>
> I did not mean that the tea-baggers and the anti-war protestors were the
> same people, I meant that both movements were symptomatic of the decline of
> conventional political constituencies.
>
> I wouldn't go as far as Bob Morris (though his post is very interesting) -
> anti-political movements are in their nature, not things that can be turned
> to a positive purpose.
>
I see Tea Partiers as populists, and populism has a long, sometimes quite positive history in the US. (The Populist Party of the 1890's had real influence for a while.) Right now Tea Partiers are the only thing happening in US politics, given the comatose state of the Left. So, might as well jump and try to influence it. Beats sitting on the sidelines. That's my point.