Patriot Act and the tea party

Has opposition to the Patriot Act now become a part of what it means to be a tea party adherent?

That’s a little difficult to say after the House earlier this week defeated efforts to extend controversial parts of the act. A key part of its defeat were the votes of 26 Republicans, including eight tea party darlings. They joined hands with liberals who traditionally have opposed the Patriot Act for giving government broad powers over the personal liberties of Americans.
However, several other tea party members voted to extend the act. (Read about it here.)
It will be interesting to watch how some key Republicans begin treating this issue. One of these, of course, is Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, who was at a televised town hall meeting this week touting his own tea party credentials.
Hatch has long been a strong supporter of the Patriot Act. He once cornered me on an election night and gave me a finger-pointing lecture about how wrong I was to oppose it. This op-ed he wrote in 2003 is an example of how he feels.
To this point, the tea party has been mainly concerned with the economy – taxes and runaway deficits – not with matters of civil liberties or homeland security. But if you want government out of people’s lives, it makes sense to extend that argument to FBI wiretaps and other potential intrusions.
The real question is whether the voting public thinks liberty or security is more important in a dangerous world.