They are getting the band back together.
In the well-burnished legend of its founding, the Tea Party movement sprang to life at grass-roots rallies, a spontaneous protest against government overreach that grew and grew until it stunned Democrats and many moderate Republicans in the 2010 midterm elections.
On Tuesday, rallies across the country to protest the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of Tea Party groups seeking tax-exempt status recalled those glory days, drawing colourful crowds in three-cornered hats, with members singing patriotic songs and waving provocative signs like “Fire the Liars” and “I.R.S.S.” – the last two letters drawn like the lightning bolts of the Nazi SS.
Leaders of the Tea Party movement hope outrage over the IRS will rekindle grass-roots activism that in many places went dormant after big Republican electoral defeats of November 2012. They aim to link the current scandal to other government programs they consider overweening – principally the rollout of the health care overhaul law – and generate a Republican wave in the 2014 midterm elections reminiscent of 2010s.
