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The Work of the Tea Party Is Now … TO WORK

By: karenmartin (Diary)  |  April 22nd, 2011 at 08:01 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

This is a concept that has rattled around in the back of my head for a while, a bit formless but I knew it was there and eventually I could share it with you … and then BAM! Bill Hennessey wrote it all out in his blog for me! Thanks Bill, for allowing me to be lazy and draft on your thoughts.

We’ve heard in the past few weeks here in Upstate South Carolina radio host Russ Cassell lament on WORD a few mornings “Where are the tea party rallies? We had huge tea party rallies in 2009 and 2010? Why aren’t there any tea party rallies this year?” and he went on and on about whether the tea party was “over” or “dead”. I called one morning to explain to him that the time for rallies and protests was over, that those events accomplished their purpose of waking up patriots, letting them know they were not alone, and giving them a passion and a purpose but that the work of the tea party now was … TO WORK! The rallies never accomplished the purpose of changing the minds of politicians as evidenced by the health care passage in the face of stunning numbers of rallies; the rallies were successful in what they accomplished in empowering the first wave of tea party patriots. Then THOSE PATRIOTS took on the task of changing the politicians, either their minds or their occupations! I gave him some specifics of what the tea parties had been doing for the past year … electing historic numbers of conservatives to office at local, state, and federal level … and quite recently how the South Carolina tea parties worked together to convince 13 GOP Reps in Columbia to take their name off of a Health Exchange Bill that would have served to help implement Obamacare. But Russ just couldn’t wrap his head around those facts, and his parting words to me as he went to break were along the lines of “Well, I guess the Union protesters in Wisconsin have more passion then the tea party does.”

Many of you have heard me express this before, but Hennessey does it really well! Here are a few excerpts from his article … but PLEASE go read the entire thing.

It’s time to start growing again.

In 2009, the first year of the movement, we did two things: we rallied and we demonstrated. These public events attracted the people who a) believe what we believe, and b) know it. They told me at Tea Party after Tea Party, “I’m so glad to know I’m not alone.”

So 2009 was the big coming together. It was all one, long recruitment drive.

Then in 2010, we went into campaign mode. We took the people had and put candidates into offices. All tolled, we elected about 800 Tea Party candidates nationwide. That ain’t bad.
Since the election, we haven’t added to our rosters. In fact, we might have even lost a few.

It’s time to broaden.

and …

See, we might have attracted everyone who believes what we believe and knows it; we’ve barely made a dent in the millions upon millions of Americans who believe what we believe but don’t know it yet.

This second group–Unknowing Believers–is the largest political group in the country. They love liberty, they had debt, and they like transparency. They just don’t realize how much they have in common with people of the Tea Party movement.

This I believe. Those who were open to being impacted by rallies and protests have already joined us. There are many people all around us who did not “wake up” in 2008 and 2009 in the same way/at the same time many of us did, but the alarm clock has begun buzzing incessantly in their ear and we need to make sure that when their eyes open … we are there. Hennessey urges us to make this happen by being positive and focused, having great conversations with anyone around which, because of the times we live in, will naturally evolve to issues of jobs, education, finances, security, and that we can share our enthusiasm for constitutional values and free market solutions as we find things in common with the next wave of the newly awakened patriots. Be ready. Know what you believe and why you believe it. Don’t overwhelm; suggest solutions and give them hope … and a task! Watch them get excited the way you and I got excited when we realized that there WAS something we could do!

Look for the Unknowing Believers, and take every opportunity to find common ground and encourage them.

Cross post from Spartanburg Tea Party

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  • http://www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com ColdWarrior

    Grass roots conservatives who have been organizing mass rallies ought now to thing about organizing, instead of large mass rallies, instead, hundreds and thousands of smaller mass rallies. Indoors. Every month. At each grass roots conservatives’ respective local Republican Party committee meeting.

    Focus on that, and you’ll accomplish two things. First, you’ll change the Republican Party into a much more conservative party. It’s there for the taking by conservatives, because about half of the precinct committeemen slots nationwide are vacant. About 200,000 vacancies exist. It’s not hard to become a PC. Just takes a little bit of time and effort. And, the best part: it’s interesting, fun and it’s where the real power lies.

    The second thing you’ll achieve is you’ll be in the driver’s seat, with other conservatives, to elect new officers and, if the bylaws allow it, to vote to endorse the real conservatives in the all-important, traditionally-very-low-turnout primary elections. And, you’ll be in the best position to know who those candidates are — because they attend the local committee meetings to get to know the PCs — because they know the PCs will help GOTV in the days leading up to the elections.

    I wrote an article recently here about how the real ball players in the game of politics are inside the parties, as precinct committeemen, and they have far, far more effect on the outcome of the elections than do the public interest groups and bloggers.

    Thank you, karenmartin!

    ColdWarrior

  • http://www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com ColdWarrior

    tea partiers after Obama got elected. I’m paraphrasing, but what he said was accurate: good Americans figured out they had to do something so they decided to find out what they could do to change change the votes of their elected officials by attending the town hall meetings.

    Only one problem: as to Obamacare, going to those town hall meetings DID NOT change the votes of enough of the congresscritters. Because the congresscritters only cared as to whether the tea partiers could take them out in the next election. And you know what? Many of those who were “raked over the coals” at the town hall meetings went right ahead and voted for Obamacare and then got reelected.

    The American people did not elect enough good people. Did not elect enough courageous people. Now we’ve got a bunch of cowards in the House who tell us they can’t do anything to stop Opuppet because they are “only one half of one branch” of the government, leaving out the part that the Constitution gives them the ultimate power: the power of the purse. NO money can be appropriated to fund the government unless the House approves it.

    I wish Rush would have gone on and explained that the best thing now for the grass roots conservatives can do, now, is to go one step further — fill up all those local precinct committeeman slots and take over the Republican Party and elect better, more conservative Republicans in every primary election in 2012. It can be done. If we all make this our top priority. It is mine.

    Thank you.

    ColdWarrior

  • YnotNOW

    It is time to do real work that will make a difference in the next election and in the future cultural and political landscape.
    (am I starting to sound like ColdWarrior?)

  • http://slcliberty.blogivists.com randy streu

    The rallies were really just very public meetings. What they did was mobilize previously disinterested and disgruntled voters to actually take part in the process and DO something. Just ask ColdWarrior.

    The Left and the Right have always viewed activism and action differently. For the Left, it’s about shouting about what they want OTHERS to do. For the Right, it’s always about mobilizing to do for ourselves. It works that way in normal life; why should it be any different in how we do politics?

  • Common_Cents

    Rallies are one function and serve an important purpose you mention like empowerment, recruitment, uniting, etc….

    Like marketing and promotion in business. Find me a business who quits fishing for new potential customers and I’ll show you a big fizzle in no time.

    Rallies are an important part of the process and should remain.

    Think of it as a funnel. People enter the funnel at a rally, then hopefully a good portion of them move on to the other activist steps you are advocating. But it is not necessary to close off the funnel. It is too important of a function. It is not an either/or choice but rather part of the multi function multi step path to success.

  • runner12

    your analysis. Glad to hear you were successful in SC! The people of Oklahoma also gained a victory by convincing the Senate to go against Gov. Fallin’s plan for Healthcare Exchanges. As a result, she gave back the 54 million in federal dollars she was going to take for the program.

    All of this was due to the Tea Party and local conservatives.

    ( tried to recommend, but my Ipad is acting crazy and it won’t work for some reason).

  • earlgrey

    Let me start by saying I am shy. I can make small talk just fine, but I don’t like sharing much of who I am. Additionally, I swore off having political discussions many years ago because I was so passionate about them, that I ended up yelling at friends and embarassing myself (there might have been alcohol involved).

    So I chatted up the manicurist today and starting talking about Europe as I was explaining why I have no fingernails (they break on planes). I talked about how so many governmetns made too many promises when times were good, and now they couldn’t make good on them. She told me how she felt so badly for the people. I emphaisized that it is easier for a politican to get elected making promises they can’t keep than by being honest.

    She was a tough target, a Detroit native now living in Memphis. She kept talling me how she didn’t think they had homeless people in Europe.

    I talked about how I paid about $8 for a cup of hot chocolate and how inflation had made it really hard to afford Europe. I mentioned that we were printing too much money and that was hurting us.

    I described the hotel room I had in France, wtih a 6 inch thick mattress and carpet stains all over the floor, that were still there 3 years earlier (don’t ask my why we stayed at the same hotel). She did agree with me that America probably does have better hotel rooms.

    So I tried. Do I think she will vote Obama, you bet. She identifies with the working person and there was no way, without being overtly preachy I was going to make headway.

    I actually felt a little guilty upon leaving, because I thought I might have made it even more likely that she will continue to vote Democrat.

    This isn’t easy.

  • earlgrey

    I don’t consider this a thread jack, because it is an event designed to teach conservatives how to do what Karen is requesting. Anyone interested in more information can let me know. I just recently learned about it or I would have posted something sooner.

  • http://www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com ColdWarrior

    training materials on the web? If so, can you post the link?

    Thank you.

    ColdWarrior

  • earlgrey

    nt.

  • earlgrey

    Tornado sirens , but we have about 35-40 patriots.