Mad As Hell - 9780061995231

"Scott Rasmussen and Doug Schoen are two of America's most insightful and penetrating political analysts (outside of myself). Their study of the origins and growth of the Tea Party movement explains why Election 2010 is likely to be a seminal moment in American political history."ùRush Limbaugh

"Scott Rasmussen and Doug Schoen are two of the most important and influential analysts of public opinion in America today, and their study of the Tea Party movement deserves careful consideration by anyone interested in assessing the critical importance of this growing movement."ùSean Hannity, Author Of Conservative Victory

"Mad As Hell is a hell of a book. Rasmussen and Schoen have given us a data-rich, historically informed, and politically incorrect analysis of a fascinating and important political phenomenonùthe Tea Party movement. Don't go out into political debate without reading this book first."ùWilliam Kristol, Editor, The Weekly Standard

"Scott Rasmussen and Doug Schoen have written a masterful book that analyzes with real insight and specificity the origins of the Tea Party movement. As someone who writes about the use of language in politics, I know that Mad As Hell describes a phenomenon that few understand and fewer still can place in context."ùFrank Luntz, Pollster And Fox News Contributor

"The Tea Party movement is one of the most important and compelling movements in recent American political history, and Scott Rasmussen and Doug Schoen do a compelling job at describing its rise and influence. As someone who built the Dean campaign into the most powerful movement in America, I know firsthand how important Rasmussen and Schoen's analysis of the Tea Party movement is."ùJoe Trippi, Political Blogger And Strategist

Today's Raucous Revolt Against Washington And Wall Street Is A Classic Populist Uprising. In Mad As Hell, Two Respected Political Pollsters Show What It Means For The Future Of American Politics.

The riotous tea parties and angry town hall meetings of last summer seemingly took everyone by surprise. They shouldn't have: populist movements have always arisen in times of economic hardship and uncertainty. In Mad As Hell, pollsters Scott Rasmussen and Doug Schoen use extensive and original research to explore the mind and heart of the populist uprising that has suddenly thrown American politics into turmoil.

In the past, populist movements have taken root either on the right or on the left. Today's populist revolt is unusually broad and has two wings: a left wing that wants universal health care and redistributive economic policies, and a right wing that wants to reduce the power of government to interfere in our lives. Both are hostile to the Washington political class, Wall Street, and the mainstream mediaùall of which they consider out of touch with the concerns of "real" Americans. The key difference is that left populists are effectively represented by Barack Obama and congressional Democrats who are pursuing their agenda, while right populists are chiefly represented by Fox News and Rush Limbaughù an angrier and potentially more powerful political force.

So-called professionals in politics, business, and media have completely failed to comprehend the new populism and have dismissed it as marginal and extreme. The authors explore the broad-based nature of the new populist movement and explain how it is reshaping American politicsùwhether politicians and elite journalists like it or not.

The Tea Party movement is not a flash in the pan, as many have assumed. Nor is it a movement of racist rednecks and ignorant boobs, as its detractors have crudely suggested. To the contrary, it is an authentic grassroots movement of concerned American citizens demanding to be heard by an out-of-touch political establishment. Their concerns are real and their issues arc legitimate, the authors maintain; moreover, the new populism is here to stay, and it has already changed our politics for the better.

In Mad As Hell, Rasmussen and Schoen have produced an authoritative guide to the new populism, featuring a combination of proprietary polling data, political analysis, results from online focus groups, and interviews with on-the-ground players. It is must-reading for anyone interested in American electoral politics for the remainder of the decade.