Tea Party

Our First Amendment has given United States' citizens the right to a 'peaceful assembly' and 'freedom' to speak out about issues in our government, society, laws, etc. in order to promote change or support. One influential group that will be reviewed in this paper is a newly formed group call the Tea Party. In the following paragraphs I well address the Tea Party's goals, their strategies in reaching their goals, and conclude if they have been successful or not in meeting those goals. (American Government and Politics Today, 124,136-43, 2010)

The tea party is a decentralized grass-roots group of people who didn't like what was going on in Washington. These people come from all walks of life, every race, every religion, every political view, such as Democratic, Republican, libertarian or Independent and are scattered throughout the 50 states of America. All these Americans that make-up the tea parties are like-minded and believe that our government should be fiscally responsible, Constitutionally limited, and favor that our economy rely on the free market concept (see exhibit A and B in the Ref pg.). The Tea Party is structurally composed of five separate national groups extending into local level Tea Parties. These groups network with each other and stand together to form a movement to save the republic. At present, there are five national groups which are the following: 9-12 project, Tea Party Patriots, Tea Party Federation, Tea Party Express, and Freedom Works. Along with the local Tea Parties, they are all non-partisan organizations, who are supporters of the Constitution, use peaceful endeavors and are non-racial. Anyone who promotes racism or violence is immediately denounced and asked to leave the organization. (9-12 Project, 2010) (GeorgiaTeaPartyPatriots, 2010)

Tea parties have penetrated America by using many communicational vehicles. They promote their likeminded message through word of mouth, the Internet, local newspapers, Fox News, some local and national news organizations and press, message boards, conventions, conservative radio talk hosts, and gatherings. There are some tea parties that develop a caravan and go state-to-state to rally. There seems to be a never-ending flow of exposure and the use of multiple avenues to express their message of fiscally responsible government that is constitutionally limited and the belief of economic growth through the free market. Some of the public who are also discontented with the government, like their message and also believe “We the people'' have a voice and want change, but without government intrusiveness on their 'Freedom, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness'. (libertarian party, 2010)

The big question is how successful have the Tea Parties been in meeting their goals. Time, perseverance and patience is working for them. At the present time, it is unknown in how successful they will be in their endeavors. The Tea Party have receive the attention of Senator Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, who now acts as chairman for the Tea Party caucus. This is a good start that someone in government is listening to them and is used as a conduit for the flow of information from the Tea Party to congress. The Tea Parties are an educated group of people who read, study and learn about the constitution and our founders and continue to enrich their data bank through further resources about government in general. This provides them with armor to promote their cause. Membership is growing. According to DesertConservative.com, Tea Party News on 07/15/2010, an article states per Winston Group polling (april 1, 2010) that there are 49 million active members in the Tea Party movement. Per a Rasmussen polling (June 2, 2010), 149 + million people believe that the Tea Party movement is a good thing for America. (.msnbc.msn.com, 2010)(Foxnews, 2010)( Desertconservative, 2010)

To agree or disagree with the Tea Party ideology, I can only conclude that the Tea Parties are making their mark as an influential political interest group. So far, the midterm elections have nominated four candidates backed by the Tea Parties, who are the following: Rand Paul

Kentucky GOP Senate candidate, Sharon Angle Nevada's Republican Senate candidate, Mike Lee Utah Republican Senate nomination, and South Carolina gubernatorial candidate Sharon Angle. How much impact they will have in the future, only time will tell, perhaps sooner than later, the November 2, 2010 elections may give some insight. (abcgo.com, 2010)

References
Anonymous. (2010, August, 15). Tea Party News
Retrieved August 2, 2010, from Desertconservative website
http://www.desertconservative.com/2010/07/15/tea-party-news-7152010/
Anonymous. (2010, August, 15). Georgia Tea Party Patriots
Retrieved August 2, 2010, from Georgeteapartypatroits website
http://georgiateapartypatriots.com/wordpress/
Russert, L. (2010, July, 20). Bachmann chaired tea party caucus
Retrieved August 2, 2010, from MSN website
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/07/20/4717296-bachmann-chaired-tea-party-caucus-holds-first-meeting-tomorrow
Pergram, C. (2010, July, 19). House Gives Bachmann okay to form tea party caucus
Retrieved August 2, 2010, from Fox News website
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/07/19/house-gives-bachmann-okay-form-tea-party-caucus/
Tymann, J. (2009, March 28). Guest Commentary Tea Parties are only Beginning
Retrieved August 2, 2010, from Naplesnews website
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2009/mar/28/guest-commentary-tea-parties-are-only-beginning-na/
Anonymous. (2010). The 9-12 Project
Retrieved August 2, 2010, from Fox News website
http://www.the912project.com/the-912-2/

Anonymous. (2010). Libertarian Party, Minimum Government, Maximum Freedom
Retrieved August 2, 2010, from Libertarian Party website
http://lp.org
Khan, H. (2010, July, 15). Tea Party Influence November mid-term elections
Retrieved August 2, 2010, from ABCNews website
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/tea-party-time-influence-november-mid-term-elections/story?id=11165237
Bardes, B.A., Shelley, M.C., Schmidt, S.W. (Ed.). (2010). "Chapter 4"
American Politics in Government, 2010 Edition. (pp. 124, 136-43) USA:
Course Technology.