Re-Thinking The Tea Party

So, I've been thinking about the Tea Parties lately and whether they still serve a useful purpose now that their main focus point - Obamacare - has been passed. They were started to protest the stimulus bills originally and moved on to healthcare once those were passed, but they are basically a protest of big government and big spending. My question, is big government too general of an issue to be effectively protested by standing on a street corner? Are there more effective ways to cut government expansion?

I believe the answer is yes. While standing on a street corner (though it may help) is not going to get someone out of office, voting will. An elected official votes for more government, higher taxes, whatever - vote that official out.

I will say though, that having at least occasional Tea Parties will send a message that we are still here and we are watching. If you vote for more government, we will vote you out of office. That HAS to be followed by action. If you say you will vote someone out and then don't do it, what is that politician going to think? He wil think that you're not really serious about what you say and go on expanding government. Action is the key.

Another maybe more effective strategy is to campaign for Constitutionaly minded candidates for office at every level. There are plenty of them out there. Go third party if you have to. Find someone who supports the Constitution and limited government and donate to their campaign or volunteer for them.

With that being said, I do believe the Tea Party is great for getting together with other concerned citizens and getting a chance to hear good speakers talk about the issues of the day. And I think from what I saw at the Tea Party in Clayton this evening was not so much a protest as a rally. A rally for freedom, for the Constitution and for limited government.

To sum it up, I do believe the Tea Party is still useful. I think they should and are changing their strategy to be more focused on actually doing something about the problem of big government rather than just protesting. Protests are useful and serve a purpose, but it will take more than protests to take back our country.