Look, pal. If you wish to drive folks like me and about half the members of the tea party out, go ahead and welcome GOP Proud homo pushers and proud GOP pro-abortion Planned Parenthood members in.
I see no drawbacks in keeping those assholes OUT!!
I am not in favor of the GOP Proud position. I don’t claim that they represent the tea party in any way shape or form. Same for the pro-abortionists. I think those people are particularly evil. I am not advocating any one “letting them in.”
What I am advocating, is that the tea party put forth ideas and champions legislation that makes government smaller/less intrusive, and that lowers taxes. Why would that drive you out of the tea party?
The more issues the tea party takes a stand on, the smaller it becomes. For example, in a survey of self described tea party members, 61% said they are opposed to free-trade. So if the tea party decides to add protectionism to its list of demands, it instantly loses a third of its members. That isn’t to say that trade policy is unimportant, or that the folks concerned about free-trade are right or that they are wrong. It just isn’t the banner that unites us all.
If the gun rights lobby insisted on taking positions on abortion, drug legalization, trade policy, and homosexuality, then they’d be far less effective. But that doesn’t mean the NRA or GOA is pro-homosexual, or pro-abortion. They are focused on gun legislation.
If the tea party takes a stand on every issue, then it will become a political party. But that political party already exists - it is called the Constitution Party and it has been around since 1992 and has never gotten more than .2% of the vote.
The tea party coalition of people is influential right now because we are deep and wide and 100% united in our conviction that the government is too big, it is too intrusive, and taxes are too high. We desperately need a large coalition to hold the politicians accountable on spending and scope of government.