Why the tea parties will win.

The tea party movement is not a political party. I don’t even see it as a political movement. There is no single uniting policy, no candidate or spokesman calling the shots. Do we love Sarah Palin? Yes, we do. Do we tend to agree with most if not all of the Republican national platform? Read it, it’s great. However this is not a repeat of the Reagan Revolution, we do not have a single charismatic leader, and instead of one big “Reagan” we have a million little “Ron’s”. Sarah Palin’s prominence is a result of our movement, not its cause. If a Republican is willing to campaign, and govern according to the conservative principles in that marvelous platform of theirs, great, if not we can find someone else.

            Don’t be mistaken, the tea parties are united but not on the minutia of policy. We are drawn together by core principles. We believe in a great America. We see Reagan’s shining city on a hill, and we do not apologize for this country. America is the best hope of freedom, the torchbearer of liberty, and the single greatest source of charity for the world. Our military is the greatest force for good in the world. When we hear a President go to countries where rape victims are flogged, or women have been forced to have abortions and bemoan the treatment of women in our country, it rubs us the wrong way. When our soldiers saving countless lives in Haiti are told not to fly our flag it enrages us.

            We believe in a free America. Liberty, freedom, and independence are not just words to us, they are a faith. Since the 1930’s and even before, we have had a strong move by some to find the government solution to every problem. The new deal, the war on poverty, and Medicaid were all supposed to free us from social injustice. I hate to point this out to the liberals, but poverty is kicking your butt. We think its time to try something different. Let every American work as best as he can, and keep what he earns. How about limiting governments involvement to as few rules as regulations as absolutely necessary. Reagan tried it and it worked fine. Take health care, the real solution is as plain as the nose on Karl Malden’s face. If costs are higher than the market can bear, remove the extra market forces. Every problem the government fixes for us necessarily means they have to take freedom from us. If Obamacare is allowed to stand we will not be a free country with certain restrictions, we will be a restricted country with certain freedoms. What about the poor? Free and prosperous Americans will do a far better job of helping them, then all the government entitlements in history. Entitlements enslave one segment of the population by robbing the wealth of another. Private and religious charities help people stand on their own two feet. Remember the story about teaching the man to fish?

            We believe in a secure America. We do not oppose legal immigration, but support clamping down on illegal immigration. We don’t want to reward people for breaking the law, so we don’t support amnesty, rather purposed by Republican or Democrat. We love and support our military and want them to have everything they need to win, yes win, with as few casualties as possible. We don’t believe terrorists have the same rights as captured enemy soldiers, let alone US citizens

            We believe in limited government. Of all the core principles this is key. It unites social and fiscal conservatives and contrasts the tea party America from the liberal America. Even before Obamacare, the principles of limited government were under siege. The growing deficit, in spite of record revenues, was a symptom that was not treated in the last Republican administration and helped lead to the election of a number of “blue dog” democrats. If the Republicans disappointed us, the blue dogs have absolutely betrayed us. If the Bush deficits were unacceptable, there are no words short of profanity to describe what has transpired under the Obama reign. We understand that drastic real spending cuts are needed and that the old principle of votes for pork must be abandoned.  Loss of these “goodies” may cause short term pain but will inspire long term gain.

            Most of all, we believe in the constitution. Our founders established a stringent system of check and balance meant to shackle the beast of federal power. So serious were they that a leading argument against the bill of rights was the fear that if certain rights were listed future government might deem that only those specific rights were protected.

In reality, the rights of the people are unlimited, barring of course criminal activity, and the powers of government severely restricted to those specifically granted. To quote Roland Burriss D-Ill “most of the stuff we do around here has nothing to do with the constitution anyway”. In the end the only guarantee we have of any rights, of any freedom is in the constitution and if it is circumvented in the name of the common good, than all liberty can be circumvented in the same way. Case in point, the filibuster in the Senate so passionately defended by Democrats in the years of the Bush administration was designed as a break to help slow the populist issue of the moment. Major transformative change like healthcare reform should be hard and should require broad based support. By using parliamentary tricks the government can now reshape the entire structure of the nation with a fifty-one vote tyranny. This does not even account for the imperialistic use of executive orders now prevalent in Obama’s white house.

            These are the challenges, but why will the tea party movement prevail? Whenever liberty has been threatened Americans have risen to defend it. Unlike in our recent past when a small percentage of the people have taken up arms across the foam to win its continuation, this battle fall to us, the everyday American. Why will we win? Because if we loose our children will grow up impoverished and oppressed. We will win because we must!                

            Samuel Adams said “it does not take a majority to win, rather an irate tireless minority, keen set to brush fires in people’s minds.” That is the tea party movement in one sentence.

            Until next time, keep on the firing line.

            Oh for a man of the mushy middle! How my heart yearns for one who can lay aside such divisive concepts as principle and constitutionality and just be civil. What hope is there but for a man willing to smile and compromise as the liberals erode freedom? Where is the leader who will extend a hand to the president and ignore the knives thrust into his, or her, back?

            Are not these the ones who have inspired us throughout history? Was Scotland not unified behind William Wallace’s message of moderate civility?  Was Samuel Adams not famous for his lack of extremist rhetoric? Didn’t Thomas Payne inspire a nation by seeking common ground with the British? Was not the purpose of the first tea party an attempt to compromise with the British on tax policy?  Surely no one like Patrick Henry would have used the inciting words liberty and death in the same sentence. Certainly Abraham Lincoln saved the republic by embracing the slave owners with the stirring refrain “why can’t we all just get along”. Didn’t Reagan inspire the nation by…? I think you get my point. To quote Braveheart’s Wallace “men do not follow titles [or moderates] they follow courage.”   

            I believe Webster’s should define a moderate politician as “one who surrenders by the pound the freedoms liberals seek to devour by the ton” moderate voters however are in a different category all together. If indeed the Republicans wish to win over moderate Democrats perhaps they should simply remember what the popular non deplume for them is: Reagan Democrats. Most Democrats while they may not be willing to go as far as agreeing with the nasty old Republicans do not prescribe to the High taxation and radical Government controls promoted by the far left. Further, moderate Democrats love this country. I submit they are more likely to vote for a conservative with an uncompromising “love America” message than for a catering candidate endeavoring to say what they think the voter wants to hear, especially one who does not contrast himself to an administration left of Mao. To prove the point, I have yet to hear a moderate Democrat called a McCain democrat.

            Independents are another sticky wicket. With Republicans and Democrats nearly even in the country this small percent of voters not identifying with either the major parties or a third party become a sort of Holy Grail to those seeking high office. Conventional wisdom says to “go moderate” and both parties have tried this to some extent. Liberals are better at hiding who they are so they have had success promising to govern from the middle with a “wink, wink, nod, nod” to the far left. Believing in integrity, we conservatives can’t copy this strategy so we send out real moderates and watch the Dole’s and McCain’s of the world get chewed up and spit out by alienating their own base and failing to attract independents.

            Shall we go back to what works? First of all there are three main groups of independents. First you have those who do not identify with the Democrat party because they believe the party not liberal enough. Unless we are willing to drop the Republican national platform and run on the Communist Manifesto we are not likely to win these voters. Second are those who do not wish to identify with the Republican Party because it is not conservative enough or because it has failed to stand up for conservative values in the past. Good luck bringing them on board by moving to the left to the infamous middle ground. Finally the largest group of independents does not associate with either party because they agree with some basic ideas of each party. These voters will tend to vote for the best candidate rather then for the ideological views of the candidate. This is where men of the mushy middle fall short. To win these voters a clear reasoned message is required, a strong stand may be more important than what the stand is, and common ground is likely again to be American exceptionalism. “I may not be pro-life” says this independent, “but I will vote for the pro-life guy because he wants to do away with Obamacare and give us back our freedom to choose our own healthcare.”

            Strength, freedom, and leadership are the winning issues that will draw moderate and independent voters back to the Republican Party. We also should keep in mind we are not running against centrist Democrats. Even a voter who leans slightly left will does not likely support the radical transformation of America as proposed by Obama, Reid, and Pelosi. Independents are fleeing the sinking ship “Obama” in droves and it is up to us to give them a starkly contrasted boat to swim to.

            If we take our example from Adams, Henry, Lincoln, and Reagan we won’t go too far wrong.

            Until next time, keep on the firing line.