Books

The Teavangelicals, by David Brody

Almost half of those who identify with the Tea Party movement are conservative evangelicals. Brody, who works for the Christian Broadcasting Network, coined the term teavangelical to describe this alliance, and he’s a breathless cheerleader for the cause. It’s so obvious to him that God and the Constitution demand lower taxes and smaller government that he is incapable of analyzing the political or theological coherence of the movement. His prose is borrowed from campaign bro­chures about “taking back Amer­ica” on behalf of “God-fearing patriots.” Much of the book is a teavangelical review of the 2012 Republican primary season. Brody concedes that the moral libertarianism of much of the Tea Party is a “tricky” issue for teavangelicals, but he figures that the movement will finesse the difference.