Can we cut to the heart of the matter? The Tea Party is energized, not by political ideals or policy, but by fear-based hatred. Like the red cape held in front of the enrage bull at a bull fight, the GOP ‘gins its base’ by simply waving a picture of Obama with the help of Fox News and rest of the right-wing media complex.
But the Tea Party is not a single thing, it is an ad-hoc ‘coalition’, including:
Ultra budget hawks and anti-tax folks,
Libertarian/anarchist and,
Theocratic ‘Christians’ and the anti-abortion crowd.
But the presence of Obama in the White House brought a massive influx of new recruits, and they brought centuries of racial hatreds with them.
It is this latter group that has radicalized and energized the coalition. They changed its character and vision to a laser focus on extinguishing the Obama presidency.
Hatred is a strong emotion, and emotions move people to the polls. Much of what happened in the 2010 elections was energized by the newest wing of the Tea Party coalition. The House was turned on its head, and has faithfully fulfilled the role of Tea Party lackey, ever since.
Meanwhile, GOP central – who care about power and very little else – saw this energy, saw the incredible results of that election and have leveraged that energy at every turn.
The behaviors and unstated goals of the Tea Party and their tools in the Republican House have been a study in racial catharsis. With the gasoline of Obama’s presidency thrown on the fire of very real economic fears emanating from the 2008-2009 financial meltdown, millions of otherwise disinterested citizens tuned to Fox News and other right-wing media to get the latest proof that their world was under attack, and, you guessed it, it is all Obama’s fault. I watched as some of my workmates became addicted to the BS; they were working through their fears and needed the confirmation offered by Fox and Friends.
I believe that the insanity of what we have seen over the past 5+ years (including the House threatening the nation’s credit rating, shutting down the government, 50 votes to repeal the ACA, failure to pass the immigration law, and no compromise on the Federal budget, plus the rise of the Clive Bundy ‘patriots’ [add your own favorite memories here] is evidence of a hate-distorted world view.
So, if this summary is correct, what happens when Obama’s term expires and is no longer in full view on Fox News? What is there to talk about when the name and face of the great imposter, alien, thug, weak, feckless, tyrannical, Communist, Muslim, Kenyan named Obama is nowhere to be found?
Answer: The racial catharsis stops. The unexpressed fear and rage will fold its wings and return to nestle restlessly in the heart of these otherwise normal folks, right where it was before the election of 2008.
And with that, a key driving force of the current form of the Tea Party dies. The other Tea Party members will have to fight on without the powerful winds of hatred filling their sails. The budget hawks, the Libertarians, and the Theocratic ‘Christians’ will no longer have those hot flames to coalesce around; they will be on their own, again.