Where the Tea Parties Should Go From Here

The Wall Street Journal ^ | February 18, 2010 | Karl Rove

[Brandonmark]

The power of the movement is its independence from Democrats and the GOP.

There has been a lot of talk about combining the tea party movement with the Republican Party. And on a small scale, that seemed to happen last week in South Carolina after state GOP representatives agreed to create a "Tea Party Republicans" group to coordinate activities with tea partiers in Greenville and Spartanburg.

[Brandonmark]

"What these people have in common is a deep concern about the future of the country that their children and grandchildren will inherit.

[jdsteel]

Generally speaking, I don’t like articles that try to tell Tea Partiers what to do. This one makes sense, though.

[Tarpon]

We don’t need no stinking leader, we don’t need no stinking party, we are bound by far stronger bounds, fidelity to the U.S. Constitution and our principles and values.

It’s high time the government squirrels recognize that, and join us.

[Jim Robinson]

Rebellion is brewing!!

Just vote them out in 2010!!

[Sloth]

cranks and conspiracy nuts... *snip* ...and militia supporters espousing something vaguely close to armed rebellion.

Yeah, they need to keep out all those revolutionary types, just like the original Boston Tea Partiers did.

[Lurker]

ALL of them! You’re either with us or against us and the time for choosing is NOW!

[pissant]

Rove, just butt the hell out.

[NavyCanDo]

Having taken part in the very first wave of Tea Parties, what I DON’t want to see from them is on my November 2012 ballot seeing a name with TEA PARTY behind it. For it will for sure draw away 12% - 15% of the vote away from the Republicans giving us 4 more years of Obama.

[NOBO2]

Rove is wrong. The only way to win is the ballot box, and that is the only place that counts. To do this we must infiltrate the GOP, put OUR candidates on the ballots, and in office, become PCP’s, set the agenda, get the calling lists of constituents each PCP receives, call the list and ask them to vote for constitutional conservatives. Why in the world is he giving us this advice? What does he suggest we do? Sit in our homes, and just come out on election day? That is a prescription for disaster. That is what we have been doing all these last decades of disintegration. The whole concept of “Flipping the Country” is to launch a coop on the republican party. Maybe he is trying to save the “old” republican party from us.

[Steamburg]

>>We don’t need no stinking leader, we don’t need no stinking party, we are bound by far stronger bounds, fidelity to the U.S. Constitution and our principles and values.

It’s high time the government squirrels recognize that, and join us.<<

Yours the most concise and appropriate answer. Each Tea Party is in touch with their local needs and will act according to their own conscience. There is no way for any centralized attack to succeed against us as long as we are linked by common principles and values rather than a central figure that may be isolated and ostracized.

[GloriaJane]

Who Are The Tea Partyers

[brooklyn dave]

Tea Party movement should not actually form a political party, but be an activist, independent, philosophical movement that gets in the craw of all politicians.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

I agree with Rove on this. I like his analogy to the Pro Life and Gun Rights movement. Think about this people, if it weren't for pro life Democrats in the house, the first bill would not have been stalled so long. I also believe that it is the pro life Democrats in the house who are putting the wrench in Barry's current plans to get his healthcare through. They are unwilling to vote yes on the Senate bill because of it's weak provisions in regards to the Hyde amendment not being applied.

A lot of people get angry at the NRA because they support people like snarlin' Arlen Specter because he has an A rating from the NRA. Think about it people, the reason that the NRA has so much power is because they are not perceived as an arm of the Republican party. Democrats as well as Republicans know that if they get an A or A+ rating from the NRA the NRA will run adds in support of them. That's why things like the assault weapons ban was not re-authorized. That's why pro gun bills are passed (like the conceal carry in National Parks that will become law on Feb 22) and anti gun bills are killed.

The Tea party could concentrate on certain issues like small government, less taxes, fiscal responsibility and hold Republicans as well as Democrats to the fire. If we as conservatives can get working coalitions on each of these type of issues, we can take back the country that our founders created, not the socialist European one that the left wingers want.

[RedMDer]

“Tea Party movement should not actually form a political party, but be an activist, independent, philosophical movement that gets in the craw of all politicians.”

I agree, since Tea party participants are not necessarily GOP, it would have more influence over the existing parties in that role. Having said that, we do need to bring the GOP back to its base.

[ThePatriotsFlag]

They, like the rest of the media, are trying to figure out what makes us "Tea Partiers" .... GO FAST! It is called ENERGY ... more here: The Patriot's Flag - The Tea Party

And by the way folks, if you aren't involved in your local Tea Party's efforts ... WHY NOT??? April 15th is coming, look right there in your own back yard and you'll find a group planning a local Tea Party. Get on the team, enjoy the organization and enjoy meeting other folks. And guess what, NO DUES, NO MANIFESTOS, NO STATEMENTS ... just pure belief that WE WILL make a difference because our idea of protecting the Constitution is the RIGHT thing to do. Don't miss the fun! You'll really enjoy meeting the other folks working there with you. And you won't need the MSM or the WSJ to explain "your feeling" to you ... you'll know ... first hand! Go for it!

[Monterrosa-24]

"...and militia supporters espousing something vaguely close to armed rebellion..." Well excuse the Hell out of me Mr. Bush's Never-Veto-Spending-Bills-Advisor. The great thing about activism is that it leads to more activism. Birchers are welcome. So are Libertarians. So are the militias. We can all dance at the same square.

[RedMDer]

Great Picture!

[Cicero]

Rove was largely responsible for Bush’s move to the left and his abandonment of his base after the sweeping 2004 election victory. Rove backed Specter. Rove backed Arnold. Rove backed Crist. There was never a RINO or a “moderate” that Rove didn’t like.

This was too bad, because earlier he gave Bush a lot of good advice, seemingly. But he made the mistake of thinking that he could keep kicking the base in the teeth and they’d have to vote Republican anyway, because they had nowhere else to go.

Now he seems to have noticed the Tea Party, finally. A bit late. I can’t think of a worse guy for the base he betrayed to take advice from.

[apocalypto]

I agree.