No Tea Party

When Tea Partiers oppose or support an elected official or a candidate for public office, they should do so based upon whether the candidate really grasps foundational principles like a limited government that is of, by, and for the people. The tea partiers understand that Congress works for "we the people" and that we don't work for Congress. The current administration's overreaches, combined with their party's congressional majorities, gave birth to a grassroots reaction and a revival of 18th-century ideals: old-fashioned town hall meetings and rallies that were engendered by a hearty dissatisfaction with a progressive deviation from our Founders' intentions; things like individual liberty, personal responsibility, limited government, strong national defense, lower taxes, and rule-of-law. Tea Partiers should maintain the purity of their cause by not becoming a formal political party. As long as they operate in the sphere of ideas and principles, they can continue to call out politicians who deviate from what the framers of the Constitution intended, and they can be effective in keeping Washington honest - but if they were ever to take to heart recent polls like the Rasmussen one that suggests that the Tea Party is now more popular than either of the political parties, they would in fact be misinterpreting what the poll really measures: disaffection with the existing political parties and their political practices, and thus a preference, a longing even, for a return to constitutional principles....read more