How the Tea Party captured the GOP

About this book

"This book explains the impact of the Tea Party on the Republican Party and shows how factionalism works in the American party system. Political movements that in other countries might create a new party, in the United States work in the structure of a deeply embedded two party system which discourages third parties. Always further to the right than other Republicans, those who became Tea Party members felt betrayed after electoral losses in 2008, and no longer trusted the Republican Party to nominate candidates who shared their interests, much less who could win. As the movement gained momentum, Tea Party supporters gained confidence that they could force the Republican Party to heed their voices. Rather than simply creating a new conservative party, Tea Party members used the Republican Party's machinery to remake the party from within"--