After the Tea Parties.... Now What? Here's my Take

Many of you ask me the question about what's next? Yep, we meet weekly to share what's going on and to build a sense of community. Yep, we are now conducting our own training on the Constitution and Internet Activisim. Yep, we are networking with groups all over the state to support and share our time and talent with them.

That's quite a handful. But what it's really about is learning, training, and gaining experience for what faces us in the Fall of 2010.

I've run across quite a bit of buzz about the special Congressional election being held in New York's 23rd district in less than two weeks. It's a three way race between a Dem, a GOP, and an Independent. Because the GOP candidate is a flaming liberal, the Independent, Doug Hoffman, has a great chance to win this election.

Just a bit later in this posting, I will link you to an article on Politico.com that shows what tea party volunteers are doing in this special election. After reading the article, I would like you to do three things.

First, think about what skills you now have and what skills you will need to do exactly what the tea party people are doing in New York.

Second, and just as important, think about the current office holders whom you feel need to get the boot. Don't confine your thinking to Congressional, but also State reps and senators, County commissioners, City councils and mayors, and so forth. After you have picked out one or two, study their records,search for news stories. Learn everything you can about them so you can find the strategy that fits your style that will make the biggest dent to throw them out of office.

Lastly, watch for other potential candidates to run against them. Contact them if you can, and ask about their positions on the issues with the promise that if you really can connect with their platform, you will work FOR them and AGAINST their oppostion, since you have researched the opponent and have ideas how to beat them.

Just remember this. We can rally, petition, call, and write all we want. Those are good efforts now, but they are only a holding tactic. Ultimately, the most effective way to make a real change is at the polls in Novermber 2010 and you MUST be ready to fight that fight.

Now, go read on, link to the complete article and start thinking about the three steps covered above.

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From the Politico.com website:

Tea party activists from across the nation are rallying around the House special election in upstate New York, viewing it as the first electoral test of the nascent conservative movement’s political muscle.

Organizers up and down the East Coast report that activists are making their way into the campaign offices of Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman, with the volunteers focusing their efforts in Oswego, Madison and Jefferson counties. While tea party organizers say the election is a unique opportunity to hold the Democratic and Republican parties to account, much of their energy is being directed against Dede Scozzafava, the GOP establishment-backed nominee whom they view as a squishy moderate who represents all that is wrong with the Republican Party.

“I went here from Washington, D.C., saying, ‘Now what?’” said Jennifer Bernstone, an organizer for Central New York 912, a Syracuse-based tea party group that so far has about 300 members getting out the vote for Hoffman. “Well, here’s the ‘Now what.’”

Read the complete article here