 I still have mixed feelings about the Tea Party movement in our Country. If the intent is to give the opposition and media an excuse to call fiscal conservatives "racists", "tax evaders" or "dangerously un-American", your time will be well spent. If you want to provide the dimwits at CNN and the White House press room sound bites and Youtube videos to prove we are all a bunch of crazies, great you're giving them all the material they need. But if you want your confluence of conservative philosophy to make a difference, you better use all that energy to bring about real change, and save this Country from disaster.
Getting together is only the first part of the program. A Forth of July picnic is perfect. Food, fun and hopefully sun. This is a great opportunity for like minded Americans to meet in an open and informal environment to discuss their concerns, and you can't dismiss the relevance of the date. But it is only the beginning. It is only one day, and we need a lot more. Use this opportunity and excitement to build the grassroots framework that will be necessary to return this Country to sanity.
1. Take names and build a database of supporters to the cause. Put someone in charge of this who has some computer savvy and database or personal contacts software.
2. Use that database to start a newsletter. Keep everyone up to date on what you are doing, and what you need from them.
3. Use the Internet. Start a website or join a social networking site. Again, seek out others who feel as you do about politics and invite them to visit your site.
4. Participate in Conservative discussion groups. There are many on line, just do a Google search for Conservative websites or blogs. We have a discussion group area at ConservativeCompass.com and you are more than welcome to join in.
5. Support your candidates. Know who the Conservatives are in each race and do everything you can to get them elected.
6. Call and fax your lawmakers. A Conservative political action group says that 100 e-mails equals 10 phone calls, which equals one fax. The reason being that e-mails and calls can easily be ignored, while faxes must be removed from the machine by a human, and thus demand more attention.
7. Stay out of the streets unless you are going door to door in your neighborhood. Protesting in the street, sets you up as a target for the opposition. Going door to door allows you to communicate and connect with your friends and neighbors, circumventing the bias and mis-information being presented by the main-stream media. A personal message from people you know is very powerful indeed.
8. School yourself. At the very least, know who serves in these offices: Mayor, County Executive or Manager and members of the City and County Councils. Follow their voting records and hold them accountable. Post that information on your website or in your newsletter.
9. The next level is to follow your state lawmakers and your Representatives and Senators in Washington DC. Again watch what they do, and let them know when you don't like it. Pat them on the back when they do a good job too! The point is to hold them accountable and constantly remind them who they are working for.
10. Know when all of these politicians are up for re-election and work hard to help retain the good guys, and defeat the bad ones.
11. If no one looks good, get out there and recruit somebody. The world is full of bright, reasonable, capable individuals who don't have mistresses, ties to lobbying firms or tax problems. If you like their political outlook, encourage them to run for office and then support them with all your energy.
12. Run for office yourself. Start with something simple like the school board or local water district. You pay taxes right? These people determine how some of your tax money is spent. They are surprisingly powerful positions and a great place to begin your political career.
13. Be active and stay active. Use all this Tea Party energy to bring reasonable people to power and stop the madness.
We've got to stop the insane spending and run up of debt. We've got to stop the massive expansion of entitlements and culture of Government dependency. We've got to stop the insane Government takeover of business and manipulation of the free market. And soon, we will have to stop the insane resulting inflation that will drain whatever value is left, out of our wallets and bank accounts. Clearly the only way to change our Country's direction is to be able to say, as President Obama once did, "I won" and that should be the goal and lasting value of Tea Party events.
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