What the Tea Party Wants. Also: Video Send-up on ‘Why I’m Voting Republican’

J.J. Goldberg October 27, 2010

When the Tea Partiers say they want to “take our country back,” what is the prior state they want to restore it to? Washington Post columnist Harold Meyerson wrote a smart piece today pointing out that their rhetoric is directed against Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal and Woodrow Wilson’s Progressive reforms. It follows that they want to recapture the good old days before there was Social Security, women’s suffrage, child labor laws or a minimum wage.

This video makes the same point in a slightly different format–it features a parade of ordinary Americans explaining why they plan to vote Republican (including: “because I need the goverment to tell me who I can love”). It’s hilarious and wickedly blunt. (3 minutes, 29 seconds.)

J.J. Goldberg is editor emeritus of the Forward, where he served as editor in chief for seven years (2000-2007).

The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Forward. Discover more perspectives in Opinion. To contact Opinion authors, email [email protected].

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