553916/118 "2010-09-27T22:36:43Z")
> [@New\_Deal\_Democrat](#): > > > [@gonzomax](#): > > > > The Villages in Florida is an enormous community of senior citizens. It is a hotbed of conservatives and they welcomed Palin this year. I have spent time there and was surprised how tea bagger, ultra conservative they are. > > And every one of them benefits from Medicare and Social Security. For some reason, logical consistency in political views is not a prerequisite for voting. ---
**Author:** ![New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9d8465/32.png) [@New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Deal_Democrat)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-movements-overall-effect-on-the-2010-midterms/553916/119 "2010-09-27T22:40:10Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > > [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > > > The real question is why there hasn’t been a ‘tea party’ forming on the left. > > Probably because it’s hard for leftists to get really, really mad when they see the Dems holding WH and Congress for the first time in so long. The last time something like the Tea Party happened on the left was in the 1960s and '70s – back then, they saw a lot to get mad about. Back then there was a backlash against the anti-war movement, the hippies, and the new left. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be a backlash against the Tea Party movement. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9d8465/32.png) [@New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Deal_Democrat)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-movements-overall-effect-on-the-2010-midterms/553916/120 "2010-09-27T22:41:53Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > > [@New\_Deal\_Democrat](#): > > > > And every one of them benefits from Medicare and Social Security. > > For some reason, logical consistency in political views is not a prerequisite for voting. And ignorance does not interfere with strong opinions. If anything there seems to be an inverse relationship between knowledge and the assurance that one knows the absolute truth. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-movements-overall-effect-on-the-2010-midterms/553916.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tea-party-movements-overall-effect-on-the-2010-midterms/553916.md?page=7)