The Tea Party, Activism and the Road to Trump and Current Republican Politics

In the Williamson et al paper about the Tea Party and its effects on the Republican Party and Conservatism in the United States, they discuss how the Tea Party arose after the demoralizing defeat of the Republican party in the elections in 2008. It emerged as an activist movement in favor of conservative policies and values. Even though the Tea Party was not an actual political party with representation in congress, the party influenced conservative voters all across the country to vote for candidates on the Republican side that embodied more of their values than previous Republicans. The values of the Tea Party mostly attracted white middle-class conservatives that did not wish to see expansion of government and wanted current programs or less programs that would ultimately benefit those who they believed earned their economic and political places in society rather than to the undeserving who were  perceived as freeloaders that received handouts from the government. Although many conservatives across the nation did not rally under the banner of the Tea Party nor did they necessarily agree with every policy that the Tea Party represented, the politics and ideals of the Tea Party were influential enough to slowly but surely push the Republican party more to the right edge of the ideological scale. The grassroot network of the Tea Party inspired other conservatives to push for more conservative values in their candidates and in 2010 the Republicans took control of the House of Representatives for the next six years under President Obama. Eventually the Republicans were able to take control of the Senate as well and held the House and the Senate for the last two years of Obama’s tenure as President. Although the Tea Party did not completely reshape Republican values and take over the countries politics in a dramatic way it did push Republicans politics more to the right and gave the Republican party the jump start it needed after the Republicans seemed widely discredited in the politics after the 2008 election.

              

The results of the 2016 election came as a big surprise to many around the country. Many voters and political scholars believed that Hillary Clinton was sure to win the election against Donald Trump. Surveys showed that Hillary Clinton was leading Donald Trump in almost every poll and many news sources across the country showed favorable predictions for her. Yet, as we know today Donald Trump was elected as the president instead of Hillary Clinton. Many scholars have given myriad of reasons why Trump beat Clinton in the election. These have ranged from the silent Trump vote, name recognition, populist movements against immigration and trade and a politically divided America. What I focus on is that the Tea Party ultimately paved the way for a Donald Trump like candidate.

              

Donald Trump is a candidate that leans further to the right than other Republican candidates before him or even in the primaries before becoming the candidate for the Republican party. When looking at a comparison of the Tea Party Platform and the platform that Trump ran on in 2016, we can see the following comparison. Both the Tea Party and Trump want to get rid of Obamacare and replace it with a system that allows more freedom for the consumers. Both want strong immigration policies that will be enforced. Both are perceived as anti-big government or as Trump puts it “draining the swamp.” Both have strong positions on the first and second amendment rights and both have made a series of statements on voter integrity. Essentially all of the big goals that the Tea Party has are in line with the values that Trump proposes to have. Even though Trump has never said he is a Tea Party candidate, although he certainly has never turned down support from them, he represents many of the concerns that stem from this political grass-root network. The Tea Party helped start a movement that ultimately pushed the Republican party more to the right and inspired a wave of conservatism that created a almost perfect environment for Donald Trump to be elected in 2016. Looking back at the politics in congress as the Republicans over the years slowly took over the House and the Senate and many voters across the nation, in particular white middle class and even the white uneducated demographic of society, found their candidate in Donald Trump who in a way reflects the shift change in conservative mentality and the Republican party in general.