Vindicated!

Before I give myself a pat on the back, let me say that I have nothing against the T.E.A. party movement or what it stands for. I have given a speech before a crowd of T.E.A. party members. I have attended several rallies. It brings me no joy see that my fears are starting to come true.

I have expressed my disagreement with general path that the T.E.A party has taken by going from a grass root movement to a movement that has been getting involved in getting candidates elected to office.  I voiced my concerns in a previous blog and in that article, I made the following observation about the T.E.A Party: 

Some people believe that this movement might form into an alternative third political party. It is not a political party. And neither should it form into one. Those who leave the two major parties are relegating themselves to political irrelevance. Ross Perot's Reform Party and  Theodore Roosevelt's Bull Moose Party have faded into political obscurity. 

Neither should the T.E.A Party be endorsing those who wish to get into political office. Politicians who rely only on the support of the Tea Party movement have yet to win an election. Debra Medina, Patrick Hughes, Adam Andrzejewski, Doug Hoffman, Larry Naritelli, and J.D. Hayworth are all T.E.A Party favorites who are or will fizzle into the footnotes of political history.

It turns out that this movement hasn't been very successful at the ballot box: as I predicted. Newsweek Magazine has pointed out the lack of success in the 2010 election and are calling it the "weak tea trend." Newsweek Magazine (which is having its own issues of having a lack of success) wrote this:

"So far, the Tea Party has been the major political story of the 2010 election cycle, and in many ways it's a fascinating, vibrant reflection of America's current fixations and frustrations. But given that the vast majority of the movement's favored candidates have lost their Republican primary battles—and given that the few candidates who've won, like Rand Paul and Sharron Angle, seem to be underperforming against vulnerable Democratic opponents—there's little reason to think that it will be a major electoral force any time soon." (Source.)

Why is this movement losing power? There are several main reasons. The establishment Republicans are securing the endorsement of politicians favored by the Tea Party which makes it difficult for Tea Party candidates to win at the elections and the establishment candidates tend to get more political donations from the conservative donors than their tea party candidate which leaves the tea party candidate very little opportunities for new sources of fund raising.

In other words, the T.E.A. party movement has been out maneuvered by the Republican party. 

This would not have been a problem if the T.E.A. party movement not attempted to run candidates for office or make endorsements for office. The T.E.A. party simply should have continued their grassroot campaign of educating, forming rallies and getting the public to hold politicians accountable. 

Once you start endorsing candidates, you get sucked into playing a game the the politicians know well. Its called the elections game.  Once various elements of the T.E.A. party decided to get involved in elections on an official basis, they are playing on the politician's turf.  Moreover, this movement's message and goals have been compromised by participating in fielding candidates for office by getting involved and participating in  the dirty game of politics.

In this case, it pains me to see that I am vindicated on this issue since I believe that had the T.E.A. party movement taken the route I proposed, their goals and objectives would have had better success. 

However, its not too late. This movement can change course and avoid being a movement that will fizzle in time or become a lasting force for good in this country.