Posted on 08/10/2011 7:00:06 AM PDT by kbobdelux
Tea Party members are primarily “freaked out white men” who pose the greatest political threat to Democrats in 2012, according to banking analyst Meredith Whitney.
Speaking in the broader context of a discussion on CNBC regarding the Standard & Poor’s downgrade of US debt, Whitney said the dissenters represent the type of problems that have led to the current predicament in Washington.
“Call it Tea Party, whatever you will, the fringe element is I characterize (as) freaked-out white men who are unemployed and have been unemployed for three years and they’re scared to death,” she said. “Three to four million of them are about to roll off unemployment benefits in the next three to four months. This is only going to get worse.”
Democrats looking to hold the White House and regain full control of Congress will need to take note.
“For this reason you have to deal with the structural issues,” Whitney said. “If you are a Machiavellian Democrat you want do deal with this issue and defuse the Tea Party as fast as you possibly can because this poses the biggest threat to their re-election in 2012.”
Her comments come at a turbulent time for markets, which saw a more than 600-point drop for the Dow industrials on Monday that was followed by a more than 400-point gain on Tuesday.
Economic uncertainty is at the crux of the tumult, with investors caught between crosswinds of debt issues in Europe and US as well as the threat of rising unemployment.
Whitney said extending unemployment benefits, which already have been pushed to 99 weeks, is not the answer.
“You feel better about yourself when you’re working. Kids feel better about their parents when they’re working. Having a job is more than having a paycheck,” Whitney said. “To push for the extension of unemployment benefits is going to and should unleash absolute backlash against this administration because that’s a horrendous idea.”
Hah...in my Tea Party group we men are outnumbered by our ladies 2-1!
She’s wrong about the demographic, but she’s right about the unemployment benefits.
Some of the most effective TEA party members are women. Why? They care about their children. I’m not saying men don’t care, but the people I see fired up the most are women.
Doesn’t fringe imply a very limited number of individuals? How can the Tea Party be “fringe” yet dangerous to the Dem’s re-election prospects? Doesn’t that suggest the Tea Party is actually a large movement with many supporters?
They can’t have their cake and eat it too. Talk about being afraid of the bogeyman.
“Freaked out white men”?
Is she saying she thinks the guys who run Standard and Poors are Tea Party members?
Racism against whites is perfectly acceptable, and encouraged, in the US.
Tea Party: "Government spends too much."
Left: "You're a racist!"
Tea party: "I like the Constitution."
Left: "Why are you filled with so much hate? You must be a racist!"
If one needs an example (oops, make that many examples) of folks who live 6 sigmas to the left on the IQ bell curve, just tune to CNBC.
The TEA Party members are the PRODUCERS of the society.
We can’t really help that the PRODUCERS of the society are primarily of one demographic.
That was an awesome response. It was also amusing and informative to see who had real fear, and who did not.
Ms. Whitney clearly does not understand the TEA Party - the liberals’ only salvation is that most of us ARE employed and often run our own businesses which reduces our time for “activism” and decreases our turnout at the polls.
I see the new Demwit talking points are out.
Bingo! And that's what have people like this "banking ANALyst" scared to death.
Um, Meredith BankingAnalystGirl, the Tea Party is called "T.E.A.--Taxed Enough Already" because people in it pay taxes; ergo, they have jobs and are productive.
Besides, most of the men are at work with schedules that aren't flexible enough to get to weekday events.
Looks like Whitney has exposed herself as a political drone.
Man she couldn’t be more wrong. Stick to your area of expertise, Meredith.
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