# When did the teaparty become a subset of the Republicans? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 10, 2013, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-teaparty-become-a-subset-of-the-republicans/670921 "2013-10-10T21:21:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-teaparty-become-a-subset-of-the-republicans/670921/21 "2013-10-11T02:49:41Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I remember when the Tea party first came out, it was portrayed as bipartisan . . . Well, we all experimented a little in college, that don’t make it a life choice. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-teaparty-become-a-subset-of-the-republicans/670921/22 "2013-10-11T03:41:33Z")
IMO, “tea party” was just a label applied to a _pre-existing_ subset of the Republican Party. It just felt new because they’d been quiet for eight years, but they’ve been around for a long time. I think it’s largely the same movement that howled for Clinton to be impeached, annihilated gourds to prove he killed Vince Foster, defeated the ERA, formed the John Birch Society, etc. There is no new thing under the sun. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-teaparty-become-a-subset-of-the-republicans/670921/23 "2013-10-11T03:45:47Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > I’m sure the Tea Party would be just as happy to embrace a Democrat who believed in their principals of limited government and fiscal responsibility. During my lifetime, the only party that has truly acted on fiscal responsibility has been the Democrats. The Republicans just talk about it. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-teaparty-become-a-subset-of-the-republicans/670921/24 "2013-10-11T04:01:28Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > There is no new thing under the sun. That’s what the TP thinks, but it ain’t true. ---
**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:** [October 11, 2013, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-teaparty-become-a-subset-of-the-republicans/670921/25 "2013-10-11T14:45:10Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Lord Feldon** : > > …annihilated gourds to prove he killed Vince Foster,… Er, what? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-teaparty-become-a-subset-of-the-republicans/670921/26 "2013-10-11T14:56:19Z")
[Dan Burton, R-IN.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Burton#Vincent_Foster) > [@](#): > > Burton gained attention for re-enacting the alleged crime in his backyard with his own pistol and a watermelon standing in for Foster’s head. After hearings into Democratic fundraising (see section below) began, a Democratic National Committee staffer appeared in a pumpkin suit with a button that read, “Don’t shoot.” ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2013, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-teaparty-become-a-subset-of-the-republicans/670921/27 "2013-10-12T09:08:46Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > The acronym part is nonsense, it’s a backronym that was tacked on later, well after the TP was formed/turfed. Right – Doubtful the TP would have coined itself using a New York Yiddish-derived locution. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-teaparty-become-a-subset-of-the-republicans/670921/28 "2013-11-05T14:22:28Z")
Shows what I know- I thought the Tea Party was owned by the Kock brothers. Question: did they, or did they not, early on refer to themselves as “teabaggers”? I have a wingnut co-worker who vociferously denys this. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-teaparty-become-a-subset-of-the-republicans/670921/29 "2013-11-05T14:54:04Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Question: did they, or did they not, early on refer to themselves as “teabaggers”? I have a wingnut co-worker who vociferously denys this. [November 10, 2009](http://washingtonindependent.com/67191/the-slur-that-must-not-be-named): > [@](#): > > And at the 9/10 pre-March on Washington event at the D.C. Armory, I [bought this button](http://www.flickr.com/photos/58372028@N00/3907451829/sizes/l/in/photostream/) on sale from a vendor The linked photo shows a Tea Party member holding a button that reads 'Proud to be a Teabagger. [The evolution of the word ‘tea bagger’](http://theweek.com/article/index/202620/the-evolution-of-the-word-tea-bagger) [emphasis mine]: > [@](#): > > **Feb. 27, 2009** > At the first anti-stimulus “New American Tea Party” rally in Washington D.C., a protestor carries a sign reading **“Tea Bag the Liberal Dems before they Tea Bag You!!”** … > > **April 1** > Several Tea Party protest sites encourage readers to **“Tea bag the fools in DC.”** Jay Nordlinger at National Review Online later admits: “Conservatives started [using the term]… but others ran and ran with it.”… > > **September 10** > Badges with the message **“Proud to be a Tea Bagger”** are still on sale at Tea Party events, according to an article written later in the year… So they did use the verb ‘teabag’ first. After being informed of what the verb means, some proclaimed themselves Teabaggers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-teaparty-become-a-subset-of-the-republicans/670921.md?page=1)