In January 2009, then-President Barack Obama had no sooner assumed office after handily defeating the Republican nominee, John McCain, when opposition to his overreaching agenda galvanized a center-right movement. At the suggestion of CNBC editor Rick Santelli, whose live, on-air rant of Feb. 19 of that year perfectly captured the spirit of the opposition, the modern-day Tea Party was formed.
Initially, the Tea Party was ridiculed by Democrats and ignored by the media — despite its large, nationwide Tax Day Tea Parties. It wasn’t until GOP and Tea Party-endorsed candidate Scott Brown won Ted Kennedy’s former U.S. Senate seat in a special election held Jan. 19, 2010, in liberal Massachusetts, that anyone really started taking the Tea Party seriously.
