Storm over a Tea Party

Storm over a Tea Party

The Tea Party movement is driven by two powerful emotions: anger and fear.

The groups are angry about big government, big spending, big taxes and progressive policies under the Obama administration.  And they're fearful of losing their values, their freedom and their rights.

Dozens of Tea Party groups have popped up across the United States, and you can see their strength in numbers when they co-ordinate mass rallies and protests.  And now we're starting to see their power on the political scene.  Once they decide to throw their weight behind a candidate, the Tea Partiers have proven they're capable of influencing an election outcome.

Most Tea Partiers want to stay politically separate from both the Republicans and the Democrats but their values and beliefs naturally align them more to the Republicans.

The Tea Party groups say they want to force reform within the Republican Party, make it return to its conservative platform, to the era of President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.  They've made it clear they'll endorse a candidate based on their merits and values, not necessarily their political affiliation.

For profit?

The first ever national Tea Party Convention is being held in Nashville, Tennessee.  The organisers are a for-profit group called Tea Party Nation, run by Judson and Sherry Phillips.

They say it's a way to bring together all the different groups and forge alliances.  But their decision to charge $550 for the two day event has really angered a lot of Tea Partiers, who say it goes against the grass-roots nature of their movement.

Sarah Palin, the former Republican vice presidential nominee, is the star attraction - she'll be speaking at the convention on Saturday night.  If you want to see her, that'll cost you $349. Tickets to her speech have sold out and it will likely be broadcast live on several networks.

Tami and Robert Kilmarx used to work for Tea Party Nation but quit in disgust over what they saw as the Phillips' attempts to make money off their political beliefs.  The Kilmarx's say there was no transparency with the money handling process and were offended that it was promoted as a "national event", because they say it doesn't speak for the Tea Party groups who aren't interested in profiteering from the Tea Party movement.  Tami says after this convention is over, Phillips' name will be mud among Tea Party circles.

At the registration and welcoming address on Thursday night, it was hard to ignore the one-sided demographic of the attendees.  There's virtually no one under the age of 45 and almost no African-American or minority group represented.  This is very much a white, middle-aged gathering.  And there's a lot of anger in the room too.

The 'counter-revolution'

Former Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo gave the opening speech and he really fired up the crowd, calling the Tea Party movement the counter-revolution.

A couple of highlights, which drew big applause:

"We do not have a civics literary test before people can vote in this country.  People who could not even spell the word vote or say it in English put a committed, socialist ideologue in the White House.  His name is Barack Hussein Obama.

 

"We have saved western civilisation and let me tell you it is at stake again.  It's not at stake from the Nazis or the imperial Japanese or even the Communists.  It's at stake because this cult of multiculturalism has eroded the entire fabric of western civilisation.  You look at Western Europe today, what do you have?  Islamification has occurred and it's because people won't stand up for their society."

Al Jazeera's presence at the Tea Party convention has not been warmly welcomed.

I walked up and introduced myself to the organiser, Judson Phillips.  He enthusiastically shook my hand, right up until I said I worked for Al Jazeera English.  His face instantly froze, he quickly dropped my hand and simply said, "Oh". 

I asked him if he had an issue with our network and he said, "Yes, I do."  When I asked him what it was, he replied, "I'm an American."  I said, "I don't understand, sir.  We are not anti-American and I'm offering you the chance to have your voice heard on our news channel.  We want to hear your views."

As Judson's eyes darted around the room he said, "Uh, I'll need some time to think about who I want to talk to.  But, uh, I appreciate you coming."  And he walked off. 

He headed straight to his media manager to complain about our presence.  But thankfully, Mark Skoda is supportive of Al Jazeera English, told us he watches us when he travels, appreciates our coverage and has no problem with us being at the convention.

Oh well.  You can't win them all.