Is Another Tea Party Brewing…Or Something Bigger?

By Joe DeSantis A few days ago, a smart pollster and researcher we work with at Gingrich 360 suggested an intriguing possibility – that another TEA Party is brewing in America. Since then, I cannot stop seeing the analogy while looking at the news. The details are different, but the gestalt is the same. In 2008 and 2009, the TEA Party was reacting against government bailouts in response to a crisis and an overreach into the lives of ordinary Americans in the form of Obamacare. Today, there is rebellion brewing against the government’s response to the coronavirus crisis, namely its anti-constitutional overreach that is destroying jobs and lives. Both time periods were marked by growing grassroots anger, rejection of conventional Washington wisdom, renewed interest in Constitutional rights and, of course, frustration with a sneering, liberal news media that refused to report honestly on what the movements were about. Ten years ago, we had the news media portraying the TEA Party as a racist reaction to a black president. Today, the news media is describing efforts to reopen the country as a reckless disregard for human life. They were wrong then and they were wrong now. The scenes from New Jersey, Texas and elsewhere of small business owners reopening in defiance of their state and local governments reminds me of Rick Santelli’s rant on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. It remains to be seen if the bubbling anger will coalesce into a movement. States are beginning to loosen up restrictions, so maybe this energy will dissipate. But it should not be thought of as gone, only lying in wait. As this same pollster we work with pointed out, Americans have gotten even better at organizing themselves in the past 10 years. I suspect that if schools do not open in the fall, there will be an eruption of anger at our elected officials, given that they would have been given months to prepare but still failed to develop a solution. Furthermore, I am certain that if governments attempt to reimpose lockdowns in the fall, there will be a massive revolt – perhaps unlike anything we have seen in modern times. Vast swaths of society will likely refuse to comply. What will happen then? Joe DeSantis is the Chief Strategy Officer at Gingrich 360. He leads the Better Care Project at Gingrich 360 to create a health care system that leads to longer, healthier lives, and lower medical costs for all Americans. - Newt Newt's Latest Podcasts: