Tea Party Power
[Guest post by DRJ]
Valuable insight from the Instapundit on the Tea Party movement, especially this:
“The Tea Party movement is bottom up, not top down. Lots of Tea Party people think well of Sarah Palin, but I doubt that many, even among the attendees at this weekend’s convention, would do much of anything just on her say-so. People I’ve talked to, both there and at other events, aren’t looking for a charismatic leader.
That’s the Barack Obama model, now somewhat tattered. Instead, they’ve had enough and they’re taking the reins themselves. Over and over again, I heard people at this convention tell me that they had never been involved in politics before the Tea Party movement. And, having tried it, they’re finding that politics can be fun, and they’re encountering the joys of learning that they’re not alone.”
As Prof. Reynolds would say, read the whole thing.
— DRJ
I like Sarah’s message about primary challenges.
happyfeet (713679) — 2/7/2010 @ 7:18 pmI need a drink.
happyfeet (713679) — 2/7/2010 @ 7:19 pmIt’s interesting in light of the posted quote just how intent the media appears to be in getting either Palin or Tea Party convention attendees to name the movement leader…as if a ground-up collective of worker bees can’t be successful without someone to follow. The dynamic is foreign to them, and when you look at the idolatry of Obama, it’s understandable why.
Dana (1e5ad4) — 2/7/2010 @ 7:23 pmThe Republicans appropriated the movement yesterday with a bunch of millionaires sitting at a tea party convention with chandeliers and caviar, dressed in their thousand dollar suits. They know they destroyed their own brand so they are looking to change their packaging.
j curtis (5126e4) — 2/7/2010 @ 7:23 pm“An Army of Davids”
AD - RtR/OS! (f9cda3) — 2/7/2010 @ 8:16 pmThey, the media, need a putative leader so that they will have one source that they can go to for quotes, or to demonize; it is what they do.
AD - RtR/OS! (f9cda3) — 2/7/2010 @ 8:18 pmBigshot Republicans, in general, think they own the TEA Party. Democrats think Republicans own the TEA Party. And they’re wrong.
When the fox thinks it’s the leader of the pack of dogs, the fox is wrong. It’s the hunted.
John Hitchcock (1ed822) — 2/7/2010 @ 8:26 pmDon’t forget laziness. It’s easier to just talk to an authorized spokeshole than actually finding out what people think.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (9eb641) — 2/7/2010 @ 8:26 pmBrother Brad…I was attempting to be charitable.
AD - RtR/OS! (f9cda3) — 2/7/2010 @ 8:38 pmAfter all, the Saints won the SuperBowl, and Charlton Heston, wherever he is, is smiling.
Here’s a story of how (not) to win friends and influence people. (And yes I was a GA in a DCC course in the early 80s.)
You who are uneducated, gun-toting, incestuous drunks might be interested. It’s a self-link but you can find the pertinent secondary linkage there.
John Hitchcock (1ed822) — 2/7/2010 @ 11:35 pm“Read the whole thing”
Dr. Reynolds is a ‘news filter’, Drudge only deeper.
Libertarian lawyers are congenitally antipathetic to charisma.
gary gulrud (75a696) — 2/8/2010 @ 3:54 amA leaderless movement is just a bunch of angry people.
JEA (1eb0e1) — 2/8/2010 @ 4:19 am[…] much in evidence today in Congress and the administration. In a way, the Tea Party Movement is a reaction to this (though it is also a reaction to the business-as-usual Republicans as well). On the one hand there […]
Dinocrat » Blog Archive » Trend and counter-trend (ae1ffa) — 2/8/2010 @ 7:07 amA leaderless movement is just a bunch of angry people.
…said by a spittle – flecked, bloviating pile of expectorate that bows fealty to his lord and savior during his every press conference.
Dmac (539341) — 2/8/2010 @ 8:01 amSame douchebag screeched loudly during the past nine years about how “dissent is the highest form of patrwiotwism!” Tweety was vewwy, vewwy angwy with evil Booshie back then, now is happy happy happy with cult leader of the world.
Dmac (539341) — 2/8/2010 @ 8:03 am#7 – yes.
Lost count of how many articles I have read, trying to figure the Tea Party movement out. I’m on a Tea Party committee, it’s kind of funny.
We know who we are, don’t care if anybody else does. While they worry about us needing leaders (snicker), we are roll-up-your-sleeves Americans, and we are getting a lot done.
We could tell them all day long who we are, and they still wouldn’t get it. Sometimes talkers are also doers, but lots of doers are not talkers. We are doing.
jodetoad (7a7b8a) — 2/8/2010 @ 8:16 amDmac, f— off, you little pile of used toilet paper.
JEA (1eb0e1) — 2/8/2010 @ 9:39 amAnyone who actually wants to know about the Tea Party Movement should put aside their preconceived notions and attend a few Tea Party events. Show up, talk to the folks, ask questions, get a feel for who the participants are and what they’re trying to accomplish. It ain’t all that hard to figure out.
ropelight (c97d9c) — 2/8/2010 @ 12:59 pmWe could tell them all day long who we are, and they still wouldn’t get it.
jodetoad, wouldn’t get it or refuse to get it? I suspect because it doesn’t fit their narrative and instead poses a bit of a stumbling block on what has typically been a smooth path of conservative stereotyping, they’d rather pretend to not get it and make believe it’s something, anything other than it really is.
Dana (1e5ad4) — 2/8/2010 @ 1:20 pmhttp://politics.nashvillepost.com/2010/02/07/the-begining-of-the-end-sarah-palin-hijacks-the-tea-party-movement/
BigBoy (b66fe4) — 2/8/2010 @ 2:39 pmThe pundits don’t “get” the Tea Party because they are still trying to fit “round holes” into “square pegs”.
Doug (8eb13d) — 2/9/2010 @ 4:18 am