From Sunday's Huffington Post article, Tea Parties Organizing, Training For 2010 Under The Radar...
For some, including important figures in the conservative power structure, Tea Parties are a reaction against a floundering Republican Party. For others, Tea Parties are a Republican Renaissance. For the many libertarians in the Tea Party movement, they are a means to bucking the two-party system. Regardless, Tea Partiers of all stripes want the same thing in 2010: electoral victory...
Many local Tea Party groups are taking the initiative to prepare for 2010 elections on their own. In at least 21 states, local homegrown Tea Party groups are already recruiting precinct leaders and providing them with formal training. Many are also hosting candidate recruitment and training seminars. Some are hosting multi-day "boot camps" for activists and candidates…
On Saturday, Glenn Beck announced an ambitious plan to turn his media megaphone into a community organizing pulpit. He already had a list of "912 candidates" and an "In or Out in 2010" challenge. Now Beck promises to step up efforts to elect like-minded politicians in 2010 by sponsoring voter registration drives and several day-long educational seminars culminating with the release of his upcoming book The Plan, which he will launch on the anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech in August 2010 on the National Mall. The Plan will detail Beck's 100-year plan for America. Beck's educational "conventions" will include policy-specific education, community organizer training, and Beck's personal take on history and economics…
From day one, well-funded libertarian groups have been commandeering the Tea Party movement for electoral gain. American Majority, along with their sponsoring organization, Sam Adams Alliance, and several other like-minded groups, are sponsoring a National Tea Party Convention. Local Tea Party leaders attending the convention will participate in workshops, seminars, and organizing training. Sarah Palin will be the keynote speaker.
American Majority is also co-sponsoring PrecinctProject.com, along with RedState.com, to provide online training to Tea Partiers to "take back the Republican Party…"
Eric Odom, who is most often characterized as the Tea Party founder, is organizing week-long 2010 Tax Day Tea Parties across the country through his new organization American Liberty Alliance (and his former employer Sam Adams Alliance). In each city, the week will kick off with a full day of activist training on Saturday, April 10. Tax Day Tea Party protests will be held on Thursday, April 15, and the week will culminate with door-to-door voter canvassing on Saturday, April 17.
Odom announced recently that he is re-joining the GOP, but he qualified his support for the GOP by saying his new Liberty PAC (1) will not support any incumbent Republican, (2) will help libertarian candidates defeat Republican incumbents that are not conservative enough, and (3) will educate the electorate on why it makes sense for Republican candidates to be Scozzafava'd. Odom explained his plan, "Love or hate the Republican Party, it's our only vessel in the short term."
**UPDATE, DEC. 4, 2009**
Alex’s most recent article on the Tea Party movement appeared in the Huffington Post yesterday. It can be found here. Other articles in this series are here and here.
5 comments:
He is right about Republicans being the only vessel. However, if the Libertarian/Tea Pary types don't stand up for the American worker (ie repudiate their free-trade nonsense), they won't get much cross over support. Laissez faire and lack of regulation are not strong messages to run on right now, IMHO... Populism is the message of the season, but unfortunately, most Libertarians are tone deaf (to public opinion) ideologues. At least they have the anti-war part down. Too bad for them that does not play well in Republican primaries.
I keep on forgetting about the trade issue, but I shouldn't. In my defense, it seems trade gets drowned out by related issues like unemployment, government spending, federal debt, immigration, Wall Street bailouts, etc. But you'right: Theoretically, the trade issue could help peel away Democratic-voting blue worker workers who loathe the GOP's trade policies but are conservative on most other issues. Perphaps the way to unite the anti- and pro-free trade forces within the GOP is to say, "Let's have a freeze on new trade agreements." Same for immigration too, for that matter. And then, in 5-10 years, we can re-evaluate the situation.
Hey, thanks very much for the link back to our story. I like what you emphasized.
With respect,
Alex Brant-Zawadzki
Thank YOU, Alex! And keep up the great work!
Alex, would you happen to have the email address for Alana B. Elias Kornfeld at the Huffington Post? I believe she's the Editor of their Living Section, and I wanted to pitch an opinion piece to her.
If you can email it to me, that would be great. My email is mustardseednovel@gmail.com
Thanks.
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