Michael Barone outlines America’s history, and he does it well. He thinks this is a Jeffersonian moment.

http://american.com/archive/2010/july/the-return-of-the-jeffersonian-vision-and-the-rejection-of-progressivism/article_print

“Progessive” ideals flourish among those who are concerned (and afraid) of masses of people who own no property. Individual rights ASSUMES a majority of property owners. As he says, also, the tea party movement has embraced the original documents of the American ideal: the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.