Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right

Hochschild begins this project with a desire to understand the Tea Party, a political movement whose ideas and ideals are in opposition to her own. The Tea Party was an American political movement within the Republican Party that dates to around 2009. It is widely understood as a rejection of Barack Obama’s policies, and its popularity is credited with a surge of support for Republican politicians and the 2010 reclamation of control of the US House of Representatives. The Tea Party sought to address fiscal issues within the US Government through a reduction of the national debt and federal budget through decreased governmental spending, thought by many on the political right to be a key weakness of left-wing governments. Rooted in a preference for small government and fiscal conservatism, the Tea Party sought to reduce both the size and influence of the American government. It opposed tax increases, stimulus programs, environmental regulations, and health care reform. Tea Party proponents supported right-to-work legislation, tighter border security, and stricter controls on immigration. Noticeably absent from Tea Party rhetoric was an interest in traditional conservative social issues. Instead, the Tea Party movement was focused on governmental reform and decreased spending.