That the Tea Party started as astroturf - with FOX, a handful of (probably paid) libertarians and a number of webpages set up by a conservative thinktank creating the necessary echo-chamber - I think is quite proven (it was in detail in the Exiled back when it happened). I don't dispute that they appeal to a larger segment of downwards mobile white people who then fill up as extras, what I am disputing is if it matters if some of the extras walk off (if all walks off, of course it matters but for that to happen at the same time they need to be organised in some sort of union).

My impression is that it is still a top-down movement with billionaires in the top. It is not a party with membership, voting etc, it is a brand. Has that changed from the early days?

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