After a largely scandal-free first term, President Obama appears likely to spend a lot more time mired in the politics of scandal after last week’s Benghazi hearings and Friday’s revelation of alleged political targeting at the IRS. My research suggests that the structural conditions are strongly favorable for a major […] Read more »
Three New Facts About the Tea Party
For a movement that’s helped to reshape the Republican Party—and by extension, reshape American politics—we know shockingly little about the people who make up the Tea Party. While some in the GOP once hoped to co-opt the movement, it’s increasingly unclear which group—the Tea Party or establishment Republicans—is running the […] Read more »
The Tea Party, four years later
When the Tea Party movement made its official debut on April 15, 2009, it made quite a political splash with events across the country protesting President Obama’s policies on that Tax Day. Four years later, that splash looks more like pebble thrown into a pond. … One reason why the […] Read more »
The Republican tug of war between Hispanics and the Tea Party
Conventional wisdom suggests that the Republican Party needs to support comprehensive immigration reform if it is to become more diverse and attract more Hispanic voters into its coalition. But the GOP may have a tough time bringing the Tea Party along for the ride. New data from a joint survey […] Read more »
The GOP’s Conservative Christian Conundrum
… Although in recent years conservative Christians have been outshone by the Tea Party, they remain a potent force in American politics as the bedrock of Republican Party’s electoral coalition. They are sometimes discussed as independent movements, but our recent surveys have found that the Tea Party and Christian conservatives […] Read more »
2013 is for political slackers
… There are already signs that the Tea Party’s momentum is reversing. Leaders acknowledge that many Patriot chapters are disappearing and fewer new recruits are mustering to units that survive. It is difficult to sustain any organization in this day and age that isn’t achieving its primary goals and objectives. […] Read more »