Fox News-driven "tea parties" fail to ignite popular uprising among U.S. conservatives

[chat_noir]

A reportedly corporate-financed grassroots" anti-tax movement, paid for, planned and promoted by right wing think tanks, corporate lobbyists and Fox News Channel, has failed to bring about the "popular uprising" against the Obama administration its creators had hoped for.

The day of "tea parties" pushed by Republican operatives and partisan advocacy groups such as FreedomWorks, that sought to protest the Obama government's tax and stimulus policies by encouraging people to 'wave tea bags' brought about only a few hundred "tea-baggers" in most parts of the U.S., despite relentless promotion by Fox News TV hosts.

snip

Rising popularity in the polls for President Barack Obama, a strengthening economy, and the unfortunate choice of name for the movement ("tea-bagging" is slang for a sexual act) are considered the prime reasons for the failure of the event*, but recent exposure of the groups behind the protests also drove some away from taking part.

In the days leading up to the supposedly grassroots event, the New York Times' Paul Krugman noted, "a key role is being played by FreedomWorks, an organization run by Richard Armey, the former House majority leader, and supported by the usual group of right-wing billionaires. And the parties are, of course, being promoted heavily by Fox News."

http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/News+driven+parties+fail+ignite+popular+uprising+among+conservatives/1499732/story.html

*emphasis mine

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

1. There is no definition of what the movement is about aside from sour grapes that a BLACK DEMOCRAT is

PRESIDENT.

[baldingrockwarlord2]

4. BINGO! n/t

[Bicoastal]

2. Define "failure."

Not to take the side of the 'baggers, but if you judge the event by the amount of media attention it got, to an unbiased observer it was maybe a little successful. :(

I guess we'll have to see if Obama's ratings go up or down after today--whether the rallies had an effect pales in comparison to whether the American people THINK they had an effect.

[notesdev]

3. That's not what I saw today

My middle of the road, fairly quiet suburban town had what must have been a thousand people at their gathering. I couldn't believe it; gatherings of that size are unheard of around here.

[Bicoastal]

6. Regional bias, my friend, regional bias...

...the same thinking from last October had us all freaking out because someone in Western Pennsylvania encountered an UNPRECEDENTED number of McCain/Palin signs in the neighborhood, plus all their Democratic friends were "voting for Sarah."

As a local event, this may have been huge; as a "national uprising," maybe not so much...

[Frances]

7. where do you live?

[notesdev]

8. This is northern Virginia

This is an area that gets a huge chunk of its income directly from the federal government. This area went very strongly for Obama and is represented by a loyal Democrat with many terms under his belt (Moran, VA-7).

[esfergus]

10. Plano, TX had about a 1000 too. So what?

We had a 1000 maybe at Parker and Preston in Plano, TX. So what? There are over 250,000 in population here. That means that essentially nothing happened.

This was a fart in a windstorm. You couldn't even smell it it was gone so fast.

I'm waiting for the Daily Show to come on. With this kind of material--it should be really funny.

I saw an "interview" by CNN where the reporter obviously got upset by a poster showing Obama as the Fuhrer. The guy holding it when asked how he could contend that Obama is a fascist had a the compelling argument of, "Because he is!".

You ought to watch it. The guy with the sign doesn't even know what a fascist or a socialist is. The people that were out there today have some serious problems and an excess of intelligence isn't one of them.

I feel sorry for the children that were dragged along and had to endure crappy weather and get their play time wasted. At least here in Plano the weather was beautiful albeit a bit blustery.

I'm going to find a list of Fox corporate sponsors and contact them and express the fact that I won't be doing business with anyone that advertises on Fox if I can possibly help it. I'd suggest that y'all do the same. I'm sure I can get the list from Media Matters without too much trouble.

The Daily Show is about on. Time to do something to entertain myself.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

13. Plano is massively right wing anyway also, hardly takes courage to espouse wingnut views there.

[Seen the light]

5. I completely agree with that they failed, but I question whether the economy is improving

Haven't seen any signs of that.

[esfergus]

9. Phony Outrage Fueled by Fox News

What I truly don't get is don't these people understand slang? Are they completely unaware of what "tea bagging" means?

I'm sure they know now, but Fox had branded this already and I guess it was too late.

This has been an issue that was created by Fox, for Fox, and their very strange viewing audience. What suddenly brought this to a boil? Well, nothing really. The highest marginal tax rate went from 35% to 39.6%. If you are fortunate enough to be making that kind of pay in today's economy I guarantee you you won't miss it.

I paid that rate for three consecutive years and I used to kind of enjoy it. Didn't enjoy the year I had to write an $85,000 check in addition to the $175,000 that had already been withheld, but it wasn't painful. I wasn't threatened with not being able to pay my bills and didn't have to stop buying anything I wanted. The more that was taxed at that rate the better I was doing.

What I noticed is that the people that CNN were trying to interview didn't look like they were making over $200,000 a year. They're spending their time and energy protesting something that doesn't affect them. Most of the people I saw in these clips look like they probably got a tax cut. I did. My income is a tenth (at best) of what it was in 1999.

This is probably the silliest thing I've ever seen. It's pathetic. The crowds were small, disorganized, and incoherent.

The saddest thing is that Fox can get better ratings from a tiny minority of the country. And advertisers still line up. The Republicans love the platform, but in the end they'll pay. They aligning their party with a radical fringe that won't ever help win a general election.

I still can't believe that this is what our country has sunk to. But the evidence is right in front
of me.

[Critters2]

14. Right on all points! Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[Tarheel_Dem]

11. A big ol' cup of FAIL!

:rofl:

[goforit]

12. Bush's Patriot Act took their rights away. LOL!!! Now as extremist they're a terrorist.

[AspenRose]

15. I read somewhere they're planning to do this shit again July 4th

:eyes: