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How the Tea Party Movement Is Fundamentally Remaking Our Two-Party System
HarperCollins
September 2010
On Sale: September 14, 2010
336 pages
ISBN: 0061995231
EAN: 9780061995231
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Political
Today's raucous revolt against Washington and Wall Street is
a classic populist uprising. In Mad As Hell, two respected
political pollsters show what it means for the future of
American politics. The riotous tea parties and angry town hall meetings of last
summer seemingly took everyone by surprise. They shouldn t
have: populist movements have always arisen in times of
economic hardship and uncertainty. In Mad As Hell, pollsters
Scott Rasmussen and Doug Schoen use extensive and original
research to explore the mind and heart of the populist
uprising that has suddenly thrown American politics into
turmoil. In the past, populist movements have taken root either on
the right or on the left. Today s populist revolt is
unusually broad and has two wings: a left wing that wants
universal health care and redistributive economic policies,
and a right wing that wants to reduce the power of
government to interfere in our lives. Both are hostile to
the Washington political class, Wall Street, and the
mainstream media all of which they consider out of touch
with the concerns of real Americans. The key difference is
that left populists are effectively represented by Barack
Obama and congressional Democrats who are pursuing their
agenda, while right populists are chiefly represented by Fox
News and Rush Limbaugh an angrier and potentially more
powerful political force. So-called professionals in politics, business, and media
have completely failed to comprehend the new populism and
have dismissed it as marginal and extreme. The authors
explore the broad-based nature of the new populist movement
and explain how it is reshaping American politics whether
politicians and elite journalists like it or not. The Tea Party movement is not a flash in the pan, as many
have assumed. Nor is it a movement of racist rednecks and
ignorant boobs, as its detractors have crudely suggested. To
the contrary, it is an authentic grassroots movement of
concerned American citizens demanding to be heard by an
out-of-touch political establishment. Their concerns are
real and their issues are legitimate, the authors maintain;
moreover, the new populism is here to stay, and it has
already changed our politics for the better. In Mad As Hell, Rasmussen and Schoen have produced an
authoritative guide to the new populism, featuring a
combination of proprietary polling data, political analysis,
results from online focus groups, and interviews with
on-the-ground players. It is must-reading for anyone
interested in American electoral politics for the remainder
of the decade.
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