Just two months ago, Republicans returning to their districts were advised to avoid town halls and meetings with their constituents in person. Then an estimated 5 million Americans participated in the “No Kings” protests at more than 2,000 locations on June 14.
Voters expressed their frustration with the new administration and Congress across America, from liberal Philadelphia (ground zero for the movement) to conservative Wyoming.
As congressmen face growing hostility at town halls across the country and new waves of protests erupt on nearly every street corner, many are drawing comparisons to the Tea Party movements of 2008 and 2009.
I served as the press secretary for the grassroots group FreedomWorks at that time and helped to organize town hall events. I witnessed firsthand the power of an organic movement fueled by genuine voter anger.
People are quick to forget this, but the Tea Party did not originally begin as a partisan movement. Instead, it emerged as a grassroots force of frustrated Americans who felt their concerns weren’t being heard by their elected officials. Initially, both Republicans and Democrats were blamed, with a message that change was necessary.
There’s a crucial lesson to learn: These movements are organic. Dismissing them as manufactured and refusing to engage has, historically, backfired. Politicians burying their heads in the sand didn’t work for Democrats during the Tea Party moment, and it won’t work for Republicans now.
The key difference this time is that Republicans hold a trifecta in government, whereas back then it was Democrats. When angry crowds confronted Democrats in 2009 and 2010, they just assumed it was just Republicans venting their frustration; they were astonished by the degree of anger coming from their own voters, and could hardly believe this was genuinely bipartisan.
Reflecting on the Tea Party, there are valuable lessons to revisit — insights into what made it effective and, ultimately, why it failed to endure as a lasting social movement like women’s suffrage or the civil rights movement.
In 2008, FreedomWorks opposed the TARP bailout under President George W. Bush, arguing that it created a moral hazard by bailing out banks and socializing their risks. We built a website called AngryRenter.com to give a voice to renters who had played by the rules, only to watch reckless mortgage lenders and borrowers get bailed out. Then, one day, we saw CNBC’s Rick Santelli deliver his now-infamous rant, calling for a “Tea Party” on the Chicago trading floor. Within minutes, we had ripped the video, emailed it to our Angry Renter mailing list, and the responses poured in.
From there, our grassroots director, Brendan Steinhauser, used a platform called Ning to connect these newly energized activists. Our CEO, Matt Kibbe, recognized the moment’s potential and scrambled to fund Brendan’s organizing efforts. I connected the press with these emerging leaders. The movement didn’t need to be manufactured because it was already there. We simply provided it with tools to grow.
What made the Tea Party so special was its authenticity. It was driven by genuine anger, and it wasn’t initially partisan. The political class struggled to believe that something so powerful wasn’t backed by big money or corporate interests. In reality, it was just a few staffers, a small budget, and a Ning site.
This nonpartisan, citizen-driven narrative didn’t last long, of course. The movement gradually transformed into a political arm of the Republican Party, which is what it was by the time the Tea Party Express emerged with Sarah Palin as its spokesperson. Suddenly, the Tea Party became more focused on electing Republicans than on advocating for principles, losing its claim as a true “movement” that appeals to the better angels of our nature.
So, is a new Tea Party on the horizon? Today, we see the same kind of voter anger, but it’s broader and less focused. Republicans are mad. Independents are mad. Democrats are mad. However, anger alone cannot sustain a movement; it needs unifying principles. Right now, I don’t see those.
Where left-right divides are breaking down, “purple” groups are forming in online spaces. Today’s organizers have platforms like Substack, Reddit, X, and countless other tools to connect and amplify their voices. It’s easier than ever for grassroots movements to have a “Santelli moment” and go viral.
However, there are challenges as well. Because of computer-assisted gerrymandering, the number of competitive congressional seats has decreased, making it more difficult to translate voter anger into electoral change.
There’s also a generational shift at play. Much of today’s anger comes from younger voters who feel left out of the political process. This could be the foundation of a new movement, one that is bipartisan, independent, and focused on holding both parties accountable. If this new movement were to remain grounded in principles, it could pull America back from the brink of hyper-partisanship.
The question isn’t whether voter anger will find an outlet — it always does. The question is whether this time, it will spark a movement built to last.
Adam Brandon is senior advisor to the Independent Center.
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