'Tea baggers' becoming a force to be reckoned with

WASHINGTON - Two and a half centuries after the Boston Tea Party, the people of Massachusetts have shaken up the political establishment once again by rejecting a candidate picked by the Democratic Party for the seat that Senator Ted Kennedy had occupied for his entire career.

Strangely enough, today's political earthquake bears striking similarities to the historical event of 1773 when American patriots hurled 342 tea chests into Boston harbour to protest against the British colonial tax on tea.

It is not by accident that they have inspired a new force in American politics - known as the "tea baggers" - which today represents a threat to both mainstream parties.

In Massachusetts, the Democrats are paying for neglecting independent voters who are more numerous than registered Democrats in a state which the party had taken for granted.

The voters ignored personal appeals from President Barack Obama and ex-President Bill Clinton to elect Republican Scott Brown whose door-to-door campaign picked up on their concerns. The overriding issue became healthcare reform - ironically the issue closest to Kennedy's heart - but only insofar as it crystallised voters' fears about the recession.

Massachusetts has a universal healthcare scheme, but the voters bought the conservatives' argument that it was a bad idea to spend more money nationally on health insurance at a time when unemployment stands at 10 per cent and an economic stimulus package has saddled the nation with a rising tide of debt.

The Democrats' call for affordable healthcare to be provided to 31 million more Americans was not heeded in the state which pays the highest insurance premiums in the nation.

When Obama came to office it was with a pledge to enact "change we can believe in". But his decision to plunge straight into healthcare reform in the worst recession in living memory proved controversial. Last northern summer saw the first mass protests of the "tea baggers", parading with their anti-tax, anti-big government, and anti-Socialism banners.

Their gurus are entertainers such as talk radio host Rush Limbaugh and Fox TV's Glenn Beck, a recovering alcoholic and convert to Mormonism, who use their popular shows as a stick with which to beat the political elite.

Although the Massachusetts special election was a disaster for Democrats, the future holds perils for Republicans as well as the two main parties prepare for mid-term elections in November, in which one third of the Senate, and the full House, are renewed.

Democratic activists are already pessimistic about their candidates' chances in November, following the loss of the governorships of New Jersey and Virginia last year. Several top Democrats have decided against running, and even the seat of Senate Majority leader Harry Reid is in jeopardy.

The mainstream politicians' attitude towards the tea baggers has been patronising. But there are signs that the movement that caught the imagination of the white suburbs of America could occupy more political space, as the tea baggers step up their attempt to purge moderates from the Republican Party.

The Tea Bag Party has registered in Florida. In one New York congressional district, they forced out the Republican candidate and substituted their own conservative challenger last November, only to see their effort backfire when voters picked the Democratic candidate. The tea baggers are holding their first convention in Nashville in two weeks' time, an event which according to organisers is now sold out. Sarah Palin is to address the final banquet.

Senator-elect Brown attributed the result in Massachusetts to voter disenchantment with the partisan gridlock in Washington. But by electing a Republican, the state's voters have in fact ensured that the political bickering will get worse, by depriving the Democrats of their filibuster-proof 60-seat majority in the Senate.

Washington insiders say the likelihood now is that the Republican Party's positions will become more extreme in reaction to the tea baggers pressing on their right.

But despite the conservatives' claims that the Massachusetts election was a referendum on Obama, it is widely acknowledged voters were simply expressing their anger and frustration at an economic crisis which has no end in sight, and their scepticism about Government. Just like Howard Beale, the TV hero of the movie Network, they're mad as hell and they're not going to take it any more.