Earlier this week, there was a bit of a local uproar when a Democratic delegate, Curt Anderson, joined, was named vice-chair of, and abruptly resigned from, the Maryland House Tea Party caucus. The news was surprising for a number of reasons: first, Anderson is no outsider; he’s the chair of the Baltimore City delegation and known to be something of a “good-natured gadfly.” Second, Anderson is no conservative Democrat; the Baltimore Sun describes him as “fairly liberal” and the delegation he leads, Baltimore City, is one of the most liberal delegations in Annapolis.
The sequence of events was also quite odd. On Tuesday, Anderson made news in two ways – joining the tea party caucus and announcing that he may run for City Council President. The timing led to speculation that joining the caucus was a publicity stunt, although it’s hard to see how a TP affiliation helps a Baltimore City campaign. According to Anderson, he joined the caucus because he was in agreement with them on taxes and the size of government and he appreciated that they took no stance on social issues (the fiscal half of his statement is still a little baffling, considering his votes in favor of new or increased taxes in 2007, and his continued support of raising the alcohol tax during this session).
Whatever his reason for joining the caucus, it was met with an intense backlash from fellow Democrats, ranging from the description of the Tea Party as “the Antichrist to the Democratic Party” and “a subset of the Republican Party.” One member said it “disrespected the City delegation,” and added, “I don’t forgive you. It hurts.” Anderson backtracked and resigned from the caucus a day after joining it (and being immediately named Vice-Chair), saying “The President wants us to reach across Party lines… maybe I reached too far.”
Interesting local drama aside, the whole thing got me thinking: who would be the most likely Democrats on the national stage to join a hypothetical, bi-partisan Tea Party caucus?* And a fun, mini-research project was born…
First, I limited my scope to the Senate. Aside from the fact that I’m more familiar with its members, it’s also small enough in size to sort through without worrying that I’m leaving many people out.
Second, I wanted the list to reflect multiple interpretations of the Tea Party – not simply read as a list of most conservative Democrats, or even most fiscally conservative Democrats. To that end, since there’s little agreement about who exactly makes up the Tea Party and what motivates them, I considered four different categories of criteria:
I. Conservative Democrats
If the Tea Party is nothing more than a purer, more extreme wing of the Republican Party, then the most likely Democrats to join would be those who are the most conservative – and particularly conservative on fiscal issues. For this category, I used rankings from the American Conservative Union and the Taxpayers Union.
II. Libertarian Democrats
If the Tea Party is at its core a libertarian movement, and its father truly is Ron Paul, then it would stand to reason that the most libertarian Democrats would be most likely to join a Tea Party caucus. For this measure, I looked at NRA scorecards, ACLU ratings, and votes on re-authorizing the Patriot Act (2006).
III. Populist Democrats
If, as Matt Taibbi suggests, the Tea Party is primarily motivated by “their desire to withdraw from the brutally complex global economic system that is an irrevocable fact of our modern life and get back to a simpler world that no longer exists,” then the anti-globalist, anti-corporate, closed border populist Democrats would make the most comfortable fit in a Tea Party caucus. For this, I looked at 2008 votes on TARP, the 2005 CAFTA vote and votes on the DREAM Act.
IV. “Outsider” Democrats
This is the least definable of the categories. For one thing, most obvious “outsiders” fit in one of the other categories as well. Points can be earned under this label for an individual who technically does not belong to the Democratic Party (yes, I counted for consideration those non-Democrats – Sanders and Lieberman – who caucus with the Party); any member with a non-legal background, and any member who has expressed genuine frustration with the “way Washington works.” I mainly included this category as an extra – if a Democrat was borderline in one or more of the other categories, this could push them over the threshold.
Finally, this list is subjective. I looked at the interest group ratings, I noted the roll call votes, and then I applied more weight to some votes, less to others and made judgment calls where appropriate. Generally, a Democrat had to appear on any two lists – extra consideration if the two lists didn’t overlap (eg. a vote against Patriot Act authorization and a high ACLU rating would not be enough). Any further questions about methodology or the lack thereof can be left for the comment section.
Without further ado, here are my nominees for the Democratic half of the bi-partisan Senate Tea Party caucus:
Ben Nelson:
Nelson ends up on more of these lists than any other Democratic Senator. He rates an A+ by the NRA, has the highest ACU rating of any Democrat, voted against the DREAM Act and is one of only three Democrats to grade above an F by the Taxpayers Union (the other two are McCaskill and Landrieu, and all received Ds).
Jon Tester:
Tester earned a spot on this list for his votes against the DREAM Act and against TARP. He has gotten high marks from the NRA, is generally skeptical of trade deals (though he wasn’t in the Senate to cast a vote on CAFTA) and has a 93% rating from the ACLU.
Bernie Sanders:
Bernie Sanders:
Yes, the self-identified socialist makes a strong showing on my Democratic Tea Party list. He voted against TARP, scores a 93% ACLU rating, earned a decent NRA rating (C+, one of the higher grades for an incumbent Democratic Senator) and voted against re-authorizing the PATRIOT Act.
Claire McCaskill:
McCaskill was another one of the three Democrats to earn a passing (well, a D) grade from the Taxpayers Union. That, plus a relatively high ACU rating and a protectionist stance on trade (she voted against free trade with Peru) make McCaskill one of the most likely Democrats in the Tea Party caucus.
Kay Hagan and Mark Pryor:
Both make the list for a relatively high ACU rating and votes against the DREAM Act.
Tim Johnson:
Johnson has a relatively high ACU rating (and by “relatively,” I mean above 16% for all of these) and he voted against TARP.
Ron Wyden:
Wyden voted against TARP, against the PATRIOT Act reauthorization, and has a 93% ACLU rating.
*Assuming they ever get beyond the Rand Paul/Jim DeMint/Mike Lee stage of caucus-building.
