We Are All Tea Party Now

When I say all, I mean conservatives. Liberals are a whole other kind of party and I won't attend. I do not see the Tea Party the way that I hear it described on TV. To me, the Tea Party is a disorganized group of people, some of whom have organized into an unorganized group of organizations. I hope that makes it clear. It is kind of a forest and trees thing.

I fear that I must explain. Those that think in a Tea Party vein are conservative. They believe in American exceptionalism. They like the Constitution as it stands. They like free market capitalism. They like small government that does not have it's boot on the neck of the people. They believe in equal opportunity, not government mandated equal outcome. They believe that a strong military is a force for peace. They believe that lower taxes makes for success. They believe that politicians should fulfill their promises.

Now that I think about it, that is what America used to be. You know, back when we were really a great nation, not just the shell of one.

So people being the way they are, they tend to form groups and organize. Promotion of the cause and social interaction being a predictable outlet for the like minded. Now every large group has it's share of wing nuts. That goes for both liberals and conservatives. But the press loves to paint the Tea Party types as over the top while accepting Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi as normal. That is a headwind that is tough to buck. Especially after the opposition has used their power to sic the IRS on you.

While there are a lot of individual Tea Party organizations out there, all independent of the others. There are millions of people that think Tea Party while belonging to nothing. These people, pretty much despise the Republican power structure, finding them feckless, self aggrandizing, and more concerned with control than progress. They are tired of RINOs.

Dave Brat was a Tea Party candidate. A good candidate. He had firm positions. He could expound on those positions clearly and in detail. He, as an economist, had professional qualifications. And he won against an incumbent that had gone squishy. It was a good win and he deserved it. 

The power of the Tea Party is just starting to build. If they can beat down the assaults, keep focused, and find exceptional candidates, their power will increase. They are what my wife likes to call "regular Americans". They believe that the greatest country in the world is the United States of America. And they want to keep it that way.