Tea Party, where will it go?

[Caliga]

Nope.    I did let her put a Rand Paul sign out in the yard... but there was a price.

[Darth Wagtaros]

Protest all you want.  We know who owns you.

[garbon]

At least Prin lets him pretend that he is in charge.

[MadImmortalMan]

I don't think #2, 3 or 4 are possible. They aren't an entity built around a complete political ideology like MoveOn became. At least not yet. They are an issue-based phenomenon reacting to the bailouts/stimulus/deficits/new spending issue. At least right now, they're focused solely on that. But their members hold conflicting views in other areas. They can't coalesce into a MoveOn or an actual party unless one of the factions can push the others out and take the name for themselves.

[citizen k]

Tea parties form a federation, but don't call them organized
April 08, 2010|By Kathleen Hennessey, Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Washington — Several major players in the conservative "tea party" movement announced on Thursday a new federation to help spread its message advocating smaller and more decentralized government.

But don't call them organized.

The National Tea Party Federation will issue news releases, respond to critics and help get the word out about tea party rallies and initiatives, organizers said. But they were careful to note it would not change the loose, grass-roots structure of the movement.

"It's an evolution," said tea party activist Mark Skoda. "Not an organization. We're not co-opting a movement. We're not creating a new leadership structure."

Still, the creation of the federation is an acknowledgment of the limits of an undisciplined and disjointed political movement.

In the year since it arose out of a series of protests across the country, the tea party movement has mobilized thousands and established itself as the most active force in conservative politics. But it has also openly aired embarrassing internal disputes and has been slow to respond to critics who've painted protesters as racists.

"It took us 72 hours to respond to John Lewis," Skoda said, referring to the longtime Georgia Democratic congressman and civil rights leader who said a tea party protester used a racial epithet during a rally against the healthcare bill last month.

"We're not needing to meet every week. But there will now be a way to have a call to arms to respond to attacks with a crisp and clear message," Skoda said.

The announcement comes as the tea party movement is preparing for another round of protests -- and the scrutiny that follows. Groups across the country are planning tax-day rallies next week, including large events in Washington, Atlanta, Sacramento and Orlando, Fla.

Organizers said the federation would not be raising money or hiring a staff. Decisions would be made via conference calls among the various groups.

Skoda's Memphis Tea Party was one of 21 groups that had signed on to the federation as of Thursday. The list included the Nashville-based Tea Party Nation, the organizers of a tea party convention this year, and Tea Party Express, a bus tour currently hosting rallies across the country.

The federation also had formed alliances with an additional 19 organizations, some of which were longtime stalwarts of Republican politics. They include anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform, the socially conservative Family Research Council, National Taxpayers Union, FreedomWorks and Republican direct mail consultant Richard Viguerie.

Missing from the announcement was Tea Party Patriots, the best organized online network of local tea party groups.

Skoda said Tea Party Patriots was invited to join but was taking a "wait-and-see approach." A spokeswoman for the group did not respond to a request for comment.

Tea Party Patriots Won't Join New Federation
Tuesday, 13 Apr 2010
By: David A. Patten


The tea party organizations have agreed to disagree, as far as speaking with a single voice is concerned.

Last week, a coalition of 23 tea party organizations announced the creation of the National Tea Party Federation to provide consistent messaging and communications. But one of the largest tea party organizations, Tea Party Patriots, indicated Monday it will not be joining the federation.

"We say 'good luck' finding that one leader," said Jenny Beth Martin, national coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots. "All Americans who hold dear our constitutionally protected principles of limited government are tea party leaders."

Ken Emanuelson, a tea party leader in Texas, says focusing the movement's message is a good idea. But he adds: "We do not believe, however, that any one group of person is -- or should be viewed as being -- the leader of a movement as diverse and far-flung as the tea party movement."

As a decentralized, grass-roots movement, the tea parties have been criticized at times for lacking a common voice. While all tea party groups emphasize free markets, Constitutional liberties, and fiscal restraint, each has its own agenda.

Those differences, combined with leadership disagreements that have been blown out of proportion by the mainstream media, have spawned a desire in some tea-party circles to exercise greater control over the movement's message, while also providing a clearinghouse for information. The National Tea Party Federation is the result.

Founding organizations of the Federation include Tea Party Express, Tea Party Nation, ResistNet, the American Grassroots Coalition, and DC Works for Us.

"We understand the importance of standing together while enhancing the ability to frame the discussion, and realize gains amongst this approach to collaboration," stated Jamie Radtke, chairman of the Richmond Tea Party, in announcing the Federation last week.

Those groups will not be joined by the mammoth Tea Party Patriots organization, however, which maintains over 1,700 state, city, and regional groups nationwide.

The leaders who have decided not to join the Federation are trying to be diplomatic about it.

"We support our friends and will continue to work with them," Austin tea party leader Greg Holloway tells Newsmax. "But we want the country to know that there are lots and lots of tea parties that are not part of the Federation. And we each speak with our own voice."

All of which suggests the tea party movement won't be speaking with a single voice anytime soon.

[Fate]

Tea Party will save america from the brink of radical liberal destruction.

[Valmy]

1)  They fizzle out without a lasting impact, as they were just a vehicle for people to express their mass hysteria over Democrats being back in power.

This.  This was all it ever was.

[Habbaku]

uh... no.  We argue about this shit all the time.   In fact I've strongly advised her to stop posting political shit on FB, but she won't listen.

Just unfriend Jaron.  Problem solved.

[Martinus]

Sociologically, I think they are the peasant rebellion (which explains why it is so hard to define their goals). Such movements  usually fizzle out without a lasting impact.

[Fate]

Sociologically, I think they are the peasant rebellion (which explains why it is so hard to define their goals). Such movements  usually fizzle out without a lasting impact.

No. It's mostly upper middle class crackers. This isn't a working class movement.

[Razgovory]

I don't think #2, 3 or 4 are possible. They aren't an entity built around a complete political ideology like MoveOn became. At least not yet. They are an issue-based phenomenon reacting to the bailouts/stimulus/deficits/new spending issue. At least right now, they're focused solely on that. But their members hold conflicting views in other areas. They can't coalesce into a MoveOn or an actual party unless one of the factions can push the others out and take the name for themselves.

It's not like Moveon.org was every a mass movement.  It was a few people with computers and a website.  For some reason they were able to hit a nerve and rake in lots of cash and became a PAC.  They get alot of publicity because they were one of the first to really use the internet in political fund raising.  As far as I know it's still more of an online virtual community then a real one.  Kinda like a Languish with a political agenda and a fund raising apparatus.

[Razgovory]

Sociologically, I think they are the peasant rebellion (which explains why it is so hard to define their goals). Such movements  usually fizzle out without a lasting impact.

No. It's mostly upper middle class crackers. This isn't a working class movement.

The Peasants Revolt in England was mostly middle class as well.

[Razgovory]

We've seen this song and dance before.  This is just the manifestation of the Reform party and the patriot movement in the 1990's.

I disagree, the Reform Party could have actually won the election if Perot hadn't flaked out and dropped out of the race. I see no possibility of that happening with the Tea Party.

Perot was a loon though.  His loonieness would have manifested itself somehow.

[citizen k]

Sociologically, I think they are the peasant rebellion (which explains why it is so hard to define their goals). Such movements  usually fizzle out without a lasting impact.

No. It's mostly upper middle class crackers. This isn't a working class movement.

[Jaron]

uh... no.  We argue about this shit all the time.   In fact I've strongly advised her to stop posting political shit on FB, but she won't listen.

Just unfriend Jaron.  Problem solved.

WTF Do i have to do with this?