Monday, May 12, 2014

Why The Tea Party Won

Townhall.com ^ | May 12, 2014 | Scottie Hughes

Tuesday's primaries are just another round of the Republican Party trying to figure out how we are going to be defined for the next 2 years going into the 2016 Presidential race. Much of the establishment would like to show certain losses as the reasons why the Tea Party/Conservative wing of the Party should not be given a seat at the table. However, we in the Tea Party see it differently. We don't have to win because as of now, we are controlling the conversation. We are making Republicans define themselves and be accountable for their votes. Speaker John Boehner won in Ohio by 68.7% which was down from his previous campaign of 81%. While a win is still a win, this much of a drop should be very concerning to the establishment and the Boehner camp considering his closest opponent only raised around $75K in comparison to the millions in the Speaker's campaign coffers. The real interesting part of this election is how serious grumblings from his traditionally loyal supporters in the House are being voiced over whether or not they will support him for Speaker again. Boehner either not running for speaker or losing the vote would be considered a win for us. In North Carolina, those in the Tea Party were hoping for a runoff between the establishment Tom Tillis and the Tea Party's Greg Brannon. The hope was that a runoff would give us more time for more primaries like the Chris McDaniel race in Mississippi to show the strength of the Conservative movement. Momentum is the key to winning the Grassroots effort. But let us not forget that North Carolina is truly a purple state and not one we would consider a Conservative strong State. We need to have good candidates represent the Conservative movement, hence why not all Tea Party groups have backed Matt Bevin's bid for Senate in Kentucky. In fact the same group, The Tea Party Leadership Fund, who had been working against Boehner in Ohio, endorsed Mitch McConnell. We need to have candidates who have already been vetted and have the actual means to win an election without sacrificing their integrity. We also need to make sure in future races, we only put one Conservative against one establishment candidate, as this is our common mistake, and the main reason why we continue to lose. Candidates in our movement have to remember that they might be able go back to their lives after a loss, and in some cases might even be able to profit on their gained name recognition; however, the movement will always have a notch in the loss column due to their campaign. We need to be smart. Not to discourage the grassroots candidates, but we need to make sure that we as Conservatives are honest enough to put our goal of putting a true Conservative in office, as priority instead of offering numerous choices. Remember, revolutions don't just happen overnight. It takes strategy and planning. This is not a sprint, we are in a long distant run to save our party. Although there are 100 senators, think about the power of one. One senator who is willing to stand and fight against a bankrupting health care system. One Senator who is willing to speak out to protect personal liberties. One senator who is not afraid to point out corrupt and misleading proposed laws because of his in depth knowledge of the supreme law. The light of one honest senator in a hall of darkness and corruption can save our country. Truth be told, neither the establishment nor the Tea Party will ever win a majority of elections again if we don't unite under the disasters of Obamacare, the 18 trillion dollars of debt, IRS targeting, the truth of Benghazi, etc. The establishment will not survive without the passion and hard work of the grassroots or the Tea Party. At the same time, the Tea Party cannot stand on its own without the structure and fundraising of the establishment. The Democrats’ biggest wish is to continue this divide as they know we are weak when separated.

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