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Tea Party Organizers Should Use Event to Pressure Politicians

By: Steve Foley (Diary)  |  March 5th, 2009 at 03:42 PM  | 

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Cross-Posted from The Minority Report

While I fully support the efforts of those planning and attending Tea Parties to voice their opposition to runaway spending, over regulation and an unbearable tax code, I hope Tea Party organizers use this opportunity and platform to bring pressure to bare on politicians in these cities and states who have abandoned all common sense and saddled the next two generations of Americans with unbelievable debt!

My advice for anyone planning a Tea Party event in your State or City comes in the form of three bullet points and could be the framework for fully utilizing your Tea Party event.

*Call attention to those who voted for the stimulus and have or will vote for the Omnibus Spending Bill

This is obviously what these tea parties are all about but highlighting the way the Representatives and Senators in your state voted or plan to vote will cast unwanted attention to the wayward ones specifically and spotlight the good ones!

*Apply pressure to those politicians who the White House needs to advance the Democrat majority’s progressive agenda i.e. health care, cap-and-trade, and budget

This is a great opportunity make sure Representatives and Senators in your state are made aware of the growing grassroots movement in their district who are fed up with the way this administration is moving the country and or feel they’ve been sold a bill of goods! Make sure you have your people talk to the media at your event about all three of these radical progressive policies.

*Start awareness campaign for any politician that’s up for reelection in 2010 who may be venerable and invite their challengers to speak

Starting an awareness campaign and inviting 2010 challengers to speak at these events is crucial, in my opinion, not only will it bring press it will give your event the recognition of highlighting, and in some cases, spring boarding candidates that truly believe in free market capitalism.

The merging of the Tea Parties and 2010 campaigns seems only natural not only is there potential for growing attendance by scores, but I believe it would be a wonderful opportunity for politicians running in 2010 to meet their constituents and join with them in a cause that’s as American as apple pie — The fight for Capitalism!

Right now I believe that, for the House, there’s no such thing as a safe seat, even though they might appear that way now with the right push and grassroots movement and a lot of these seats could become competitive in a hurry.

All 435 seats representing the fifty United States are being contested in 2010. Additionally, elections will be held for the delegates from the District of Columbia and four of the five U.S. territories. The only seat in the House not up for election is that of the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, who serves a four-year term and will next face election in 2012. I won’t list them here for obvious reasons but with all seats up for elections tides could shift at any moment and these Tea Parties could be force that shifts them.

There are 36 Senate contests in 2010, below are the sixteen Democrat Senate elections for 2010. Analysis by Larry J. Sabato:

Evan Bayh (D-IN): DEMOCRATIC HOLD.
Michael Bennet (D-CO): APPOINTED SENATOR. TOSS-UP.
Barbara Boxer (D-CA): DEMOCRATIC HOLD. If Schwarzenegger runs, COMPETITIVE.
Roland Burris (D-IL): APPOINTED SENATOR. TOSS UP.
Christopher Dodd (D-CT): POTENTIALLY COMPETITIVE.
Byron Dorgan (D-ND): DEMOCRATIC HOLD. If Hoeven runs, COMPETITIVE
Russell Feingold (D-WI): DEMOCRATIC HOLD. If Ryan runs, COMPETITIVE.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY): APPOINTED SENATOR. LEANS DEMOCRATIC HOLD.
Daniel Inouye (D-HI): DEMOCRATIC HOLD, even if Lingle runs.
Ted Kaufman (D-DE): APPOINTED SENATOR—OPEN SEAT DEMOCRATIC HOLD.
Patrick Leahy (D-VT): DEMOCRATIC HOLD. In the unlikely event Douglas runs, possibly competitive.
Blanche Lincoln (D-AR): DEMOCRATIC HOLD.
Barbara Mikulski (D-MD): DEMOCRATIC HOLD.
Patty Murray (D-WA): DEMOCRATIC HOLD.
Harry Reid (D-NV): LEANS DEMOCRATIC BUT POTENTIALLY COMPETITIVE.
Charles Schumer (D-NY): DEMOCRATIC HOLD.
Ron Wyden (D-OR): DEMOCRATIC HOLD.

Below are the nineteen Republican Senate elections for 2010:
Robert Bennett (R-UT): REPUBLICAN HOLD.
Kit Bond (R-MO): OPEN SEAT. – TOSS UP.
Sam Brownback (R-KS): OPEN SEAT. REPUBLICAN HOLD.
Jim Bunning (R-KY): TOSS UP.
Richard Burr (R-NC): LEANS REPUBLICAN
Tom Coburn (R-OK): REPUBLICAN HOLD if Coburn runs, TOSS UP if Coburn retires.
Mike Crapo (R-ID): REPUBLICAN HOLD.
Jim DeMint (R-SC): REPUBLICAN HOLD.
Charles Grassley (R-IA): REPUBLICAN HOLD.
Judd Gregg (R-NH): REPUBLICAN HOLD.
Johnny Isakson (R-GA): REPUBLICAN HOLD
Mel Martinez (R-FL): OPEN SEAT. If Crist runs, this is LEANS REPUBLICAN HOLD. Otherwise, it’s a TOSS-UP.
John McCain (R-AZ): REPUBLICAN HOLD.
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK): REPUBLICAN HOLD.
Richard Shelby (R-AL): REPUBLICAN HOLD.
Arlen Specter (R-PA): LEANS REPUBLICAN.
John Thune (R-SD): REPUBLICAN HOLD.
David Vitter (R-LA): TOSS-UP.
George Voinovich (R-OH): OPEN SEAT. TOSS UP.

COMMENTS

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  • http://www.800cart.com Ron Robinson

    … so let’s start sharing ideas to legally reduce our taxes payable as well as plans to put our feet in the stree.

    http://emilitia.blogspot.com isone place where some of us are sharing tax revolt ideas.

  • robert2706

    I applaud the efforts of concerned citizens who are demonstrating their opposition to the massive spending spree occurring in Washington. However,I think the Tea Party protests are an ineffective display of theirdissatisfaction. At the original tea party in December 1773, three shiploads of tea (worth $1.87M in 2007 dollars) were dumped into Boston harbor. The incident was so shocking to the British, they closed Boston harbor and Parliament passed a series of punitive measures against the colonies known as the “Intolerable Acts”. Those acts were one of the precipitating events of the Revolutionary War.

    If outraged American citizens want to effectively demonstrate their anger at this latest round of “Intolerable Acts”, they need to execute an event of equal magnitude to the original Tea Party. The Sons of Liberty who perpetrated the event knew they were conducting a criminal act. They were prepared to accept the consequences of their actions. Let me be clear; I am not recommending that people break the law or take to the streets inrebellion. However, there are times when acts of non-violent civil disobedience are the only way to get the government to address your concerns. Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela all effectively used non-violent resistance to effect changes in policies oftheir governments. They willingly faced physical abuse, imprisonment, and death in order to hold to their principles and stand against injustice. Dumping a bag of Earl Grey into Lake Michigan – while satisfying – will notget the attention of Washington. I’m not clever enough to think of an event of appropriate magnitude; but I know it must be something that will spark the outrage of the Liberals in Washington. The perpetrators of this eventmust be prepared to accept the consequences of their actions. They must be prepared to endure the suffering that would surely follow in order toadvance the cause of Liberty.

    Four months after the Intolerable Acts were passed, the colonies formed the First Continental Congress. Less than two years later, they would pass aresolution to proclaim independence from British rule. Writing to Abigail on that decision, John Adams said, “I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure, that it will cost us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory. I can see that the end is more than worth all the means. And that posterity will triumph in that day’s transaction, even although we should rue it, which I trust in God we shall not.”