Out of intellectual curiosity and as part of a research project I am involved with, since April, I have attended several tea parties and rallies against government (also known as socialism to them) or taxes or health care or illegal immigrants or Obama, which seem to be one and the same argument from the average Joes and Janes in these groups if not from their leaders. These conservative groups are not cookie cutter activist organizations but some of the ingredients of their cookies are the same. They have some overlapping interests, for example, that eerily harken towards a more (or rather differently) racist, colonial time. Some seem to have grown out of a disgust with economic policies, others with social policies. Together they have more voice but also more dissension. One woman told me that she had never been a racist before, but Obama was making her “a little bit racist” and she seemed very annoyed by this – a racist victim as opposed to a victim of racism? As an out liberal, I am approaching this with as much objectivity and least judgment as possible by trying to understand what, besides fear and anger, is driving the movements and the individuals who join them. I don’t have any deep analytical or revolutionary soundbites for you yet but I do have a lot of interesting stories.

I spoke with a man the other day who was explaining to me why he is a fiscally conservative, socially liberal Libertarian. As a good interviewer, I listened, nodded and asked probing questions but did not respond to his personal inquiries or provocative statements which, I think, he uttered in hopes of getting a rise out of me. He was also a little bit drunk. Fortunately the interview happened earlier than we planned. He asked if I would care to interview him during a “killer happy hour” at bar. Um, no thanks. He told me that I should be proud of my personal freedoms because I am “obviously a woman” (whatever that means) and if it were not for personal freedoms, I would not be able to vote, would not be interviewing him, or getting a PhD. In fact, he said, I would probably be mopping floors somewhere. Really? He also told me I was easy to talk to and touched my arm several times. It was not appropriate behavior for an interview. I wanted to ask if flirting was a personal freedom or a right? For him. I was annoyed but decided to pick a different battle this day and used the scenario to my advantage by getting information I might not have gotten had I been someone else.

This also points to the politics of research that include gender, race, and class. I’m certain this man would have responded differently to a man, or a person of color, or even to an older person. It’s interesting to work in a research team because we try to consider these identity, cultural, and political economic influences to our advantage when deciding who interviews who.