Does anyone else remember a time before the "Tea Party" was exclusively conservative?

Most people don’t believe me—but in September, 2009 I attended the first Tea Party event in Memphis.

They were all brands—but most were small business owners, especially of the Specialty Shop “artsy” types who had supported Obama vehemently during the campaign—then felt betrayed by him—like they had played by the rules and then were punished for it. What most of them had in common were they were small business owners who didn’t like Obama—again, many who had supported Obama. Of course, there were many conservatives, too—but the most ubiquitous, common trait was, they didn’t like Obama.

Within a year, however, the movement was almost exclusively far-right.