Synopses & Reviews
A surprising and revealing look inside the Tea Party movement—where it came from, what it stands for, and what it means for the future of American politicsThey burst on the scene at the height of the Great Recession—angry voters gathering by the thousands to rail against bailouts and big government. Evoking the Founding Fathers, they called themselves the Tea Party. Within the year, they had changed the terms of debate in Washington, emboldening Republicans and confounding a new administration's ability to get things done.
Boiling Mad is Kate Zernike's eye-opening look inside the Tea Party, introducing us to a cast of unlikely activists and the philosophy that animates them. She shows how the Tea Party movement emerged from an unusual alliance of young Internet-savvy conservatives and older people alarmed at a country they no longer recognize. The movement is the latest manifestation of a long history of conservative discontent in America, breeding on a distrust of government that is older than the nation itself. But the Tea Partiers' grievances are rooted in the present, a response to the election of the nation's first black president and to the far-reaching government intervention that followed the economic crisis of 2008-2009. Though they are better educated and better off than most other Americans, they remain deeply pessimistic about the economy and the direction of the country.
Zernike introduces us to the first Tea Partier, a nose-pierced young teacher who lives in Seattle with her fiancé, an Obama supporter. We listen in on what Tea Partiers learn about the Constitution, which they embrace as the backbone of their political philosophy. We see how young conservatives, who model their organization on the Grateful Dead, mobilize a new set of activists several decades their elder. And we watch as suburban mothers, who draw their inspiration from MoveOn and other icons of the Left, plot to upend the Republican Party in a swing district outside Philadelphia.
The Tea Party movement has energized a lot of voters, but it has polarized the electorate, too. Agree or disagree, we must understand this movement to understand American politics in 2010 and beyond.
Review
“The beauty of
Boiling Mad is that its room-temperature calm. With fresh and surprising reporting, Kate Zernike cuts through the hype on both sides to show the Tea Party as it really is, not as partisans depict it. Its a complete, balanced, incisive and important account of a reactionary movement thats changing the country.”--Jonathan Alter, author of
The Promise: President Obama, Year OneReview
“Required reading for anyone who wants to understand the Tea Party movement.”—Gail Collins,
The New York Times “Illuminating… a picture of how different some Tea Partiers are from the Republican establishments view of the movement.”—
The New York Times Book Review “[Zernikes] concise, elegantly written book is a refreshing reminder of what traditional journalism — so often despised and discounted these days — can contribute to the public conversation. . . . A convincing portrait of the [tea party] movements most ardent activists.”—
Los Angeles Times “A brisk chronicle of the people who have streamed to the protests [and] flocked to the polls.”—
The New Republic “The most informative and readable.”—
The Hill “The beauty of
Boiling Mad is that its room-temperature calm. With fresh and surprising reporting, Kate Zernike cuts through the hype on both sides to show the Tea Party as it really is, not as partisans depict it. Its a complete, balanced, incisive and important account of a reactionary movement thats changing the country.”—Jonathan Alter, author of
The Promise: President Obama, Year One
Synopsis
A surprising and revealing look inside the Tea Party movement--where it came from, what it stands for, and what it means for the future of American politicsThey burst on the scene at the height of the Great Recession--angry voters, gathering by the thousands to rail against bailouts and big government. Evoking the Founding Fathers, they called themselves the Tea Party. Within the year, they had changed the terms of debate in Washington, emboldening Republicans and confounding the Obama administrations ability to get things done.
Boiling Mad is Kate Zernikes eye-opening look inside the Tea Party, introducing us to a cast of unlikely activists and the philosophy that animates them. It is a movement full of color and contradiction: the Tea Partiers loathe big government, but many are on Medicare; they push fiscal responsibility, yet some have declared bankruptcy. They have energized the electorate, but further polarized it, too.
Far from a fringe movement, the Tea Party reflects longstanding discontent among Americans who might otherwise share little in common. We have to understand it if we are to understand politics in 2010 and in the future. Boiling Mad will dispel the myths and reveal the truth about the Tea Party and what it means for our country.
Synopsis
"Concise [and] elegantly written. . . . A convincing portrait of the movement's most ardent activists."—Los Angeles TimesThey burst on the scene at the height of the Great Recession—thousands of angry voters railing against bailouts and big government—and within the year, the Tea Party had changed the terms of debate in Washington. This new populist movement set the agenda for the 2010 midterm elections, propelling a historic shift of power in Congress and capturing the mood of an anxious country. By election day, a remarkable four in ten voters called themselves Tea Party supporters.
Boiling Mad is Kate Zernike's eye-opening look inside the Tea Party, introducing us to its cast of unlikely activists and the philosophy and zeal that animate them. She shows how the movement emerged from an unusual alliance of young, Internet-savvy conservatives and older people who came to the movement out of fear and frustration. She takes us behind the scenes as well-connected groups in Washington move to mobilize the grassroots energy, and inside the campaign that best showed the movement's power and its contradictions. Putting the Tea Party in the context of other conservative revolts, Zernike shows us how the movement reflects important philosophical and cultural strains that have long been a feature of American politics.
About the Author
Kate Zernike is a national correspondent for The New York Times and was a member of the team that shared the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting. She lives with her family outside New York City.