While scholars question the legal principles espoused by the Tea Party, some are celebrating the organization's role in democratizing discussions of constitutional principles.
"The content of the movement's understanding of the Constitution is not always easy to nail down, and it is almost always arguable," writes Adam Liptak in The New York Times. "But it certainly includes particular attention to the Constitution's constraints on federal power (as reflected in the limited list of powers granted to Congress in Article I and reserved to the states and the people the 10th Amendment) and on government power generally (the Second Amendment's protection of gun rights, the Fifth Amendment's limits on the government's taking of private property)."
According to Liptak, by focusing on these elements of the Constitution, the Tea Party is helping bring our nation's sacred document to the forefront of national, political conversations. If that is a goal of the Tea Party, it may not hurt to have Virginia Thomas on board.