Posted on 07/10/2013 1:18:46 PM PDT by Kaslin
When it first came to life, the tea party movement burst on the scene with energy and pure direction that seared many a mind with images of huge crowds waving the red, white and blue. It was all about taxes, and curtailing government spending, and liberty.
And it worked. The crowds at tea party movement protests grew month-by-month in 2009 and became larger in 2010. The GOP establishment slowly started to get the message that it was time to put the foot down on the ways of Washington and start speaking up for the conservative movement.
But the "tea party" has always been more a state of mind than an organized movement. And the movement's impact in the 2012 presidential election came into question when Mitt Romney, who had positions on most issues that were more conservative than those of John McCain in 2008, underperformed McCain in votes from key GOP-leaning demographics.
There are hundreds of organizations around the nation bearing the tea party name. And if their overall influence among voters was waning earlier this year, the revelation of IRS targeting against organizations bearing names that even hinted of tea party leanings gave the movement as a whole a chance for rejuvenation.
That said, there is emerging a risk that the movement could start to muddle its message and fumble back the political football gift it received when the IRS actions hit the news.
To stick with the football analogy for a moment, I can almost hear the late "Monday Night Football" announcer Howard Cosell's voice as he describes this moment in time for those who are part of the tea party movement. "But suddenly the ball comes loose from the running back's arms, and the opposing team recaptures what it had just lost ... the ball and momentum in the game ... and on the sidelines team members could be found fighting amongst themselves."
Oh, yes, that could be where this great movement is headed. Consider just one example in the heartland of the tea party, Republican controlled Georgia.
There are numerous organizations that lay claim to the tea party moniker in that state. And, to their credit, each has seemed to operate effectively in shaping Georgia's GOP to the very conservative edge of conservative.
But in the last few months, the groups have started warring. Not over taxes, or the federal debt, or immigration. Their war is over, of all things, solar energy.
That's right, the various tea party "leaders" have decided to dominate the news talking not about the IRS or PRISM, but solar energy. This is the very same well intended but obscure effort that brought about the entire Solyndra debacle that so embarrassed the Obama administration.
Polling shows that Georgia Republicans and conservatives associate solar energy with the "liberal political philosophy" more than almost any other specific source of electrical power. They are much more in support of even nuclear power, viewing it as more associated with the conservative spectrum.
In most conservative states, solar is still associated more with the politics of Bobby Kennedy Jr. than of the GOP or tea party movement -- again a well-intended man, but one who could not win a statewide race in conservative Georgia even if he paid every voter.
Since the days of Jimmy Carter's forward thinking but much ridiculed installation of solar panels in the White House (they were ultimately removed for failure to work), to the Solyndra debacle, Republicans and conservatives have viewed solar and wind as great concepts, but unworkable and somehow more a part of the left's agenda than the right's. They may be way off, but that's their view.
Now comes the danger for the tea party. Various tea party entities in Georgia have chosen to do battle over the effort to impose a greater solar-based energy quotient into the state's regulated energy provider. In recent days they have blasted one another. One tea party organization has pushed the concept as a money-saver, while two others have dismissed it as potentially costly and speculative. Thus the purpose and image become blurred for the public. They all have the best of intentions, but the least compelling of issues.
These patriots are missing the point. Solar energy may be the greatest thing since sliced bread. But those who first took up banners and waved flags in favor of less government, reducing the debt and cutting taxes have no clue as to how or why solar energy has anything to do with their effort.
This type of "getting off course" has occurred in other states, as well. With privacy and liberty under attack and money still being printed and spent by the government with reckless abandon, the tea party movement cannot afford to mix messages, even if the message seems cool or visionary to some. If they do, they will be dancing between the political raindrops, trying to catch a ray of elusive electoral sun, and their marchers and banner carriers will congregate elsewhere.
Try to name all the Tea Party groups.
Some are legitimate, some aren’t.
Rather than try to figure out which one deserves a donation, I just donate monthly to Free Republic.
The ORIGINAL Tea Party.
The Tea Parties are the last firewalls against the tyrannical hordes in America, and thus the world.
Right. Identify the incumbents to be removed, then remove them.
Massive march on Washington DC. Egyptians showed us how to do it.
” But the “tea party” has always been more a state of mind than an organized movement. And the movement’s impact in the 2012 presidential election came into question when Mitt Romney, who had positions on most issues that were more conservative than those of John McCain in 2008”
What is 10X nothing?
We lost the conservative voter.
If Repubs win, what good is it if they don't kill ObamaCare and won't build a fence? The left is so far left now, they don't even care if you photograph the pictures of Marx and Mao with their commie flags. The RINO's aren't that far from the Dems today. I'm proud of the Republican party history of ending slavery, fighting the KKK, low taxes, pro gun, more freedom, ect, but it has long since died. It's just a shell with a name that stands for very little.
This is the best place in the world for the true Tea Party to start pulling it together. I have different ones from all over the country calling several times a week looking for donations. I’ve wondered if some aren’t sponsored by Obama’s friends.
Look for more massive tea party rally protests to happen by the fall.
If we are going to have a third party, I nominate the name “American Party” to stand up for the values that USED TO define America.
"If, to please the people, we offer what we ourselves disprove, how can we afterwards defend our work? Let us raise a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair. The event is in the hand of God."
- George Washington
Look for more massive tea party rally protests to happen by the fall.
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I hope you’re right. But they’ve got to be huge rallies, far surpassing anything to date. It’s all about big numbers. Small events are not cutting it.
The Tea Party has been successful, for sure, but we are facing unprecedented and growing threats to our freedoms. The Egyptian turnout gives us a sense of the magnitude that is needed to effect change.
And no more generalities and platitudes from well meaning politicos at these rallies. If they don’t have SPECIFIC ACTIONS they will commit to, there’s no sense in having them speak. It is time to get real.
it has long since died. It’s just a shell with a name that stands for very little
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How true but the deeper reality is that it has been corrupted by self-serving interests, sell outs and political appeasers. The GOP is a ship with no captain, no compass and no chart.
Yes, TP must stay on course. But take a lesson from liberals and find a new name for TP. And I think that TP should reference not only constitutional statutes on their signs but also key excerpts from Supreme Court case opinions instead of continually showing warn out cliches that appeal to conservatives.
And protest outside of Obama guard Fx New’s office instead of DC, demanding to know why Fx News never includes Congress’s Article I, Section 8-limited powers in federal public policy discussions.
Come to think of it, regarding my previous post, since I never see TP protestor signs that reference things like Congress’s Section 8-limited powers, how do we know that these so called TP people that we see protesting on TV are bona-fide patriots instead of Obama’s useful idiots?
There is an old axiom that if you take a shot at the king, you better kill him or it won't turn out good for you. If we try to form a new conservative party, it will be for nothing if we don't offer a clear alternative to Republicans and Libertarians. It need to be done EARLY to give it a chance to kill the Republican party. If it just serves as a 3rd party spoiler, you get what we got with Ross Perot.
BTW, there already is an American Party. I believe there big chance came when George Wallace and Lester Maddox was running it.
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