by: Trent Derr - American Exceptionalism

You can tell that someone feels threatened by you when they publicly degrade and poke fun at you.    Given that standard, the Tea Party has been under the skin of Democrats from the day that it sprung to life a little more than 2 years ago.  As recent as the current budget battle, Harry Reid blames the Tea Party for not allowing Republicans to compromise on the Federal budget and perpetuate the excessive government spending.   Thanks Harry.  That’s the nicest thing you’ve said about the Tea Party in recent memory.

But why does the Democratic leadership actually fear the impact of the Tea Party?  Yes the Tea Party is on the other side of the ideological spectrum from the Far Left wing of the Democratic Party.  Clearly the Tea Party is fiscally conservative, believes in constitutionally limited government, and favors free market solutions.   However those positions are an accurate description of most conservative voters’ beliefs so that isn’t what is under the Democratic leaders’ skin.

The average Tea Party member is over 35 years old.    That fact aligns with the  typical  conservative voting demographic that  includes individuals over 35 years of age with a skewing of the population to those 55 and older.   So the Left’s concern isn’t caused by the fact that the Tea Party is a threat to the Left’s hold on older voters.   The older voting population has always been split between the left and the conservatives.   The older Americans with a taker mentality are liberal, and those with a builder mentality are conservative.