Next week, the first so-called “Tea Party Convention” convenes in Nashville. It bears an eerie similarity to a convention held long ago on celluloid.

In Meet John Doe — Frank Capra’s lesser known Christmas movie — Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper stage what they believe will be a harmless ruse to generate newspaper sales: Cooper pretends to be John Doe, who — disgusted with the level of inhumanity in Depression-era America — will jump off a building on Christmas Eve in protest.

But instead of simply taking interest in and having sympathy for Cooper’s character, the unexpected happens to the populace. Inspired by Doe’s eloquence, people all across the country form John Doe clubs to promote neighborly love and compassion. They hold rallies. They hold politicians to account. They overcome their own innate cynicism.

They even organize a convention. That is, the newspaper’s crypto-fascist publisher organizes the convention, in the hope that he can turn the movement into a new political party, with him as its leader.

Of course, in typical Capraesque fashion, the heroes save the day and the villains are thwarted.

It will be interesting to see if the Tea Party movement can resist political control and corruption like their fictional counterparts. And judging by the tepid response to this crass attempt of exploitation, the chances seem pretty good.

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