TEA Party – Page 9

Too good to pass up

Because the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is so worried about having to defend 23 seats (especially since a number of incumbents are throwing in the towel) they are pulling out all the stops to win – by soliciting slogans for a catchy car magnet.

After I saw the solicitation, it seemed like deja vu all over again to me and I was correct – they ran a similar contest in 2007 during the waning days of Bush’s presidency. Back then I had some catchy ideas, and I was sure with a little thought I could come up with something a lot less lame (and more truthful) than:

We’ve Got Your Back, Barack
Repeal Republicans in 2012
Had Enough Tea?
Brick by Brick, We’re Building a Firewall
Hey GOP? You’re Firewalled!

How about something like:

2012: Like 2010, Only Better
Hey Senate: You’re Next
Make DC Democrats an Endangered Species
Serve Senate D’s a Cup of TEA
Barack Obama: One Term Blunder

You know, I kinda like that last one. Anyway, the cheap sons-of-bitches don’t even offer a prize for winning aside from saying “your words could end up on T-shirts, tote bags … the possibilities are endless.” I’m sure they thought the spigot of union campaign cash was endless too, but we in the TEA Party are working on that.

So just like Democrats in Maryland have dropped almost everything else to pander to a particular small but vocal constituency group and try to slide gay marriage into law, the DSCC is working on the important stuff here. Maybe the message from the rest of us should be, “You Cut Your Budget Or We Cut Your Job.”

A time to protest

In this civil (or perhaps uncivil, for as Axl Rose says, “What’s so civil ’bout war anyway?”) war around our land, the one which has progressed beyond ballots but thankfully not yet to bullets, it seems we’re as divided as we have been in any recent time. Even in Maryland, which is written off as a hopelessly single-party state, there’s a rear-guard action which requires the attention of the status quo in power.

For example, even though the same-sex marriage bill passed a key hurdle in the House of Delegates by narrowly passing the House Judiciary Committee on a 12-10 vote, there’s still hope that the correct course of action will be taken and the House at-large will defeat the bill, since the pro-gay forces have no guarantee they’ll get to the magic number of 71 Delegates needed to pass the bill. To that end, Robert Broadus of Protect Marriage Maryland is seeking a daily protest this week in Annapolis:

We are arranging a PROTEST in front of the Maryland State Capitol Every Day Next Week!! If unions (and) teachers can protest in Wisconsin over union benefits, we can certainly protest in Maryland over marriage!! I am asking ALL of you to please come WHEN you can.

We must now redouble our efforts. Are there enough people who care about this issue in MD to sustain a week long PROTEST here in Annapolis?

Maybe, maybe not. But this fight will drag on for at least the next few months as opponents have vowed to place the bill to referendum. In a Presidential election year, a referendum vote may hinge on black turnout as that community tends to oppose gay marriage and President Obama will presumably be on the ballot for re-election.

And then we have the mother of all protests next Monday, the 14th. Dubbed the “Rally to Keep the Promise” by its organizers, the Maryland State Education Association, it’s certain the usual big-government apologists will be there. And there’s nothing like a little class envy to fire up the troops:

We’re rallying to ask the General Assembly to prevent devastating cuts to public education and the retirement security of educators, police, health care workers, librarians, and many more hard-working Marylanders.

These cuts will threaten the quality of our public school system and the quality of the public services that we depend on everyday.

As Maryland recovers from the recession brought on by the excesses of Wall Street, we urge legislators to keep their promises to Main Street and provide great public schools, great public services, and a great future for Maryland.

What about their fiduciary promises to taxpayers and the solvency of the state? There is a point where taxation works to negative results like job losses and capital flight. And – how does revamping teacher retirement affect the classroom in the here and now? Their job should be to teach children, not worry about contributing a few more dollars toward their retirement. In that respect, welcome to the world most of the rest of us share.

The principle of bargaining between those who receive taxpayer funds to run operations and who receive taxpayer funds to perform a service leaves one side always a loser – the taxpayer. It’s why those of us who are Taxed Enough Already (a.k.a. the TEA Party) are calling for a stop to the madness. We’ll be represented in Annapolis, too, and although our numbers may be smaller we’re not going to be quiet and allow our representative to be bullied. Governor Walker is on the right track, and although it’s going to be a long 3 1/2 years until we can rectify the problem here we’re setting out to do just that.

Step one is cutting the piggishness of Big Labor down to size.

TEA Party Caucus: Maryland Democrats need not apply

I’ll state the news item first: a day after it was announced he had become vice-chairman of the nascent Maryland TEA Party Caucus in the House of Delegates, Baltimore City Delegate Curt Anderson withdrew from the group at the request of fellow Democrats.

Yeah, I bet it wasn’t fifteen minutes from the time the news hit the wire to Anderson being called on the carpet by his fellow Democrats. Perhaps Anderson forgot that bipartisanship only works one way in Annapolis.

Honestly, I was surprised Curt would be the one to cross the aisle considering he never scored well on the monoblogue Accountability Project – I would have picked a Delegate like Kevin Kelly or John F. Wood, Jr. as they were the top two most conservative Democrats during the last term. (Wood is a cosponsor of the sales tax relief bill, HB465, introduced by Delegate Justin Ready earlier this week.)

But the venom from his city cohorts, as noted in this Maryland Politics blog posting, is scathing. The TEA Party is the Anti-Christ to the Democratic party? Get a grip, Delegate Glenn. What a poor choice of words! Let me tell the Democrats I know who participate in the TEA Parties that they’re quite at home in your version of the party. </sarc>

This just goes further to show the arrogance and disrespect elected Maryland Democrats have for the common working person. But it also shows the character of Delegate Anderson that he returned to the plantation so soon – why stop now, when they’re still threatening to take away your delegation chairmanship despite the fact you stepped aside from the TEA Party Caucus? To me, principles matter.

And despite the best efforts to marginalize the TEA Party Caucus, they’ve scored a victory by attracting the attention of liberal Democrats. Delegate Maggie McIntosh is quoted in the Sun as saying, “(The caucus is) highly organized. We should take them seriously.”

Damn right you should take us seriously because now we have a full four-year cycle to recruit candidates and build a war chest to defeat the liberals who have taken Maryland a long way down a dead-end street of debt and overbearing government. We didn’t do too badly in basically one year of preparation and not a lot of help from the state Republican Party since we picked off six Democrats from the House and it took a ton of special interest money to eke out two of OUR Senate seats that are now simply on loan to their Democratic occupants. (Yes, that means you, Jim Mathias.)

Go ahead and try to redistrict us out of existence – it won’t work because there’s too many of us now. If they want war because they consider us in the TEA Party the Anti-Christ, well, I say give it to them.

But Delegate Curt Anderson’s not a victim of that war, nor is he even a casualty. He may be put in his place for a short while, but eventually he’ll be back in the fold because they’ll need his vote and all will be forgiven when he delivers. Most likely it won’t serve the rest of us well, but that’s how the game is played in Annapolis and that’s why it needs to change four years hence.

Items of interest

For those of you budding TEA Party activists out there, you may be interested to know…

American Solutions is hosting a conference call with a TEA Party favorite, newly elected Rep. Allen West of Florida. The information is as follows:

C of C Conference Call with Rep. Allen West (FL-22)

Wednesday, January 26th, 8:00 PM EST

Dial-In Number: 712-432-0075
Participant Code: 283031

If that’s not enough, the newly-formed Senate TEA Party Caucus is seeking public input at 10 a.m. Thursday morning. A local activist is putting together a caravan for the event, which would need to leave early Thursday morning. But if you can’t make the caravan or wish to depend on your own self for transportation, Julie Brewington at Right Coast has what you need to know.

(Bear in mind that inclement weather is predicted for Wednesday night into Thursday morning, so this event may end up being postponed.)

But there are opportunities aplenty for freedom-minded activists to get involved.

Thought for the day: To me, the ideal in government would be the opposite situation to that which we have presently: a scenario where one party decreases the size and scope of government slowly, with the other moving at a more marked pace. In either case, the cause of freedom advances rather than recedes.

(I was inspired this morning – it’s part of a longer piece I submitted to another outlet. But don’t expect such good thoughts every day.)

The TEA Party is not a loser

Sorry about the time away, but now things are back to normal in my new locale.

I’m catching up on some things I meant to respond to, with one being a December 31 post by Richard Cross at Cross Purposes which picked Maryland political winners and losers. I’m not going to quibble with the other seven items, but I don’t think the TEA Party in Maryland was a loser in 2010. After all, Cross also picked “insurgent Republicans” as one of his four winners and the TEA Party was a big part of getting those insurgents elected.

“The makings of a political farm team consisting of young, energetic, upwardly-mobile candidates” has been a GOP goal for many years, but Cross chooses to focus on the electoral losses of TEA Party darlings Jim Rutledge and Brian Murphy. Certainly those two were my personal picks, but the TEA Party was victorious on the local level in getting that GOP bench in place.

It’s also worth mentioning that Rutledge and Murphy have placed themselves in a position to run for future office. I don’t see another Senate run for Jim, but many have postulated that he could run for another statewide office in 2014 – perhaps Attorney General, as he was rumored to do this year. Certainly the GOP could use a candidate there. And with Bob Ehrlich out of the picture, one could use the example of recycling 2008 Presidential hopefuls like Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee on a national scale to presume Murphy as a gubernatorial player in 2014 (along with the possibilities of those who dropped out earlier like Pat McDonough, Larry Hogan, and Charles Lollar.)

Yet it’s Richard’s contention that “(the TEA Party) never approached the level of relevance and organization evident in other states, and its influence will only wane over time” which I object most to. Perhaps he wasn’t in Annapolis over the weekend to see over 200 conservative activists get together to plan for the next electoral cycles. (If it weren’t for having already picked the day to move, it may have been over 201.)

So you have 200 activists all ready to continue fighting and teaching, as they’ll influence their circle and those influenced will spread the word even farther. I’ll grant the political landscape of Maryland makes the fight an uphill battle, but I don’t believe the TEA Party has breathed their last in the Free State. Cross is wrong in picking this movement as a loser.

Friday night videos – episode 55

The ‘double nickel’ marks the 2011 debut of FNV, which took a holiday hiatus. The good news is that I have some good stuff to share.

Here’s a cheery little number from paleofuture.tv – remember how we were all doomed a few decades ago?

Back then, we were all going to freeze to death in a new Ice Age, too. So much for that theory. Well, given this chilly winter maybe not.

A different day of reckoning is coming for states, according to 60 Minutes.

Speaking of fearmongering, what is so bad about Four Loko? Maybe the taste – I’ve never tried it to find out – but as Reason.tv points out the concept has been around awhile.

This is just a cool TEA Party tribute from Sam Hale.

Speaking of cool stuff, my uncle sent this to me.

Shoot guns and blow stuff up – doesn’t that look like fun?

This week I’ll go with the first song I heard from Order 6D-6.

Strange video, but a good song. That will take care of this week’s edition of FNV.

Response to an interested observer

Expanding her comment to my post about former MDGOP Chair hopeful Andrew Langer’s endorsement of Mary Kane, Right Coast blogger Julie Brewington almost laments about my “almost lament(ing)” the news.

While I know Julie has the best interests of conservatism in mind there are a couple items for which I need to take her to task. I suppose she can plead ignorance because there’s information I’m privy to as one inside the MDGOP as opposed to her outside position. Certainly I would be in a similar situation if the discussion came up about the local TEA Parties or the Wicomico County AFP circa late 2009.

Let’s begin with the Chambers Compact. Originally the brainchild of a group of Red Maryland editors led by Mark Newgent, it was revised and expanded by Langer. While I’ve had my disagreements with the remainder of the Red Maryland group in the past and had to set them straight a time or two, I think they have their hearts in the right place.

When you read the document it calls for, among other things, a leader “skilled at (grassroots) organization” and holding the “career politicians and statists” in Annapolis accountable. I see neither of these aspects in Mary Kane, not to mention that the party was already led once by her husband John, a hand-picked acolyte of then-Governor Bob Ehrlich. Talk about top-down leadership!

I also knew that Langer has been active in the MDGOP for some time, but applauded his efforts to reach out (or, as Julie seems to believe, co-opt) the TEA Party movement. Obviously since I happen to be on the Central Committee as is Julie’s former AFP cohort Joe Collins, we’re all trying to bring the two parties together. Simply put, we believe their political home should be the Republican Party! If that is Julie’s definition of co-opting, well, it is what it is.

But I’m also among those who also believe that many of those things the TEA Party stands for (things the GOP tended to drift away from over the last decade) should become part of the Republican platform. Not all “establishment” politicians are bad and some have decided to bring about change as they can within the system.

For these and other reasons, yes, I was surprised that Langer departed from his stated positions. I know he disgusted several of his potential supporters, including me – as I said, you could’ve knocked me over with a feather. Perhaps Julie’s seen that side of him but I thought he would be more of a man of his word.

As Andrew has, I’ve also spoken at some length to Mary Kane. We had a sometimes-spirited discussion but it wasn’t enough to convince me to give her my initial support. Simply put, I think there are at least two and possibly three others in the race who would do a better job. My observation is based on the past history of the Kane family being in charge of the party and things she has said in both the phone conversation and in writing.

So, yes, color me surprised. Obviously it makes sense that Jim Rutledge would endorse one of his former campaign workers for the post but this one came out of left field – I would have expected Andrew to go in another direction.

Maryland: the land that TEA forgot?

I actually sent this in to PJM early this but they decided not to run it for whatever reason. Maybe it’s a little bit off-message, or perhaps we are a true backwater of conservative politics.

Last year in Virginia and New Jersey, the first successes of the TEA Party movement swept unabashed fiscal conservatives Bob McDonnell and Chris Christie into office.

Similarly in Pennsylvania, the latest polls show Republicans with wide leads in statewide races for governor and U.S. Senate. Next door in West Virginia, a Republican has a good chance of taking over the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat stalwart Robert Byrd.

Even where the polls aren’t as friendly, such as Delaware, they garnered national attention when a TEA Party-backed upstart in Christine O’Donnell upended longtime moderate Republican Congressman Mike Castle in the September 14 primary. O’Donnell made her final push to victory after getting financial backing from the TEA Party Express and the endorsement of Sarah Palin.

Yet as all that political turmoil roils states which border Maryland, TEA Party activists there bemoan the fact that they’ve been bypassed by the excitement.

Sarah Palin’s endorsement of TEA Party favorite Brian Murphy did little to help his campaign for governor as he was spanked by a nearly 50 point margin in the September 14 primary. While Delaware voters turned their political world upside down by going against the state’s establishment Republicans and selecting O’Donnell, Maryland’s state GOP apparatus placed their support behind former governor Bob Ehrlich almost immediately after he formally announced he would seek the office again. The move angered conservative activists but more mainline Republicans bought the argument that only Ehrlich could unseat current Governor Martin O’Malley – who defeated Ehrlich in 2006.

Unfortunately, as of this writing, Ehrlich trails in the latest Rasmussen Poll by 8 points, which is larger than his 2006 margin of defeat. A similar (and more recent) poll by Gonzales Research has Ehrlich down 5.

Of course there are bright spots for conservative activists in some portions of the state. Andy Harris is a TEA Party favorite who is giving freshman Democrat Frank Kratovil all he can handle in a spirited First District race that’s also a rematch, from 2008. Even more popular is the man challenging Steny Hoyer in the Fifth District, Charles Lollar. He’s a dynamic speaker who has excited crowds anywhere from a small campaign event to the 9-12 rally in Washington, D.C.

But for two TEA Party believers I spoke to, the lack of good choices on the Maryland ballot is disheartening.

Chris Lewis helped to organize the first TEA Party in the small Eastern Shore city of Salisbury back in April 2009. This involvement eventually led to an unsuccessful run for a Wicomico County Council seat earlier this year but he still attends a number of TEA Party events and leads the occasional local protest.

While he has no bitterness about losing in his primary – Chris ran as a Republican this time after a bid as an unaffiliated candidate 12 years ago – he’s “not too happy” with the remainder of the choices Republicans selected.

“Voting for the lesser of two evils is becoming very frustrating,” said Chris. “Maryland has always been blue, but the Maryland GOP has done a horrible job of putting up serious and constitutionally conservative candidates against these very weak, liberal, anti-constitutional and anti-business Democrat candidates.”

Fellow conservative activist Julie Brewington agrees. Like Lewis, she was active in the local TEA Party movement practically from its inception and ran for office this year, losing in a GOP primary for a House of Delegates seat.

Julie ran down a list of Republican nominees at the state and local level, describing many as “blah” or milquetoast. “I will reluctantly pull the lever for Ehrlich,” she said, if only for the sake of having a better say in redistricting. “I have finally come around to the fact that if Ehrlich is not voted in we will have no voice at all, as conservatives in this state.”

Still, she’s frustrated at what’s happened to the movement she helped create. “I feel the TEA party here in Maryland has been hijacked to a degree successfully by establishment Republicans,” said Julie. “It’s because of this we have less than exciting candidates to pick from.”

In fact, Julie was most thrilled about crossing over to Delaware to attend a campaign rally for U.S. Senate hopeful Christine O’Donnell. “She’s the closest thing to a true blue TEA Party candidate we have locally (and) I can relate to Christine on many levels. This would include personal attacks I endured during my candidacy for the House of Delegates.”

“She is me, and I am you.”

Lewis and Brewington express a thought that many conservatives trapped in the (not so) Free State have been thinking for years. Emboldened to speak out by other events nationally, they’re afraid that they’re being abandoned by state and national Republicans and don’t have the numbers to make a difference. This is odd because the same Rasmussen Poll that had Ehrlich 8 points down also showed that seventeen percent of Maryland voters consider themselves members of the TEA Party movement, a number slightly higher than the national average.

Yet as Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Eric Wargotz noted when I asked him about the TEA Party, “I absolutely agree with the two main tenets (of fiscal responsibility and limited government)…but Maryland is a Democratic state.” He’s had to walk a bit of a tightrope in his campaign, although it’s clear that Wargotz has embraced the TEA Party more than Bob Ehrlich has in the other major statewide race – Ehrlich completely dismissed the Palin endorsement of his opponent and hasn’t made any attempt to make up with movement conservatives in the state.

Perhaps in a cycle or two Maryland may catch on, but by all indications there’s not going to be a lot of TEA Party victories in the Free State next week. It’s a sad state of affairs, but it’s one the Maryland Republican Party may have brought upon itself due to the conscious decision to not listen to its newly-energized TEA Party base and instead choose the establishment side in the primary.

Cummings on Tea Party Republicans

In a Facebook posting, Rep. Elijah Cummings wrote:

“Just like their desire to extend tax cuts for the wealthy, Tea Party Republicans want to wind the clock back across the board on our progress.”

Of course, when I replied and pressed for examples the Congressman was silent.

It looks like Cummings has become the good little soldier in two Democratic campaigns – one to equate the Republican Party with the TEA Party movement and the other to stir up the undertone of racism that has pitted groups like the NAACP against pro-liberty groups who expound the benefits of limited government.

(continued on my Examiner.com page…)

The possible dynamics of the Tea Party

In terms of sheer numbers, it can be argued that the local Tea Party movement is in decline. The original Tea Party in April 2009 drew about 400 people in a pouring rain, while a subsequent July 4th gathering later that year draw a good crowd on a holiday. But this year, despite beautiful April weather, the crowd at the Tea Party was noticeably slimmer and there was no local July 4th gathering.

Yet the movement may simply be in a state of maturation, with a number of those who participated early on in the protests taking the step forward into electoral politics.

(continued on my Examiner.com page…)

Looking for a wedge

While the title might lead one to conclude this will be a critique of President Obama’s frequent golf outings, it is more apt to describe the state of the Democratic Party as they look at November’s midterm elections. With Republicans energized by opposition to Barack Obama’s agenda and buoyed by millions of activists gathered under the auspices of the Tea Party banner, desperate Democrats may be tempted to try anything within their power to maintain their grip on control in Washington, D.C. and state capitals.

One such example comes from Michigan, a state which went overwhelmingly for Barack Obama while suffering from the hamhanded policies of outgoing Gov. Jennifer Granholm to a point where the state is charitably described as an “economic basket case” and continues to lead the other 49 states in the dubious category of highest unemployment rate.

There paid petition circulators are combing the state to gather signatures to put the “Tea Party” on the ballot. While this may sound legitimate, the allegation of ties to the state Democratic Party and lack of knowledge about the drive from state Tea Party organizers make the petition drive sound like a dirty trick to split off a percentage of the conservative vote and preserve the status quo for another term. A similar effort in Nevada put an ersatz candidate on the November ballot to oppose embattled Sen. Harry Reid and GOP primary victor Sharron Angle, again without the backing of actual Tea Party organizers.

But that tactic can only work in certain states where ballot access is relatively easy. In other states Democrats have to use different methods to dilute the strength of newly-engaged citizen activists.

In Kentucky, the Senate race between Rand Paul and Democrat Jack Conway received national attention thanks to Paul’s broadcast remarks about decades-old civil rights legislation. While there’s little chance any such legislation will be revisited soon and more important issues are on the table in the Senate battle, the digression provided a chance for Kentucky (and national) Democrats to put Paul and the Republicans on the defensive, blunting the momentum of a successful campaign.

Meanwhile, Democrats received a boost from Mark Critz winning a special election in Pennsylvania’s 12th District to replace the late Rep. John Murtha. What escaped the media spin on Critz’s win was his platform – the Democrat claimed to be, “Pro Life, a supporter of our 2nd Amendment rights, a fervent believer in a strong national defense and a supporter of creating an atmosphere in which small business can flourish.” Those stances would hardly qualify him to be a favorite among the Beltway cocktail party crowd, but what matters will be how he actually votes on upcoming legislation. Critz repeated a tactic used by Democrats in conservative-leaning districts to win Congressional seats in 2006 and 2008 by running right-of-center on certain issues.

Perhaps the largest schism among Tea Party activists is one Democrats could exploit by bringing up social issues. While libertarians and conservatives typically agree on the fiscal side of the government equation, they often differ on social issues – for example, a social conservative who favors a Constitutional ban on abortion would be accused of legislating morality by a libertarian. By making social issues a part of the equation, cagey Democrats could discourage turnout and soften support from the Tea Party base.

Democrats seeking to blunt the momentum of conservatives coming into November’s election are going to need every tactic to succeed. It’s the job of the discerning voter to separate the hype Democrats offer from the record they represent.

Michael Swartz used to practice architecture but now is a Maryland-based freelance writer and blogger whose work can be found in a number of outlets, including Liberty Features Syndicate. This piece cleared LFS back on June 3rd and I updated it to reflect the Nevada primary result for publication here.