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].

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO