When angry colonists destroyed a boatful of British tea in Boston more than 200 years ago, they may not have realized how timeless their dissent toward government would be in American history.
Today, the polarizing Tea Party movement, despite their rapid growth and bold name, is still relatively clouded with confusion.
No longer &- New York Times correspondent Kate Zernike unravels the mystery surrounding the Tea Party movement in her new book, “Boiling Mad: Inside Tea Party America,” which she will be discussing at Northeastern University on Wednesday.
The Tea Party is a political movement that began in 2009 as a response to the economic recession, among other conservative sticking points such as a growing federal government. During the 2010 midterm elections, the Tea Party has pushed hard to become a legitimate political force, earning some success in Republican primaries across the nation.
“They talk about how their goal is a hostile takeover of the Republican Party. I think it remains to be seen whether they can do that,” Zernike said.
In “Boiling Mad,” Zernike documents the beginning of the Tea Party&-tracing it origins to one young teacher with a nose piercing&-and comments on the how the Tea Party fits into the larger picture of American political history.
Zernike’s book has been described as being fair to all parties involved by critics. She said that while she has received many vicious emails from both left and right wing supporters, she does get positive responses from readers.
“I’d never tell them what I think, and they would always say, “I can guess what you think, and I think we’re probably on opposite sides of the political spectrum, but you’ve been very fair,'” she said.
Zernike began looking more in-depth into the Tea Party movement when she was covering the conservative movement for the Times in 2009.
“It was pretty clear early on that if you were going to cover conservatives, most of the energy was in the Tea Party movement,” she said.
She realized how angry the Tea Partiers were at the Republican Party, and how they were trying to take over the Republican Party by running for local precinct chair positions.
“I thought this was kind of interesting and innovative on their part, and also reminded me of what the Christian rightists had done in the 90s,” she said.
She soon noticed other places that the Tea Party movement had spread, and before long the seed for her next novel was planted. “Boiling Mad” was born.
Previously a reporter for The Boston Globe, Zernike is now a national correspondent for The New York Times. She was part of the team of journalists that won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting.
Zernike will be sharing her findings on the Tea Party movement at Northeastern’s Snell Library on Wednesday from 12 to 1:30 p.m.
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