Owing to the Tea Party's status as a loose association of movements, rather than a strict national organization, its city, district and state-based affiliates are the primary source of most voting guides. Certain websites, such as teaparty911.com, provide multi-state recommendations, although these should be treated as nonofficial or opinion based.Continue Reading
The Tea Party emerged in the early period of Barack Obama's first presidency and formed from a tendency within the wider conservative movement and Republican Party that was critical of President Obamas actions. In its early form, the Tea Party program coalesced a number of pre-existing organizations in a series of demonstrations against what was perceived to be President Obama's liberalizing agenda - and in particular his government's economic reaction to the 2008 financial crisis. As a result, it lacks a registered organization and a well-defined leadership.
Although lacking a uniform policy list, supporters of the Tea Party tend to endorse some form of economic libertarianism alongside an overall reduction in the size and scope of government activities. Certain affiliates, such as the Tea Party Patriots and FreedomWorks, have attempted to limit the emphasis placed on the enforcement of traditional conservative social values in the belief that too involved a debate on social libertarianism may prove divisive for the movement as a whole. As a result of such variations in policy, the endorsements issued by individual groups occasionally differ or stand at cross-purposes.Learn more about Elections