One year ago, hundreds of Americans took to the streets to protest the Wall Street bailout (TARP) and the massive $800 billion stimulus package. In 50 cities across the country, limited government advocates gathered in major intersections, city parks, national historical places and main streets to speak out with one voice: “Enough Big Government!”
The protests had begun a couple of weeks before, when a lone activist in Florida, Mary Rakovich, organized her friends and family in Fort Myers and protested outside President Obama’s townhall meeting with Governor Charlie Crist. That event led to a series of other protests around the country, from Seattle, to Mesa, Overland Park and Denver. Then, Rick Santelli of CNBC went on his “rant” on the floor of the Chicago board of mercantile exchange and called for a “Chicago Tea Party” to protest big government. Santelli’s call to arms was viewed by more than 2 million Americans within a couple of days, and galvanized a small movement around a theme: the Boston Tea Party. Thus began one of the largest pro-liberty movements in American history.
As we look back at 2009, the year of protests, Tax Day Tea Parties, August townhall meetings and the massive 9/12 March on Washington, DC, we can’t help but look back in awe at where we started, and where we have come. The grassroots revolt against big government stopped the Obama agenda dead in its tracks and delivered a huge defeat in elections in New Jersey, Virginia and Massachusetts. The “tea party movement” of limited government activists has swept the country and has re-awakened the inert patriotism and spirit of freedom in millions of Americans. The movement has been called the most potent force in American politics today, and few would argue with that.
But as we celebrate what we have accomplished in the last year, we should also forge ahead with a plan of action for the years to come. Here is what I believe we must do in order to ensure that this movement is successful for the long term.
First, the movement must continue to grow through events, recruitment, voter registration efforts and media exposure. We need millions more Americans to join the ranks of the limited government movement in every county in America. Second, the movement must stay focused on the issues that created the groundswell of outrage in the beginning: the national debt, deficits, wasteful spending, higher taxes and bailouts. We cannot let the movement be hijacked by those who wish to focus on distractions, or issues that were never part of the movement in the first place.
Third, the movement must institutionalize itself in the culture and politics. The movement must re-invigorate the conservative/libertarian movement by utilizing the resources of free market think tanks, intellectuals, advocacy groups, books, magazines, websites, online networks and funding sources. The movement should take advantage of the existing infrastructure of conservative/libertarian politics and spread these resources throughout the movement so that millions more Americans will be exposed to the ideas of F.A. Hayek, National Review, the Cato Institute, the Hoover Institution, etc..
And new movement activists should participate in free market advocacy groups with resources and experience; groups like the Campaign for Liberty, National Taxpayers Union, Tea Party Patriots and, of course, FreedomWorks. Local groups should retain their local autonomy, but should link up with national groups that can offer support, guidance, expertise and training, to make them better advocates for limited government.
Finally, the movement should seek to take over the most conservative of the two major parties: the Republican Party. The movement should do this from the ground up, precinct by precinct, county by county – in every county in America. If the movement tries to start a third party it will utterly fail, and all of this hard work will be for naught. Politics is the art of the possible – and it is possible for the tea party movement to take over the GOP, run limited government candidates and win local, state and national elections on a limited government platform – year after year.
The tea party movement is merely part of the broader limited government movement, which includes fiscal conservatives of all stripes – libertarians, conservative Democrats, conservative Republicans, independents and others. If this movement can remain active locally and nationally, grow its membership, avoid turf battles and distractions and ultimately institutionalize itself in the political culture – the movement will be successful.
This new, re-invigorated limited government movement can make a lasting impact on our culture and politics for decades to come, and shape the next generation of Americans. It can win elections, move a limited government public policy agenda forward and discipline politicians that stray from this agenda. Most importantly, this movement can defend liberty in the minds and hearts of Americans for the next century – thus extending the torch of freedom in a way as profound as the generation of 1776 – the original Sons of Liberty.
