Readerquestion:
Pleaseexplain “albatross” inthissentence: Certainly, conservativesaffiliatedwiththetea-partymovementhavevehementlyattackedthebankbail-outsduringthefinancialcrisis, andthebeliefthatthebail-outswerenecessarytocontainthefinancialcrisishasbecomesomethingofanalbatrossforRepublicanoffice-seekers (Wearethe 99%, Economist.com, October 14, 2011).
Mycomments:
Thisispolitics, Americanstyle. AndAmericanpoliticsbeingAmericanpolitics, thisisratherdifficulttoexplain, butlet’ssee.
First, Americanpolitics. Thetea-partymovementisaRepublicanmovement. Itisnotamovementshared, however, byallmembersoftheRepublicpartybuttheconservatives. ForeignersmayarguethatallrepublicansareconservativeandItendtoagree. ButAmericabeingthewayitis, everythingthereismorediverseandcomplexthanforeignersthinkitis. Therefore, someRepublicansarestillmoreconservativethanothers.
Andsolet’s, forsimplification, saythatthetea-partymovementmembersareextremeconservativeRepublicans. Theyareapowerfulgroup – therearesignsshowingtheteapartyiswaningbutforthemomentitisstillapowerfulgroup. Theyareopposedtobankbail-outsduringthefinancialcrisis, believingthatgovernmentbail-outsrewardedthesamepeoplewhobroughtaboutthecrisisinthefirstplace (andwouldencouragethemtodothesameinfuture). However, otherrepublicans, whoaregenerallyricherAmericanswhobelieveinalaissezfaireeconomywithaslittlegovernmentalinterventionaspossible, disagree. Theythoughtbailingoutthebadbankswerenecessary. Andtherefore, ifandwhentheywanttorunforoffice, theyfacesharpcriticismfromtheirfellowRepublicansfromthetea-partymovement.