Posted on 03/20/2010 9:24:17 AM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
On a bright, brisk afternoon in mid-February, with snow still thick on the ground from storms that had battered Washington the week before, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele met with more than 50 members of the Tea Party, the Twitter Age conservative movement that is reshaping the U.S. political landscape.
Steele, RNC chairman since January 2009, had invited them to the plush Capitol Hill Club, built as a clubhouse for the party's top brass next door to RNC headquarters.
According to several accounts, not long into the meeting JoAnn Abbott, an activist from Virginia who calls herself the 'Tea Party Grandma,' raised her hand to ask a question.
She asked about a web page on the RNC site where visitors could send their member of Congress a postcard with a tea bag. On the tag at the end of the string were the letters 'RNC.'
"Respectfully, sir, while we do not have a trademark on the tea bag, you are well aware that people associate it with the Tea Party movement," Abbott, 50, recalls saying to Steele. "If you co-opt that image, you damage our brand and weaken our movement."
Lest there was any confusion, she added: "It does not belong to you, it belongs to us as an independent movement."
Abbott said within an hour of the end of the meeting the page (www.teaparty.gop.com) was gone -- and the Grand Old Party was finally aware of conservative frustrations she and others felt with Republican leadership.
"The GOP now knows we're not asleep anymore," Abbott told Reuters. "The giant has been awakened."
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Hey Reuters - The Tea Party is not just conservatives - they are PATRIOTS who believe in Our Constitution!
You know it and it leaves you powerless. YOU don’t dictate - we do!
I think we will see more and more articles of this type in weeks and months to come. Close to the November election we will be inundated with articles like this one. Divide..divide, try making the members fight among themselves...divide..and let the democrats win. This I think is behind the news thinking. It won’t work.
Al Reuters misinformation to confuse and obfuscate their conservative opposition. Look at the split in the Dims.
Where is the GOP concerning the greatest threat to this country, illegal immigration? Most of these bozos, such as Sarah Palin, are willing to grant amnesty to those 40 million here illegally.
I’ve never understood the “math” of the third party critics. I’ve always heard it said that there are 40% liberals, 40% coservatives, and 20% independents. If the independents form a third party the liberals and conservatives would be equal.
With that said, how many chances are the republicans going to get? They get voted into power then do nothing. Have they learned their lesson? I don’t think so. Having Steele in charge proves they haven’t.
Anyone who thinks a “3rd Party” is the solution -— is either an idiot or a liberal.
I won’t argue that I’m an idiot but I’m not a liberal. By the way, the republican party was a third party at one time.
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Funny, I feel the same about those that claim or demand Republicans and Democrats are the only parties that should represent the people.
And, history is on my side.
Soon, your Don Quixote need to punish the GOP will be history, and you will be proved an idiot or a liberal.
Look at it this way:
IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THE NUMBERS TO TAKE CONTROL OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, HOW IN THE HECK WILL YOU EVER HAVE THE NUMBERS TO TAKE CONTROL OF THE ENTIRE POLITICAL SYSTEM?
More to the point: Many independents lean left. Independents, as a group, are MORE liberal than registered Republicans!
Humility goes a long way in this line of work.
You must first know the LIMITS of any political cause, the LIMITS of any political system.
The American system does not work very well, with more than one political Party. The ONLY exceptions would be in those areas that let ONE candidate appear more than one time on the ballot, under different Party nominating systems.
Not talking about history. I'm talking about today's America.
The numbers of independent voters are growing all the time. Don't believe me? Do the research.
BTW, if your directing this comment specifically at me?
You do not understand what you are talking about.
You do not understand what the numbers mean.
Conservatives are upset with the Republican Party -— I understand that -— but the proper remedy is to TAKE CONTROL OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY!
The actual work, effort, sweat, money, heartaches, time etc. involved in doing the job of a “new” Political Party will sap the strength of the conservative movement, demoralize our base, and frustrate the grass roots with repeated losses.
It is a stupid idea.
It won't work.
I was using the “inclusive ‘you’” meant to include anyone who truly thinks that a 3rd Party solves anything.
Was not intended as a direct attack.
My apologies.
What base is that?
They do not need cat fights in the Republican Party, or cat fights in the conservative movement.
It is the job of political leaders to pick and choose what battles are worth fighting, and which battles can wait tell another day.
We have a fiduciary responsibility, as we are handling contributions, to make sure that money is spent correctly.
We are handling volunteer manpower, we have a duty, line any general in a war, not to waste precious human resources.
We must put our personal and collective egos aside, and ask what strategy would best defeat the enemy, given the system at hand and the reality before us.
A 3rd Party is NOT the answer.
No competent political strategist, who has ever, actually, BEEN ELECTED to any office, will disagree with me.
No competent political strategist, who has ever, actually, MANAGED a SUCCESSFUL a political campaign, will disagree with me.
You mean like battling for our legitimate sovereignty, secured borders, and supporting strict laws that would prohibit employers from hiring millions of illegal aliens?
What does this mean specifically?
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