Thursday, April 22, 2010

The Future of the Tea Party Movement

Not since 1992 has an independent movement had such a following as the Tea Party groups. In fact, Ross Perot's efforts in 1992 affected possibly one-fifth of the Presidential Election. The Tea Party, according to recent polls, has at least doubled that. The question is, when election time rolls around who is going to benefit and who is going to lose because of this following. Current polls indicate that the President's approval rating is dropping and will be signifigantly less than 50% by November. But the President is not on the ballot in November. It is the entire House of Representatives and one-third of the Senators who will be chosen. This is a chance to reverse the Socialist trends that the President has been laying on our nation. Without the consent of Congress the president is powerless. If he tries to block Congressional repeal of any acts that have already been passed he may find that his veto can be overruled by a substantial majority in Congress. It is of utmost importance that the President be stopped by this congressional election. History has proved that it is much harder to undo bad legislation than to stop it from passing in the first place.

How can the Tea Party best accomplish this? First of all, just what is the Tea Party? So far it has been shown to be a loosely organized group of citizens who are fed up with the direction our government is taking and wants to shift back to tried and true values. It has no central organization and its platform consists mostly of negative statements about what government should do. This is not a bad thing, the Ten Commandments consists of mostly negative statements about what people should do. How can that help in the crisis we face? It has been proved time after time that the United States is governed by a two-party system. Time after time the will of the people has been thwarted because a signifigant percent of the people voted for their choice as the independent best man for the job and thus defeated the second best man for the job who had major political party support, resulting that the worst man for the job got elected. Considering the lack of time before the election, there is no way the Tea Party can compete against the established machinery of either the Democrat or Republican parties. It is more a matter of convincing candidates of the two parties that they must adhere to the platform of the Tea Party in order to be elected.

Establishing a platform is not beyond the ability of the Tea Party. Already there is a vast agreement of what it wants and what it will not tolerate. All that is required is that those likes and dislikes be enumerated and more specifically defined. Then present them to the candidates as a litmus test of whether they are worthy of Tea Party support. If the movement continues to grow as it has so far, candidates will actively seek the Tea Party endorsement as necessary to survival. And how can the Tea Party accomplish the dual tasks of building a platform and vetting candidates? The simplest way to accomplish a democratic system is the town meeting. This is how the Tea Party started and this is how it can succeed. All it takes is an emphasis on taking care of business at town meetings and mini-conventions. Politicians who wish to identify with the party should best speak about the technicalities of the issues instead of making blanket political promises. When major candidates or incumbents seek to speak at Tea Party gatherings and incorporate planks of the Tea Party platform in their speeches to the general public it will indicate success.

But do not expect perfection. It is doubtful that any Democrat or Republican candidate will endorse the complete tea Party platform, whatever it turns out to be. Be satisfied with what the candidate is willing to support. Who knows? There may develop a contest between candidates to see who can support the most important Tea Party planks. It will also require political savvy for a candidate to determine which planks are most important to his constituents. One thing that will separate the candidates will be the voting record of incumbents seeking reelection. Beware of politicians who claim to have 'seen the light' after a history of foisting big government on the people. What the Tea Party must not do is put up candidates with no existing party structure to back them. Even Teddy Rooseveldt couldn't sell his Bull Moose party. Remember that the elections in November will not just choose our Congress, but also state and local offices as well. It is so easy to vote a straight ticket and so many voters do just that. Look at the rest of the ticket when you evaluate a candidate for party support. Our political system is based on handshakes and networks and it is futile to change that machine at this time.

If the Tea Party is successful in turning our Federal government around to the direction the people want, I predict either of two outcomes. 1. The Tea Party will infiltrate either of the existing parties to the point that it will ideologically become the Tea Party and the ideology will persevere for at least a decade or two. OR 2. One of the existing parties will wither and lose its relevance in American Politics and slowly be replaced by the Tea Party or another movement with similar ideals. Speaking realistically, either of those outcomes could befall the present Republican party. The Republicans are the main group who has any power to slow down the hyperliberal movement. They can either become the active arm of what the Tea Party adherents want or they can refuse that mantle and become irrelevant in the struggle between Liberal Socialism and Constitutional Conservatism. Historically, the Whigs became defunct when the new Republican Party succeeded in putting Abraham Lincoln in the White House. And the Democratic Republicans became the Democrats. It all depends on what an informed electorate decides that the primary issues are to be. LLet us make sure they are well informed.

-Publius