Fox News obtained a Democratic National Committee memo, circulated ahead of tonight’s debate, attacking the GOP presidential candidates simultaneously for pandering to the Tea Party and protecting the rich. There’s a bit of a disconnect there, though, considering that the Tea Party is essentially a movement based on middle class discontent over government handouts, bailouts and crony capitalism.
Back in April 2010, Gallup took a look at Tea Party demographics, and you’ll notice that they’re only slightly more affluent than your average American, with 45 percent making less than $50,000 per year:
The DNC memo contains several contradictions, like this indictment of the GOP candidates for pushing “tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires and the special interests . . . They simply want to please the far-right, extreme Tea Party base of their party because that is what being the standard bearer of the Republican Party today requires.” Most Tea Partiers would be happy to dump special tax provisions in favor of lower rates. It’s one of their main complaints about green energy subsidies.
The DNC opens the memo complaining that “the extreme Tea Party dictate[s] the Republican Party’s agenda” and then concludes by exclaiming that Republican “policies would eliminate, not create, opportunities for the middle class” because Republicans “would rather seniors and the middle class sacrifice and the wealthy pay even less in taxes.” Never mind that the Gallup survey also showed Tea Partiers are just slightly older than average.
It’s not that the DNC doesn’t understand who the Tea Party is — they just have to pay lip service to a Middle Class that pays for the personal and corporate welfare policies they enact, without reaping many of the benefits. This memo doesn’t contain an argument so much as a collage of cliches — a prime example of politicians substituting vocabulary for thought.
