Posted on 07/19/2010 7:30:17 AM PDT by kristinn
Mayhill Fowler has an extended interview with Mark Skoda, co-founder of the National Tea Party Federation, posted at the Huffington Post today.
Fowler notes that Skoda orchestrated the expulsion of Mark Williams and the Tea Party Express from the National Tea Party Federation, starting with a Facebook posting last Friday:
After reading the entirety of the [Williams] blog, I have come to the conclusion that a call for rebuke and removal is necessary. This is not the first time that Mark Williams has taken this approach. And while I can appreciate sarcasm, this "letter" is beyond the pale and reignites an issue that we were winning. I have already issued a press release from the Memphis TEA Party calling for his removal. As a leader he can either lead, or as an entertainer, entertain but he should not do both. This matter is too serious to let lie in such an incendiary environment."
Like Williams, Skoda is a local talk radio host in love with the sound of his own voice. Skoda now fancies himself as directing the movement
In an e-mail comment to Fowler this weekend, Skoda urged Nevada Republican Senate nominee Sharron Angle to follow his lead in dumping the Tea Party Express, the group that helped her secure the nomination:
"I don't think this will hurt Angle, however, she won't want to associate herself with TPE after the controversy. At least that's what I would divine from the status of things. Reid has done a good job of beating her up while she has been raising money. This will be a race to watch!"
Skoda will be disappointed to learn that Alaska Republican Senate candidate Miller has said he stands by the Tea Party Express, which has endorsed his candidacy against incumbent Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski:
Associated Press - July 18, 2010 10:54 PM ET
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - A spokesman for U.S. Senate hopeful Joe Miller says the Republican isn't concerned with having the Tea Party Express advocating on his behalf.
Fowler writes the entire interview will be posted later at her site, MayhillFowler.com. A lengthy excerpt can be read at the Huffington Post.
Read the whole interview to form your own opinion of Skoda. Here's a sample of his verbosity to whet your appetite:
Just one final question. What would be a scenario where you think -- you talk about the need to get around balkanization -- a Tea Party group of leaders could come together and talk with a group of Daily Kos or MoveOn? Is that too pie in the sky?
I think that right now we're trying to fix the conservative movement, right? What I have found from my own experience is, when I was discussing things with the New York Times and several other more liberal papers -- one thing I was very clear about, and I felt I was treated very fairly in the interviews, the reflection of my comments in those interviews. One thing I didn't do was attack them or their institutions. I didn't have to, I didn't want to. I can disagree with you, but I can disagree graciously. And what I found was, in that opening, which I was very clear about in any interviews I took, is that people respected me for that -- I think. At least, were willing to have the dialogue. And reflect fairly my comments without making me to look like a cartoonish figure.
I believe that ultimately that is something that needs to happen. I think we are so polarized right now, it's going to have to happen later. It's going to have to happen under a different president. Because this president has very effectively balkanized this nation. Very effectively. In a way I don't think we've ever seen a more divisive figure. To go from what was "hope and change" with a lot of folks voting for him, 62 million folks voting for him, to where he stands today. Without having simply misled that group of people. And when you have imbued that level of emotion, and that level of expectation in an individual and that individual fails you, you -- I know a lot of people that were of that ilk -- they are hurt, they are unwilling to talk about it, they are unwilling to admit the problem. And until you get to that point, it is hard to have those dialogues. I would love to have a chance to talk, but just not right now. I think it would be good to have that dialogue -- not on the record, but to have that dialogue.
We talk about it here -- you and I had lunch in this city -- we have a very demographically bifurcated -- a very large African-American population here, and in South Memphis, and a very white population in the suburbs, although a number of suburbs like Cordova and Bartlett are not. It takes an effort to make those connections, to work together. It's something that we do on a local basis, that I do on a local basis. And so why wouldn't I want to do it on a political basis? But right now I have so much work to do in my quote unquote own party and the efforts I am undertaking, I don't know if I have enough energy or time for that today.
We are in a battle of hearts and minds, and I would like to say that the battle can be had in a way that is respectful but tough, very tough -- and we'll see how it turns out in 2010.
Who died and made Skoda king of the Tea Parties, anyway? TPE can continue on, with or without the jerk. Thing is, though, it looks like those who wanted to create divisions among the Tea Parties have succeeded. If it hadn’t been Skoda, it would have been some other egomaniac.
The Marxist will come in to divide and conquer the Tea Party.
Nobody has hijacked the Tea Party ‘movement’ - except in the sense that someone ‘self-proclaimed’ as a ‘leader’, and the Media sucked it right up...
The truth is that there are as many Tea Party Movements as there are Tea Partiers - and I certainly haven’t been hijacked.....
I admittedly did not read all interviews, but on its face if someone is trying to put themselves in charge of the Tea Party, it s not a good thing. The Tea Party movement, IMHO, is not about leaders. People are needed for organizing, but putting a personality before message is not what’s needed.
Although I don't like bigotry or anything anyone is accusing anybody of, I want responsible spending and taxation from Washington. I want a strong national defense for all America and safe and controlled border based on one (or a two or three layer) big freaking fence.
The left can seek to divide us, but if we stick to the fiscal policy, national defense and the border, we will knock the anti-Constitutionalists democrats out of the park in future elections.
The tea parties are about leaderless resistance so...
Dear Mark
And the horse you rode in on.
“Like Williams, Skoda is a local talk radio host in love with the sound of his own voice.”
Is there a problem with having a “radio talk show host” as head of the movement? Limbaugh and Beck are both, essentially, radio talk show hosts. Here in NJ, NJ101.5 is articulating the anti-tax sentiment.
Okay, these guys all make money by driving their Arbitron ratings higher. They are all doing their jobs for straight-out profit. But at least they are up-front about why they have their jobs: for the money. And if they make money by leading the movement, is that a bad thing?
Can someone explain to me why having radio talk show hosts as leaders of the Tea Party is wrong?
...and so it begins. Once you have “leaders’ of movements you invariable have division, factions and conflict. The beauty of the Tea Party movement is that it is not an organization nor does it have bylaws or membership lists. It should remain that way.
I’m also going to go out on a limb here and say the Tea Party shouldn’t be endorsing either. Members should certainly throw their weight behind their favorite candidates, and local groups should put out announcements about how they are all piling on to help someone or defeat someone else, but they need to leave it at that.
I’ve met a whole lot of Tea Party people and groups and in my opinion the one who “gets it” best is Mark Meckler.
Thanks, kristinn
Ed Zachary! The Tea Party movement is made up of like-minded, engaging conservative individuals. The Tea Party, as a whole, is doing just great! I have no idea who this Skoda guy is, but if he wants to play politics with the Tea Party Express, he'll lose! Big time!
Where does the Tea Party Federation come off dictating who can and cannot belong? Frankly, I had never heard of them until this weekend.
Maybe we should all dissociate ourselves from TPF!
I believe that you're right. An attempt is being made to create the illusion that the Tea Party Movement is fragmenting and falling apart. The Tea Parties must continue moving forward and not allow that illusion to become a reality.
Republican astro-turfers fighting for control of the fake grass.
LA is bifurcated all right....Mexican and Black, everyone else is either moving or dying.
Where does the Tea Party Federation come off dictating who can and cannot belong? Frankly, I had never heard of them until this weekend.
Maybe we should all dissociate ourselves from TPF!
Remember this National Tea Party Federation is a group of people, organizations, Tea Parties that banded together to form a federation. They don’t represent or even have included all the Tea Parties by any means. The Tea Party Express which Mark Williams is a member of joined this NTPF. It is from this Federation that they have expelled the Tea Party Express.
The individual Tea Parties still exist under their own leadership. They will do as they please and aren’t controlled by the NTPF......
You can see the press releases about their formation at the bottom of this page.
http://www.thenationalteapartyfederation.com/press_room.html
Here is a list of members of the Federation:
http://www.thenationalteapartyfederation.com/Membership_List.html
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