Tea Party vs. Occupy.... Partisan?

An article recently appeared on CNN.com titled Occupy Wall Street should be a moral, not political, movement. In the article, the author, Roland Martin, posits the idea that the Occupy Wall Street is different from the Tea Party movement in that it is not as partisan as the latter. In order to determine if Martin is correct in his argument, you have to answer two vital questions. Does a viable link exist between the movement and a political party, and does a variety of ideologies exist within the movement?

The Tea Party Movement was born out a renewed call for a rethinking of our current taxing system. The movement started in the spring of 2009 with a “Tea Party” in cities all over. This movement started out as very grassroots, but has since become a nationally funded, hierarchical organization that some deem as a sub-set of the national Republican Party. To answer our first question, does a viable link exist between the movement and a political party, one need only look at Congress. Of all 66 members of the two Congressional Tea Party caucuses, zero belong to the Democratic Party. Also, in response to the latter question posited above, there is very little, if any, variation of ideologies among the members of the Tea Party movement.

The Occupy Wall Street movement was sparked by anger based on corporate greed, and what some see as a very unfair distribution of wealth in America. Although it may be too early to tell with this movement, I believe that it is safe to say that no distinct link exist between the Occupy Wall Street movement and a political party. Occupy Wall Street has not made endorsements of political candidates, as its Tea Party counterpart has done numerous times, and it shows no signs of putting people up to run for these same offices. Secondly, there seems to be a great variety of ideologies among this group, with all of its members wanting the same goals, but discussing different ways to achieve them.

I believe that Martin was right in his claim that the Occupy Wall Street movement is not a partisan movement. However, only time will tell if this loose group of protestors grows into a new political force in America.