...On "organizing" the Tea Party Movement....
I have been following the messaging on Reed Chambers 'instigations' (for lack of a better word) in his attempts to stratify an organizational structure within the Tea Party Patriots, his plan has several advantages to our current 'structure' (or lack thereof) which would seem to address several current organizational issues we are experiencing at present, including a lack of participation and recruitment...As I am a virtual novice in the political 'arena', I feel justified in posting my observations here as most Tea Party members are in fact as new to the complications of political structure and organizational evolution as I...so I may have many questions and points in common....
Right off the bat, the thing that will set most members back will be the fact that ANY organizational structure will be construed as a 3rd Party....regardless of how it is presented and/or cloaked...and most voters who have never been active in either political system, which are the majority, would simply view this attempt as "more of the same"...on the other hand, if we are to be a truly effective force in the political atmosphere of the nation, we must be better organized, and the organization start from the ground up...input from the people who "walk the talk" on a daily basis MUST have precedence in any meeting, council, convention or other 'actionable' body...
What will be seen by the media as an internal 'power grab' must not be allowed to be based in fact...the "power" is, and will remain regardless, in the hands of the people...structure be damned...and any attempts to the contrary will only serve to weaken or destroy the movement...as we will indeed "become them"...the very thing we are all railing against at present...
I see advantages to begin constructing a true "voice of the people" system of directing our energies en masse from the ground folks through a distillery of focus to bring any and all major concerns to the national level...this provides true direction and a specific format for communication and major actions in a more timely fashion, but the caution here is to eliminate the the effects of the structure on the message itself...and therefore, the true power of any system must be maintained at the local "grassroots" level, this should NEVER become a political power 'ladder' for anyone with personal ambitions or agendas...although it is true that we all seek better representation than we currently have, we need to be honest with ourselves as to the manner in which that objective is achieved...
In the short term, a better organizational platform will help immensely in this election cycle, historic in its relevance to the future of our country and our children...in the longer term, it provides a stable platform with which to launch a bona fide 3rd party, should the necessity and opportunity reveal itself, but that should NOT be the major objective here, the message is what is important, NOT the messenger...and worth respect to the message, I agree with Mr. Chambers that what we are doing at present leaves a lot to be addressed, and his suggestion we organize formally goes a long way toward addressing our deficiencies in that area....
But let's ensure in this endeavor that we do not become too 'full of ourselves' in this process...I would suggest that any formal organization begin with a "mission statement", that all groups be assembled in compliance with same, and that the foundations for such include the Tea Party goals of Constitutional compliance, free market economy, fiscal responsibility, and true "representative" government....
Lastly, we have at the moment, only about 30 months to accomplish such a daunting task as "national" organization before the Presidential election, and there are many legal hurdles to overcome, so if this is to work in any effective way, it MUST begin now....whether it becomes a 3rd Party or not, it is a necessary step in the evolution of the movement, in my view, and we will not progress to any level of importance from here without it...
It should be approached with extreme caution....
I have been following the messaging on Reed Chambers 'instigations' (for lack of a better word) in his attempts to stratify an organizational structure within the Tea Party Patriots, his plan has several advantages to our current 'structure' (or lack thereof) which would seem to address several current organizational issues we are experiencing at present, including a lack of participation and recruitment...As I am a virtual novice in the political 'arena', I feel justified in posting my observations here as most Tea Party members are in fact as new to the complications of political structure and organizational evolution as I...so I may have many questions and points in common....
Right off the bat, the thing that will set most members back will be the fact that ANY organizational structure will be construed as a 3rd Party....regardless of how it is presented and/or cloaked...and most voters who have never been active in either political system, which are the majority, would simply view this attempt as "more of the same"...on the other hand, if we are to be a truly effective force in the political atmosphere of the nation, we must be better organized, and the organization start from the ground up...input from the people who "walk the talk" on a daily basis MUST have precedence in any meeting, council, convention or other 'actionable' body...
What will be seen by the media as an internal 'power grab' must not be allowed to be based in fact...the "power" is, and will remain regardless, in the hands of the people...structure be damned...and any attempts to the contrary will only serve to weaken or destroy the movement...as we will indeed "become them"...the very thing we are all railing against at present...
I see advantages to begin constructing a true "voice of the people" system of directing our energies en masse from the ground folks through a distillery of focus to bring any and all major concerns to the national level...this provides true direction and a specific format for communication and major actions in a more timely fashion, but the caution here is to eliminate the the effects of the structure on the message itself...and therefore, the true power of any system must be maintained at the local "grassroots" level, this should NEVER become a political power 'ladder' for anyone with personal ambitions or agendas...although it is true that we all seek better representation than we currently have, we need to be honest with ourselves as to the manner in which that objective is achieved...
In the short term, a better organizational platform will help immensely in this election cycle, historic in its relevance to the future of our country and our children...in the longer term, it provides a stable platform with which to launch a bona fide 3rd party, should the necessity and opportunity reveal itself, but that should NOT be the major objective here, the message is what is important, NOT the messenger...and worth respect to the message, I agree with Mr. Chambers that what we are doing at present leaves a lot to be addressed, and his suggestion we organize formally goes a long way toward addressing our deficiencies in that area....
But let's ensure in this endeavor that we do not become too 'full of ourselves' in this process...I would suggest that any formal organization begin with a "mission statement", that all groups be assembled in compliance with same, and that the foundations for such include the Tea Party goals of Constitutional compliance, free market economy, fiscal responsibility, and true "representative" government....
Lastly, we have at the moment, only about 30 months to accomplish such a daunting task as "national" organization before the Presidential election, and there are many legal hurdles to overcome, so if this is to work in any effective way, it MUST begin now....whether it becomes a 3rd Party or not, it is a necessary step in the evolution of the movement, in my view, and we will not progress to any level of importance from here without it...
It should be approached with extreme caution....
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