The Tea Party Movement and Its Effectivity

Last class period we shared some of our own opinions about the Tea Party Movement with the rest of the class. I realized quickly that many of my own classmates do not support the Tea Party, dislike the Tea Party, or have negative opinions about the Tea Party. This does not surprise me, because I know that while the Tea Party may stand for some positive causes such as encouraging people to become more actively involved in government, they are also portrayed as having radical members in the media who stand for causes that my classmates may not support. What surprised me though, was that many of my classmates didn't seem to think that the Tea Party is very effective, or that it could have the potential to be much more effective. I feel that the Tea Party has actually been extremely effective in gaining support. When I think about all of the coverage that is done every single day on the Tea Party- It has to be the single most talked about issue in America for months now... The movement does not seem to have hit a plateau either- it keeps building, and the most recent election is a reminder of that. Now I think that GOP is strongly picking up on the importance of the Tea Party Movement for its own candidates and what it means for the future. Just as I'm going to write about in my paper, I think that the GOP and the Tea Party Movement are deeply connected and not divided in their ways. I would like to remind my classmates that just because you may not agree with the Tea Party Movement and their motives, that does not mean that they have not been successful. I'm sure that as we all begin working on our papers at least a few of us will discover reasons behind the Tea Party's success and appeal, and the rising number of Americans who support it. I'm excited to see if me or any of my classmates have paradigm shifts.