Lesson learned from Pennsylvania May 18th primary:
In states where Tea Parties stood up to be counted, showed their mettle, were aggressive in their beliefs and did not wimp out, they helped to win elections. In Kentucky (Taking on the "old guard" GOP & Mitch McConnell,) Utah (Utah Rising took control of Utah GOP in less than a year,) and in Massachusetts.
In Pennsylvania, where Tea Parties for the most part hid behind being independent, non-partisan, academic and generally wimpish, we lost... badly. It was an overwhelming win for the "old guard" machine politicians, those who we profess to oppose and depose.
There was a 23% turnout for the PA primary on Tuesday, May 18, 2010. Dismal. The Pennsylvania Tea Parties were invisible. In fact, the support for Tim Burns in the special election in PA Congressional District 12 came from groups from out of state.
Politics is not an intellectual exercise, it is trench warfare in a civilized manner. If you are not inclined to stand up and be counted, please sit down and get out of the way of those who are.
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Excellent points. I live in CT and the tea parties are just starting to really pick up steam. While we don't expect huge wins in November for conservative candidates, we're showing surprisingly high turnouts. Between tea parties and the 9-12 Project I believe we are making a difference, despite how liberal the state is.
ReplyDeleteVictoria Watson