The Face Of A Tea Bagger

I've said multiple times that I believe the Tea Bagger movement really doesn't have any clear goals in mind, nor do they have any form of leadership. It is clear, however, that every shoutfest that erupts throughout the year is clearly orchestrated by people like FreedomWorks with the accompanying PR push from Fox"News".

Now, Edison Research has compiled polling data taken from last week's Tax Day Protest in Washington and come up with some revealing answers as to who the Tea Baggers look up to.

The survey, an exit poll conducted Thursday by Edison Research at the massive Tax Day protest on the National Mall, found that the attendees were largely hostile to President Barack Obama and the national Democratic Party — three-quarters believe the president “is pursuing a socialist agenda.”


Yet they aren’t enamored of the Republican Party as an alternative. Overall, three out of four tea party attendees said they were “scared about the direction” of the country and “want to send a message to both political parties.”


The results, however, suggest a distinct fault line that runs through the tea party activist base, characterized by two wings led by the politicians who ranked highest when respondents were asked who “best exemplifies the goals of the tea party movement” — former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), a former GOP presidential candidate.

It's always been clear that animosity, hatred, and misplaced rage were part of the glue that kept this group in a semi-stable state, but it's only within the last few months that the Paulite's have been showing their true colors.

Anyone remember how conservatives reacted when Ron Paul won the straw poll at CPAC? It was at that moment, that you could tell that the nuttiest were starting to take over the nut house.

Palin has always been a "face" of the Tea Bagger clan, and is often referred to as a "leader" of the movement, though the spin has continuously been that since there is not an "elected" leader of the movement that THAT is what makes it organic and pure grass-roots. But Palin's status is actually no greater than the status of a movie star. Conservatives, by and large, prefer the gimmick over the substance, and Palin fits the former quite well. She's learned to be coached and to stay on message with some of the top conservative performers.

What was puzzling to me regarding this poll was that it made no mention of Glenn Beck, Michelle Bachman, or the Tea Bagger's former favorite politician Jim DeMint - and boy did he disappear fast after healthcare reform passed. This leads me to believe that, like all people that idolize a particular actor/actress/musician/author, the "idol" will become marginalized at some point when something louder, flashier, and with more pretty colors catches their attention.