Part 11 (1/2)

40. The values and principles are listed at the912-project.com/about/the-9-principles-12-values/ as of May 14, 2011.

41. The figure comes from ABC News, citing the Was.h.i.+ngton DC fire department. Russell Goldman, ”Tea Party Protesters March on Was.h.i.+ngton,” ABC News, September 12, 2009. Some conservative activists, including Matt Kibbe of FreedomWorks, dramatically inflated this number. For an a.n.a.lysis, see Nate Silver, ”Size Matters; So Do Lies,” available at /2009/09/size-matters-so-do-lies.html as of May 26, 2011.

42. Ben Jones, for instance, described Beck as a ”P.T. Barnum” and ”a seller of soap,” though he also commented positively on Beck's enthusiasm. Ben Armbruster, ”Tea Party Leaders Criticize Beck's 8/28 Rally: 'All He's Doing Is Trying to Use Us to Promote Himself,” Think Progress, August 24, 2010. Available at thinkprogress.org/2010/08/24/beck-tea-party/ as of March 21, 2011.

43. Quoted in Dana Milbank, Tears of a Clown (New York: Doubleday, 2010). p. 242.

44. A number of Tea Party Republicans in 2010 would only talk to interviewers on Fox, where they knew they would get a much friendlier reception than they would in other news outlets. Tea Party candidate Christine O'Donnell reportedly claimed to have Fox News anchor Sean Hannity in her ”back pocket,” available for a softball interview at a moment's notice. See ”'Voice of the opposition': How Fox News won the 2010 election,” Media Matters, November 2, 2010. Available at mediamatters.org/research/201011020054#6 as of May 14, 2011.

45. Asked why she went on Fox rather than more mainstream networks, Tea Party candidate Sharron Angle asked the Christian Broadcasting Network, ”Well, in that audience will they let me say I need $25 dollars from a million people go to Sharron Angle.com send money?” ”'Voice of the opposition': How Fox News won the 2010 election,” Media Matters, November 2, 2010. Available at mediamatters.org/research/201011020054#6 as of May 14, 2011.

46. The misinformation promoted on Fox has been the subject of numerous books and doc.u.mentaries; we discuss this point in more detail in the Conclusion.

47. CBS News/New York Times poll, April 512, 2010.

48. Vanessa Williamson, Theda Skocpol, and John Coggin, ”The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism,” Perspectives on Politics 9 (1) (March 2011).

49. These terms were repeatedly used on Fox News to describe the Tea Party; here we list only one example for each. Gra.s.sroots: Marianne Silber on Special Report with Brett Baier, April 14, 2009. Genuine: Mark Steyn, Fox Hannity, May 6, 2009. Organic: Carl Cameron, On the Record with Greta, February 4, 2010. Spontaneous: Karl Rove, On the Record with Greta, October 26, 2010. Independent: Sarah Palin, Fox Hannity, March 17, 2010. Mainstream: Charles Gasparino, Fox Hannity, March 26, 2010.

50. Ray Rahman, ”Rupert Murdoch Talks Tea Party, China, and Fox Business ... on Fox Business,” Mediaite, November 16, 2010. Available at /uncategorized/rupert-murdoch-talks-tea-party-china-and-fox-business-on-fox-business/ as of May 11, 2011.

51. Glenn Beck, Beck, May 24, 2010.

52. Glenn Beck, Beck, January 19, 2010.

53. Greta Van Susteren, On the Record with Greta, April 16, 2009. John Fund, Fox Hannity, September 17, 2010.

54. See for example, the discussion on Special Report with Brett Baier, February 4, 2010.

55. Bill Kristol, Fox News Roundtable, February 21, 2010.

56. Rick Perlstein, Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America (New York: Scribner, 2008).

57. Newt Gingrich, On the Record with Greta, April 17, 2009.

58. Jim Pinkerton, Fox News Watch Sat.u.r.days, April 18, 2009.

59. Bill O'Reilly, The O'Reilly Factor, February 8, 2010.

60. Glenn Beck, Beck, April 24, 2009.

61. Bill O'Reilly, The O'Reilly Factor, June 12, 2009.

62. Howard Kurtz, The Situation Room, April 13, 2009. Howard Kurtz, Reliable Sources, April 12, 2009.

63. David Carr, ”Cable Wars Are Killing Objectivity,” New York Times, April 20, 2009.

64. Howard Kurtz, The Situation Room, April 13, 2009.

65. CNN reporters tagged along and sent dispatches from two Tea Party Express bus tours. See Jonathan Martin and Ben Smith, ”The Tea Party's Exaggerated Importance,” Politico, April 22, 2010.

66. Alex Isenstadt, ”Town Halls Gone Wild.” Politico, July 31, 2009.

67. Mark Jurkowitz, ”Town Hall Showdowns Fuel Health Care Coverage,” Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism, PEJ News Coverage Index: August 39, 2009. Available at /2009/09/18/networks-respond-to-false-fox-ad/, along with CNN's response, as of May 12, 2011.

69. Rick Sanchez, CNN Newsroom, September 18, 2009.

70. Wolf Blitzer, The Situation Room, September 18, 2009.

71. Jeffrey Toobin, Campbell Brown, October 23, 2009.

72. Peter Dreier and Christopher R. Martin, ”How ACORN Was Framed: Political Controversy and Media Agenda Setting.” Perspectives on Politics 8(03): 761792 (2010). Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Joseph N. Cappella, Echo Chamber: Rush Limbaugh and the Conservative Media Establishment (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.) 73. Brian Stelter, ”Reporter Says Outburst Was Spontaneous,” New York Times, March 3, 2009.

74. Rick Klein, ”The Note, 4/15/09: Tea Time-Conservative gra.s.sroots flex organizing muscle on Tax Day,” ABC News's The Note, April 15, 2009. Available at blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2009/04/the-note-41509.html as of March 21, 2011.

75. Gail Collins, ”Barack's Progress Report,” New York Times, August 6, 2009. A29.

76. Bud Kennedy, ”Burleson Tea Party is about taxes (and secession),” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, April 8, 2009. B2.

77. Previously, the Tea Party's only apparent electoral effect had been to hand a New York Congressional seat to a Democrat in October 2009. When a nominal ”Tea Party” favorite, Doug Hoffman, pushed out a moderate Republican, Dede Scozzafava, she endorsed her Democratic opponent, Bill Owens, who went on to win the general election.

78. Evan McMorris-Santoro, ”Marco Rubio's Tea Party Problem,” Talking Points Memo, March 30, 2010. Available at tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/debate-exposes-marco-rubios-tea-party-problem.php as of March 14, 2011.

79. Sam Stein, ”Scott Brown Held Tea Party Fundraiser Before Professing to Be Unfamiliar with Tea Party,” Huffington Post, January 14, 2011. Available at /2010/01/14/scott-brown-held-tea-part_n_423198.html as of March 14, 2011.

80. Ben McGrath, ”The Movement: The Rise of Tea Party Activism,” The New Yorker, February 1, 2010.

81. Ironically, the first beneficiary of the mainstream media's newfound interest was the February 2010 ”Tea Party Convention”-a for-profit venture rejected by many of those most involved in the Tea Party.

82. Barstow, ”Tea Party Lights Fuse for Rebellion on the Right,” New York Times, February 16, 2010.

83. All data regarding the frequency of poll questions draws from the Roper Center's database of opinion data. Of course, the database is not a complete catalog of all poll questions ever asked-indeed, at least a few polls we have seen about the Tea Party are not included in the Roper Center's collection. The Roper database is, however, the world's largest archive of survey data and includes Tea Party polls from the major polling agencies.

84. Richard Wolf, ”Afghan War Costs Now Outpace Iraq's,” USA Today, May 31, 2010.

85. Jonathan Martin and Ben Smith, ”The Tea Party's Exaggerated Importance,” Politico, April 22, 2010.

86. President Obama received the votes of 70 million people, as FEC results attest. David Brooks, ”The Geezers' Crusade,” New York Times, February 2, 2010. FEC results available at /adele-stan/the-tea-party-movement-a_b_567441.html as of March 14, 2011.

88. Mark Blumenthal, ”Re: Tea Party Polling,” Pollster.com, February 17, 2010. Available at /blogs/re_tea_party_polling.php?nr=1 as of March 14, 2011.