But probably not how you're thinking...
Special Report: The Tea Party goes to school
Reuters wrote:
HANNIBAL, Missouri — Some Tea Partiers admit mistakes were made. Others are quick to describe the movement's recent efforts in the political arena as not quite ready for prime time.
But the conservative upstart is determined to shed its amateur status. To that end, members are literally going to school. They are taking part in training sessions, some of which are underwritten by established conservative groups like American Majority, the Leadership Institute and Americans for Prosperity.
Indeed, an up-close look at the Tea Party in 15 states over a three-month period during this summer's political primaries showed a group striving to make the transition from unruly protesters to effective activists. Their near term goal is to gain a foothold at the most basic levels of government -- from city councils to state assemblies.
If they succeed, say political analysts, they could be a significant factor well beyond the November 2 midterm elections and could help shape the 2012 presidential race.
During one recent class held in Hannibal, Missouri by American Majority, Beka Romm, the group's director for Kansas, tells her audience to hold U.S. politicians' feet to the fire. Above all, the ones they like.
"If you look at that chart," she said, pointing at a screen showing deficits under U.S. presidents stretching back half a century to John F. Kennedy, "You can see that some of the people we like have run large deficits."
The numbers show an estimated budget deficit of 7.8 percent of gross domestic product in 2010 under President Barack Obama, which is in line with most nonpartisan forecasts.
But the chart also makes plain that the last three Republican occupants of the White House -- George W. Bush, George H. W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, a GOP deity -- ran up some hefty fiscal shortfalls themselves. As a percentage of gross domestic product, Obama holds the record with Reagan and Bush Sr tied for second place.
"We have to acknowledge what happens to people, even the ones we like, when they get to Washington," Romm told 18 Tea Party activists gathered in a hotel conference room here in Hannibal on the banks of the mighty Mississippi. "It shows why we must hold them accountable. It's also why you don't get to go on vacation on November 3. Because on November 3, you start holding politicians accountable."
That is not necessarily good news for the Republican Party. The GOP is expected to be the beneficiary of the Tea Party's assault on the midterm elections. But for all their shared political DNA, the two parties are by no means always or even regularly on the same page.
In fact, the Tea Party has in some cases forced the GOP to spend more in primaries and could end up helping Democrats in districts where they field their own independent candidate, splintering the conservative vote.
But if Republicans are frustrated, so be it, say many Tea Party members. They add that if the conservative establishment finds them a nuisance now, just wait.
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The article continues at some length and is available in it's entirety from the link at the top.
This certainly sounds promising, I disagree with many things the Tea Party is for but I see promise in their desires to hold Republicans accountable for their recent turn towards big government. What I see even more interesting long term, is whether the Tea Party will remain content to influence candidates in the mainstream parties, or will they decide to try running under their own brandname. If they choose the latter and are successful, they may finally break through the two party system in this country and encourage some actual political diversity, something I think many people could get behind.
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Your boos mean nothing, I've seen what makes you cheer.
- Rick Sanchez