Brown: Tea Partiers ‘do not seem to much like America the way we are’

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) argued in an op-ed that the Tea Party is divisive, driven by anger and doesn’t like America “the way we are.”

Writing in Monday’s USA Today, Brown said that liberals should be proud to run on healthcare and Wall Street reform and discuss the accomplishments “in specific, understandable terms.”

“The John Birch Society of 1965 has bequeathed its fervor and extremism to the Tea Party of 2010,” Brown wrote.
“History tells us that rage on the right should not be confused with populism.”

The senator accused Republican candidates of “offering the same faux populism and ‘solutions’ of the Bush years.

“The Tea Party vision of 21st century America would gut Medicare and
Social Security, ignore the minimum wage, and scale back consumer
protections and regulations that keep Wall Street honest and our food
supply safe,” Brown wrote. “It seems to me that Tea Party activists, increasingly
influential in the Republican Party, do not seem to much like America
the way we are.

“Tea Party populism is driven by anger at our government and at our
country,” he continued. “Real populism fights for all Americans, while Tea Party
populism divides us.”

The senator accused the GOP of cooking up slogans “that traffic in fear and misinformation,” and he suggested a bumper-sticker: “Bring back pre-existing conditions. Vote Republican.”