Why The ‘Liberal Tea Party’ Doesn’t Exist (And Why Some People Think It Does)

As we head into the 2018 primary election season, some reporters and pundits have raised the question of whether Democratic nomination contests will turn into activist-fueled ideological purity tests—in other words, a liberal version of the Tea Party movement that has so famously roiled the Republican Party over the past decade. But it’s hard to sustain the case that the Democrats are about to undergo a leftward lurch driven by a demanding party base. CONT.

David A. Hopkins, Boston College