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GORDON L. WEIL: Tea Party exploits nation’s worries about economy, loss of self-esteem

Four seemingly unrelated, recent news stories have something in common.

• China, America’s chief rival, has become the second-largest economy in the world.

• Candidates backed by the Tea Party movement are changing the face of American politics from Maine to Alaska.

• Japan, plagued by economic stagnation and displaced by China, has gone from being a dynamic country to being demoralized.

• Sen. John McCain, R.-Ariz., last week attacked Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., adding, “I’ve had the unpleasant experience of having to serve with her.”

The common element in these items is that the United States, the world’s only super power, is losing its mojo — its self-confidence and self-esteem, and the Tea Party, capturing Republican support, is capitalizing on the resulting sense of loss.

The United States is suffering from its greatest recession, while China, free of concerns about the environment, fair pay or human rights, is surging.

Americans fear that their country will face the same fate as Japan, where unbridled prosperity has given way to reduced expectations.

The Tea Party offers a hope that a return to old-fashioned values, including more self-reliance and less government, will restore American self-confidence. Certainly its bravado makes some people feel better, but makes other people feel scared.

McCain, once the self-styled “maverick” who could reach across party lines, got the Tea Party message and turned sharply to the right, leading to his needlessly confrontational remark about another senator from a neighboring state. More Republicans are coming to accept that political gains come from confrontation rather than cooperation.

Lacking a single, national spokesperson, the Tea Party movement is open to a wide variety of interpretations about its purpose.

To me, it looks like its partisans believe that the system has become unfair, taking money from some people to help others who should stand on their own without relying so much on government.

Under Franklin D. Roosevelt, we came to understand that government must place a safety net under the free-market economy. In later decades, government’s role has expanded to include Medicare and Medicaid and now national health insurance. Now some Tea Partiers want to eliminate that expanded role and even such Roosevelt measures as Social Security.

The Tea Party seems to be nostalgic for a period when more people had to fend for themselves. Apparently, many agree with that view, however unrealistic some proposals may be. Perhaps they think they must take extreme positions if there is to be any change.

The health-care legislation is the rallying point. To cover tens of millions more people costs money. We don’t have much money, thanks to the recession and the need to reduce debt, both governmental and personal.

Both parties caused the debt burden, and some leaders in each party admit it. The Republicans are ready to abandon the big spending ways of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush and to accept the Tea Party platform; Democrats are reluctant to take a step back from a policy of solutions through spending.

The Democrats are getting most of the blame for unpopular spending and the growth of government. Coupled with news about China’s growing economic power and fears of decline, Americans are pessimistic.

American presidents have helped keep up our spirits in time of crisis. Franklin Roosevelt, Reagan and even Bill Clinton exuded confidence and made Americans feel good.

Barack Obama comes across as competent and intelligent but his ability to inspire us has faded. His failure to sell his achievements is a major factor in the Democrats’ troubles this year. For example, taxes for 95 percent of working families were cut, but who knows that?

He wanted to get his major programs adopted at the start of his term, though the timing turned out to be bad in terms of the economy and the crisis of confidence.

Obama promised change, but Congress, deeply divided by partisanship, insisted on business as usual and only undermined confidence further. Its performance, more than any other single factor, has fed a loss of pride and a loss of confidence in the ability of the American people and their government to surmount challenges and lead the world.

It seems likely the Tea Partiers will do well this year, and the Democrats will fall from their high point of two years ago. Political warfare and deadlock could be the result. But if liberal Democrats and some Republicans get the message that they must seek a moderate middle ground, the election could produce a positive result.



Gordon L. Weil, a weekly columnist for this newspaper, is an author, publisher, consultant and former international organization, U.S. and Maine government official. 

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