Harvard Prof. Takes on Evolving Political Environment

Lewis Auditorium was at full capacity this evening, as some of the most brilliant, politically-minded individuals on campus flocked to the lecture hall in Goldwin Smith. The event that drew them was titled “Obama’s New Deal, Tea Party Reaction, and America’s Political Future,” presented by Theda Skocpol, Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard University.

“As Barack Obama was getting elected two years ago, I thought about how great it would be to form a committee to track what a change-oriented administration attempted to do in a moment of economic downturn,” opened Professor Skocpol. With all the comparisons of Obama to FDR – highlighted by a Times Magazine cover presenting Obama sitting “FDR-style” with the headline “The New, New Deal” – and the abundance of optimistic media coverage, Skocpol and her colleagues thought it would be interesting to keep track of what was actually accomplished.

Nearly three years since she set out on her journey, few would question the turn away from the optimism associated with the Obama Moment. Similarly, so too has Skocpol’s research taken a turn.

“We also looked at the political aftereffects,” she later added, “which turned out to be even more interesting than the policy.”

“I call this ‘Obama’s half-New Deal’. Perhaps it needs the subtitle: ‘How to mystify your friends, while provoking your enemies.’”

Skocpol, who began her political activism in the 1960s during the Civil Rights Movement, draws her credibility on her experience, dedication, and effective research. She has already published a book on the first two years of Obama’s administration and expects to release another in the coming months. This second book, regarding the recent changes in the Republican Party due to the Tea Party, was the topic of the second half of her speech.

Skocpol didn’t shy away from the opportunity to take jabs at the conservative media and free-market elitists for seizing the opportunity to make a difference in establishing the national public policy agenda over the past three years. She also pointed the finger at these entities for covering – and thus “promoting” – the message of the grassroots Tea Party organizations. At one point, she specifically attacked FOX News as “a propaganda and entertainment channel, not a News Channel.”

“This trend to the Right is the most extreme leap in an American political ideology than we have seen since the Civil War. There are numbers in my book that support that.”

That being said, Professor Skocpol also recognized Obama’s shortcomings.

“You can admit that Obama didn’t try very hard. He waited two years to give a significant national speech on the state of the economy, despite the fact that this was in the forefront of Americans’ minds.”

One thing that Professor Skocpol failed to mention was that much of the popularity and appeal of the Tea Party movement – at its grassroots – came from the mentality of many Americans that they could affect the political system. To its credit, that’s one thing that the Obama Moment was able to foster: the belief that ordinary Americans should have the hope and confidence that they can affect change in their country and in their own lives.

The turning point, and thus the popularity spike of the Tea Party movement, came when Americans realized soon into Obama’s presidency that this change and optimism did not come from the federal government, but from educated Americans who sought change at the grassroots and worked to get those individuals, who believed along their ideological lines, elected. And, as Prosser Skocpol mentioned, after their success in the 2010 midterm elections, the majority of these activists have kept close tabs on their elected officials, ensuring that they stay true to their beliefs.

The dynamic Tea Party movement – at all levels – had a strategy: regain control of the nation’s political agenda.

“The strategy of these elitists has worked, and if they get control they will get sweeping reform, for they are more motivated than Obama,” Skocpol concluded. Therefore, “the 2012 election will be even higher stakes for the future of American politics than the 2008 election.”