How Many Anti-Government Extremists Will Take Seats in Congress?
Cheered on by right-wing pundits like Glenn Beck, Tea Party and GOP candidates are portraying this election as a choice between “socialism” and “constitutional conservativism.” They are embracing a radically right-wing view of the U.S. Constitution, one that ignores the Constitution’s — and the nation’s — history, to promote a misguided nostalgia for a time when huge numbers of elderly Americans lived in poverty and when the federal government could not protect workers with safety regulations or minimum-wage requirements. Meanwhile, Beck and religious right figures are promoting the idea that this radically restricted view of government is grounded in Christianity and the Bible. In essence, they are trying to make the size and scope of government the new culture war, and to convince Americans that relying on government assistance in hard times is not only un-American but un-Christian. Many Americans who end up voting for Tea Party-backed Republicans because they are worried about the
