Key States, High Stakes
Sarah Palin, the Tea Party, and the 2010 Elections
By (author) Charles S. Bullock III Contributions by Dante J. Scala, Daniel C. Reed, Ted G. Jelen, Amy Widestrom, Christopher Dennis, Susan A. MacManus, David J. Bonanza, Mary L. Moss, Joel Turner, Scott Lasley, Geoffrey Peterson, Stanley P. Berard, M Jean Kingston, Robert Rupp, Costas Panagopoulos, AndrewDowdle, Joseph D. Giammo, Michael A. Maggiotto, Raymond H. Scheele, Janna L. Deitz, Edward Anegon, David Nice, Diana Evans, Charles S. Bullock III
Not available to order
Publication date:
16 August 2011Length of book:
254 pagesPublisher
Rowman & Littlefield PublishersISBN-13: 9781442210974
The 2010 elections were one of the most highly anticipated midterm elections in our nation's recent history. After the historic 2008 election, in which America elected its first black president, Sarah Palin's involvement and the emergence of the Tea Party in the 2010 congressional elections had the potential to transform the composition of congress and set the stage for the nation's politics for the next decade, or even the next generation. In this new edited volume, Charles S. Bullock III collects original contributions from top political scientists to evaluate Sarah Palin and the Tea Party's role in the 2010 midterm elections. Key States, High Stakes focuses on states where Republicans had the chance to pick up Senate seats, as well as examining GOP Senate primaries if they involved a Palin or a Tea Party nominee facing an establishment favorite. Bullock concludes the anthology with a chapter on the legacy of the Tea Party and of Sarah Palin on American politics. One thing is certain. In terms of control of the House and Senate (and its effect on President Obama's policy agenda), the prospects for the 2012 presidential race, and the long-term viability of the Tea Party movement, the stakes in the 2010 midterm elections could not have been higher.
The focus on Senate races distinguishes this book from others. Contributors examine 16 different 2010 contests in order to investigate the roles that Sarah Palin, Senator Jim DeMint, and the Tea Party movement played in different contests. What emerges is the view that Palin was the most pragmatic, supporting candidates who were likely to win even if they were not the most conservative, while DeMint opposed "establishment" Republicans, and the Tea Party movement, which was not as centralized and monolithic as some commentators suggested, supported many candidates. In some states, different Tea Party factions supported different Republican candidates. While Palin, DeMint, and the movement often prevailed in primaries, in some cases the candidates they backed (O'Donnell, Delaware; Angle, Nevada; Buck, Colorado) proved to be easier for Democrats to beat, which permitted the party to retain a majority. It is also clear that while these conservative forces may have helped nominate a number of candidates in 2010, they were just one of many factors that worked against the Democrats in 2010. Bullock ends the book by asking whether the Tea Party was a one-election phenomenon or if it will be a force in 2012. The answer remains to be seen. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers; undergraduate and graduate students.