How important is the Tea Party's image?

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Tress

Tress

As I was going over my daily webcomic tour, I came across this from LICD:



To be honest, I don't think it's very funny. I'm not offended, I just think the humor is weak.

Obviously it's an exaggeration, but... how true do people think it is? Is this truly what people think of (not as a joke, but a serious perception) when they think of the Tea Party? And if it is what half of the country thinks, does that hurt the Tea Party in achieving their goals? Does it matter? Or do jokes like this only unify Tea Party supporters?
 
Krisken

Krisken

I think it's people with good intentions but can't see any further than their noses. The comic is pretty lame, but I expect nothing better from LICD.
 
phil

phil

LICD is 10 gallons of smug in a 5 gallon jug.


And if a continual flow of racism, violence and misinformation doesn't hurt the tea party's image, a webcomic that called them hill billies won't.
 
Tress

Tress

I was just using the comic as an example, I didn't think the comic itself was all that damning. I'm just wondering, are people underestimating the Tea Party? Are Tea Partiers overestimating it? Does this perception of being all rednecks hurt or help the Tea Party?
 
drifter

drifter

I've never thought of Tea Partiers as rednecks, is that really the stereotypical perception? I tend to think of them more as white suburbanites with an oppression complex.
 
phil

phil

I think the actual power of the tea party has yet to be determined. Right now I'd put my money on just another fad movement comprised of people who are generally dissatisfied with the government (so basically everyone).

If the tea party can actually go anywhere and do anything will largely depend on the following:

1) controlling the "fringe" elements which paint the rest of them in a bad light. Easier said than done though (ask every minority ever)

2) Actually coming together with a legitimate party platform that's a bit more thought out than "OBAMA AND TAXES=BAD"



If they can do that, then they might have a shot at actually getting something done and making a real change. Even I'd be excited to see it, because if it means getting us out of our two party system I'll accept that our first legitimate 3rd option largely thinks that our current president is Muslim and that is, for reasons that are somehow not racist, a bad thing.
 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

Yeah, I never think of the tea party as being a bunch of hillbillies, although I know plenty of hillbillies who are tea partiers.

As a whole, I just think of them as angry old white people, and try my best to avoid them.
 
DarkAudit

DarkAudit

I've always thought of the Tea Party as a fraud. People like Dick Armey and the Koch brothers and groups like the Club for Growth and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce taking advantage of the ruling on corporate donations to political campaigns. It's just the corporations and the uber-rich taking advantage of a fringe element and using their resources to give them a louder voice than they really deserve. Fox News wasn't covering the first Tea Party rally in 2009, they were promoting and organizing it.
 
AshburnerX

AshburnerX

If the Tea party wants to keep playing with the big boys, they are going to need to identify and excise the xenophobic, homophobic, racist, and sexist elements it currently houses. It's the only way they will ever be seen as a legitimate group outside of it's own borders and the pundits who use their antics to make money.

That being said, I predict the Tea Party suddenly loses all influence ether the moment Obama leaves office or shortly afterward.
 
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