Reynolds calls the Tea Party movement the third Great Awakening in American history, the first two having been religious in nature. The whole article is worth your time; my favorite quote is this:
People I’ve talked to, both there and at other events, aren’t looking for a charismatic leader. That’s the Barack Obama model, now somewhat tattered. Instead, they’ve had enough and they’re taking the reins themselves.What remains to be seen is whether the Tea Party movement has more legs than Ross Perot's American Independence Party had. Perhaps its strength is that, unlike the AIP, they aren't the followers of a charismatic leader.
Whatever the case, there is a nice symmetry in the new media reporting on the new politics.
