Where should the Tea Party Go?

Eenie, meenie, miney, mo, where should the Tea Party go?  Our members are shopping for a candidate like shopping for a car.  They are weighing so many factors and each factor has a diverse prioritization by the members.  For some it’s fiscal responsibility, for others less regulations, some are looking at pro-life, while for others it is pro-2^nd amendment, and for many it is the 10^th amendment; so which should be the Tea Party’s priority?  ALL of the above.  We cannot settle any more, we do not want to hold our nose while we vote in 2012.   In too many cases we buy the rhetoric, not the candidate and that is the flaw in politics.  I am sick of hearing people picking the candidate because he or she can win.  Can we all agree that this country is a mess? Who did it?  …..Think!  Wasn’t the mess created by all the candidates that can win?  I am not professing that we should look for people that cannot win; I am saying we have listened to the establishment’s manipulation of the Republicans making the argument to keep the status quo by proclaiming he or she “can win.”  They marginalize the really good candidates suggesting they cannot win.  The candidate with the most votes win, and if we can unify early we can elevate the “perfect” candidate.   

The challenge for the Tea Party is not to be marginalized by the media.  It must devise a plan to work with the thousands of Tea Party groups across the nation to find that candidate.  I believe that there may be close to 5,000 groups meeting regularly nationwide.  My group has accumulated over 600 mailing addresses of attendees at meetings.  With the elections over, the attendance has dropped from about 250 per meeting to 80-100 per meeting, and we still meet twice a month.  We are one of 157 identified Tea Party groups in my state of Florida, and we have already changed Florida.  We took a giant step in 2010 and when we deliver the coup de grace in 2012 to the Democrats we will change the nation.

We seem to be discussing mostly candidates who want to be, but not candidates that should be.  This is the challenge, finding a candidate that should be President.  Right now we look to people like Sarah Palin. Why?  Because the conservatives swooned over her as Presidential material after she was drafted to be the vice-president nominee.  She did not seek it.  She was sought.  Allan West is another one not seeking but is being sought and we should be seeking him.  I supported him in his bid for Congress because you cannot listen to him without knowing he has the “stuff” that oozes leadership, integrity, honesty, knowledge, and temperament to be President.

 If the members of the Tea Party even look at Mitt Romney or Rick Santorum, its credibility as a force will be gone.  Here is why:

 Mitt Romney demonstrated his character as governor.  Only after screwing up Massachusetts with his liberal ideology, he became a born-again conservative.  However all we have to support his conservatism is his rhetoric.  I cannot trust a conversion of his magnitude without evidence and his rhetoric would be thrown out of court as hearsay.  Nix the rhetoric and what is left?  Great hair and a nice tan.  For some that might be enough, but for the Tea Party we need more.   I will not dump him forever, but I suggest he run for Senator in Massachusetts to give us six years of evidence of his credibility before he looks to be president. 

Rick Santorum was the poster child for or the National Right to Life organization that carried him to become their hero.  His voting record on life while serving as a Senator was flawless.  His record on fiscal responsibility was horrid. He went along with all the Republican SOS that we now protest against the Democrats.  He is not as pro-life as he is perceived to be and might be considered to be a fraud, at least as I see it.  Arlen Specter the worst excuse for a Republican Senator was up for reelection in 2004 and the Pat Toomey was challenging Arlen Specter.  No one can doubt the authenticity of Pat Toomey’s conservative credentials; he served as a U. S. Congressman.  Pat Toomey sacrificed his Congressional seat to remedy damage Specter was doing to the GOP.  He was actually closing in when who came to the rescue of Arlen Specter?  That’s right - Rick Santorum, the poster child of the National Right to Life organization, campaigned to reelect Arlen Specter, the Pro-abortion Republican Senator over a true pro-life candidate.  So much for character, Santorum is a proven fraud. 

If that was the only regression it might be overlooked.  But the most pro-abortion governor that has ever held that post is Christie Todd Whitman.  She appointed the most radical judges to the New Jersey Supreme Court.  New Jersey passed a Partial-birth abortion ban, and Christie Todd Whitman vetoed it.  It was overridden by conscience (even the Democrats supported the ban), but Whitman’s extreme court ruled that banning partial-birth abortions was “unconstitutional.”  That is definitely a Republican the party could do without, so in 1997 when Whitman was up for reelection she had a strong challenger.  Murray Sabrin picked up the gauntlet, and challenged this extreme Pro-Abortion Governor for the Republican nomination, knowing it was tough to knock out an incumbent in a primary.  Despite the difficult challenge, Sabrin was climbing in the polls and putting Whitman in jeopardy.  So who comes to the rescue of this extremist Pro-Abortion Governor?  That’s right - the poster child of the National Right to Life, Rick Santorum.  He came to New Jersey to campaign and endorse Whitman who eventually got the nomination by a small margin in the primary, and Santorum made the difference.  He is a fraud.    

If the Tea Party wants to be the 700 pound gorilla in the political arena, it cannot be associated with frauds.  As for Donald Trump, he is the definition of a fraud.  He’s in bed with more Democrats and is probably in the race to serve the Democrats.  As to whom the Tea Party candidate should be, there are many good ones, but we need early unification to provide the momentum into the primary season.   We should be writing checks as individuals to those candidates like we have never done before.  You get what you pay for and the candidate needs more than a pat on the back.