Posted on 02/24/2010 3:29:15 PM PST by Former Military Chick
A network of Tea Party activists are circulating what they call the “Tea Party Declaration of Independence,” a document meant to define the movement and establish its independence from Republicans.
“We reject the idea that the electoral goals of the Republican party are identical to the goals of the Tea Party Movement,” the document, released Tuesday, reads.
Activist Bob MacGuffie, involved in the drafting process and also known for authoring a memo last year on how to disrupt health-care town hall meetings, said activists, “got tired of being defined from the outside and decided to do some self-definition” themselves.
MacGuffie said the idea for the document came from a number of leaders who attended a summit hosted by conservative group FreedomWorks, which has been heavily involved in the movement but was not officially involved in the drafting. He wouldn’t say specifically who drafted the document, but said there are at least 60 groups nationally behind it.
“They would just end up being targets,” he said of the drafters. “We’ll remain nameless for now.”
He also said it’s “hard to say” who’s co-signed the document, saying, “It’s just organically moving out there,” mainly on the Internet.
The movement will work against Republicans if they try to force RINO’s on them, according to the document, referencing “Republicans in Name Only” or members of the GOP seen as too moderate or liberal. It also demands that Republicans understand that activists will “reject its attempts to co-opt” the Tea Party movement.
The declaration says activists will “organize, demonstrate and vote” to achieve their goals.
It doesn’t just declare the movement’s independence from the Republicans, but from Democrats and the media as well.
“We reject arrogant left-wing politicians who furtively hide from public scrutiny, as they cut corrupt deals loaded with earmarks and pork in order to produce 2,000-page pieces of legislation so purposely incomprehensible, they do not even bother to read them before foisting them upon us,” the document reads.
The document said the media “has proved itself to be anything but a fair and balanced enterprise and which focuses more on entertainment, fear mongering and shock value than investigation and unbiased fact.”
They also reject that anyone leads the movement, including “self-styled ‘leaders’ who claim to speak for the Tea Party Movement.”
“This movement is not a brand name to be used to sell product; nor is it a logo to be used to justify profiting off its name,” the document reads. “We reject those who seek to personally capitalize on our popularity and momentum by trying to associate with our cause.”
John Loudon, a leader of the Tea Party political action committee Ensuring Liberty PAC, said he was e-mailed a copy of the document, which he said is “generating quite a bit of buzz” among Tea Party activists.
Even though the document speaks for the entire movement — something that would appear to irk activists known for being adverse to any type of leadership — Loudon said he doesn’t “see it that way.” Instead, he said, someone was just “putting out their thoughtful work and hoping that it gets picked up.”
“If they were trying to claim leadership, I think they’d try to put their name on it,” he said.
McGuffie said he has not heard any negative responses yet to the declaration and doesn’t see it making any Tea Partiers angry as the document is voluntary for activists to sign off on.
The declaration comes at a time where several other manifestos have emerged trying to define what the conservative movement stands for. Last week, several Tea Party groups unveiled plans for drafting a list of specific legislative proposals desired by activists called the “Contract from America.” And a group of leaders — representing the economic, social and a foreign policy wings of the conservative movement — signed the Mount Vernon Statement last Wednesday before the start of the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Read the full “Tea Party Declaration of Independence” here.
Jon Ward contributed to this report.
Funny..There is no Tea Party. It is just fed up people. Who do you think they will vote for..A Crat? Come on. These self proclaimed leaders are a joke. They do not lead me.
I saw this coming ..the distancing. I think it is a good thing. If you are going to be a third party...one cannot be a carbon copy of another party. Good for them.
This is the man I’m voting for. He’s conservative, republican, in the lead, and has no ties to the tea parties. He says they are a people’s movement and not the place for political posturing by politicians.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Walberg
There is a man in the race who claims to be a tea party type of candidate but he’s a 1 percenter, a libertarian, and pretty much unknown.
Nahh. The Crats are just trying to find an identify ..LEADERS>>> so they can isolate and Deamonize them a la Alinski.
My post above is not an endorsement of the Tea Party. I am just glad if they want credibility that they have the courage to distance themselves from any other party.
An awful lot of Republicans are distancing themselves from the tea party also.
this is the beginning of “how to elect a LOSER president by the minority”...don’t kid yourselves this has benn long in the making!!!!!!!!!!!
From a small town near Knoxville...
YES YES YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is beginning to look as though the covert left has taken over and will make sure the left wing anti-American Democrats continue to win in the next election as they do their we we we thing.
Give me my money back now that I have seen the covert ones.
I don't want the Tea Party to become, well the Tea Party. I don't want them in bed with the GOP. They need to continue to hold elected officials responsible regardless of the party.
You very well might be right. I can certainly see that happening.
Karl Rove said the same thing in the Wall Street Journal:
“The tea party movement will be more effective than it otherwise would be if it refuses to allow itself to become an appendage of either major political party . . .”
“My advice to them is to keep their distance from any single party and instead influence both parties on debt, spending and an over-reaching federal government . . .”
“The GOP is also better off if it foregoes any attempt to merge with the tea party movement. The GOP cannot possibly hope to control the dynamics of the highly decentralized galaxy of groups that make up the tea party movement.”
He also had this warning:
“If tea party groups are to maximize their influence on policy, they must now begin the difficult task of disassociating themselves from cranks and conspiracy nuts. This includes 9/11 deniers, “birthers” who insist Barack Obama was not born in the U.S., and militia supporters espousing something vaguely close to armed rebellion.”
“They would just end up being targets,” he said of the drafters. “We’ll remain nameless for now.”
The signers of the original Declaration of Independence were willing to sign their names. And, the stakes for them were a lot higher.
A new declaration is not required.
The Tea Party largely espouses smaller government and less spending. Unfortunately, the Republican Party of recent years has promoted neither.
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