The Tea Party was written off as a spent force after November. Much like Occupy Wall Street, the funny radicals in three-cornered hats seemed destined to fade away. But the obituaries arrived too soon. In scheduling in the next cliff to coincide with the expiry of America’s sovereign debt ceiling, President Barack Obama has handed them an opportunity. The next seven weeks will be the Tea Party’s point of maximum leverage. The goal will be to conserve it for as long as possible (the more cliffs the better). But the urge for a showdown will also be strong.
11月之後，茶黨(Tea Party)已被人一筆勾銷。就像佔領華爾街(Occupy Wall Street)運動一樣，這些戴著三角帽的滑稽的激進分子似乎註定會被人淡忘。不過先別急著宣告他們的湮滅。巴拉克•歐巴馬(Barack Obama)總統將下一個財政懸崖推遲至美國觸及國債上限的時候，這將令茶黨人士獲得可乘之機。今後七週是茶黨用最小的努力就能獲得最大收益的時期，他們的目標將是把這段時期延續得越長越好（「懸崖」越多對他們越有利）。不過，攤牌的衝動也將非常強勁。