Big money and evangelical activists jointly funded the Tea Party

Evidence

What was true at the grassroots level was also true at the commanding heights of the new movement. Local Tea Party groups were generously supported by conservative business interests. In this case, the Koch Brothers’ libertarian-leaning “Americans for Prosperity” didn’t hesitate to “spread the wealth around.” Evangelical political activists were also quick to show their support. Ralph Reed formed his “Faith and Freedom Coalition” to support the Tea Party movement (and reboot his career following a damaging corruption scandal). — Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry, The Flag and the Cross, 269

Categorization

• CANDY: Ralph Reed relaunching his career via the Faith and Freedom Coalition after a corruption scandal is a neat gotcha fact.
• XREF: connects to: American evangelical groups spent over $50M on European right-wing organizing — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne: How White…, 680; The Tea Party’s apparent spontaneity was manufactured by networked astroturf organizations — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 131; The Tea Party fused astroturfing with grassroots entrepreneurship into a self-propagating franchise — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 908 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• The Tea Party’s apparent spontaneity was manufactured by networked astroturf organizations #corroborates (0.75) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 131
• American evangelical groups spent over $50M on European right-wing organizing #corroborates (0.72) — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 680
• The Tea Party was a product of engineered state-legitimacy crisis, not grassroots spontaneity #corroborates (0.72) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 950
• The Tea Party fused astroturfing with grassroots entrepreneurship into a self-propagating franchise #expands (0.70) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 908