Emergence of 'tea party' mind-set is buoying conservatives

Although the "tea party" was a minor part of FreedomFest, the emergence of so many Americans angry over the direction of the country has conservative strategists feeling optimistic, even ecstatic, about turning the USS Leviathan around. It warms their hearts to see tea partyers studying the Constitution and making "The Road to Serfdom," a 66-year-old book by economist Friedrich von Hayek that attacks central planning, a best-seller. (A popular T-shirt at the conference read, "Austrian Economics? Hayek Yes!") Few see more potential in the power of the tea party to swing elections than Richard Viguerie, the "founding father" of modern conservative strategy, who no longer considers himself a Republican. Obama is the best thing to happen to conservatives and, by default, Republicans because the president's "overreach" has triggered a massive grass-roots opposition, Viguerie said. "All my life, I never understood how we could turn everything around back to the vision of our Founders of a small constitutional government," he said. "With the arrival of the tea party, I see for the first time in my life how we can possibly turn it around."...more