Rare.us | This is exactly what we elected the Tea Party to do | Rare Rare.us What's all this empty nonsense about the Tea Party being dead? Actually, I've weighed calling in the mortician several times myself, given how indifferent ... |
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This is exactly what we elected the Tea Party to do | Rare - Rare.us
MANKATO The leader of the tea party movement in south-central Minnesotawould like to see a little tolerance and patience from the political left toward their still-new president.
"We're in a divided country, but I'm hopeful," said Mankato attorney Andrew Johnson. "And I hope people give Trump a chance to demonstrate what he's capable of."
Johnson, who was heavily involved in the formation of the tea party movement locally and statewide, sees Donald Trump's victory as a culmination of that movement. While the organization hasn't been as active in recent years, the tea party's philosophy was still alive in the minds of supporters.
"The tea party mentality helped elect Trump as president," said Johnson, adding that the New York real estate developer deserves high marks for his efforts since Nov. 8. "I am impressed with his diligence prior to being sworn in and up to now. ... I suspect with his energy level, he's going to do a lot of things."
The rise of grass-roots organizing in opposition to Trump has been compared to the emergence of the tea party in the weeks after the federal government takeover by the Democrats in the 2008 election. Johnson, though, thinks opposition to Trump has been more radical and less tolerant than the tea party movement.
"The reactionary attitude, to me, is beyond the constitutional parameters of free speech," he said. "... I don't recall seeing any tea party mentality or reaction as offensive as I've seen reported now where they don't tolerate opposing viewpoints."
Attempting to maintain a focus on core principles is a challenge for any grass-roots movement, and it was sometimes difficult for the tea party. For Johnson, those principles could be boiled down to limited government, fiscal responsibility and support of free enterprise, but the movement also attracted social conservatives focused on opposition to abortion or gay marriage.
"I would listen to them and acknowledge them no matter what the viewpoint," he said. But then the former Blue Earth County commissioner would attempt to steer the message back to the group's basic beliefs.
Maintaining enthusiasm also was a challenge, something he blames partly on the tea party's portrayal by the media. After an energetic first couple of years, the local tea party's public activities were mainly centered around meetings featuring conservative speakers.
Johnson doesn't appear worried that the Indivisible movement or other left-leaning groups will grow to the size and strength of the tea party during its zenith in 2009 and 2010. Average Americans were attracted to the tea party, and Johnson thinks most will be repelled by the Trump opposition groups.
"I don't think the left is making a decent impression on the American public," he said.
These days Johnson's duties as a tea party leader are minimal. He participates in occasional webinars and periodically passes along an item of interest through the group's local email list.
"So we're still sort of active, but on a more subtle basis," he said. "But I don't think the tea party is gone. As demonstrated by our last election, a tea party mentality is still around."
And if the progressive version of the tea party becomes more publicly energetic in opposing Trump's agenda, Johnson said he might be inclined to try to call the former troops back to duty.
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Tea party leader hopes Trump opponents will give president a chance - Mankato Free Press
Senior Citizens' News: Pittston Adult Center tea party is March 27 The Sunday Dispatch An afternoon tea party will be held at 1 p.m. Monday, April 24. There will be a Volunteer Special Dinner and Program Thursday, April 27. Volunteers who assist with at least 12 hours per month this past year will be honored. There will be no bowling ... |
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Senior Citizens' News: Pittston Adult Center tea party is March 27 - The Sunday Dispatch
News & Observer | Tea party holdouts may save Obamacare News & Observer Republicans have a plan to replace Obama's Affordable Care Act, and the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has some harsh critiques for it. But at the same time, conservative Republicans have some harsh critiques for the Congressional ... People in These 15 Cities Would Get Slammed by Trumpcare Cost Increases Poll: Majority prefer Obamacare to Trumpcare Here We Go: Will Trump and Ryan Have the Votes on Healthcare Tomorrow? |
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Tea party holdouts may save Obamacare - News & Observer
Former conservative favoriteSharron Angle announced Tuesday she was running for Congress. Her latest political bid comesas tea party movement leaders say they are gearing up across the nation to fight mainstream Republicans in Congress and make sure President Donald Trump sees things their way.
Trump proved that America wants Constitutional, free-market conservatism, Anglesaid. The reality is the president can lead, but he cannot do it alone. In Congress, we contend with the unpredictable Republicans who support, or do not support, what the American people mandated on Election Day.
Anglewas embraced by the tea party in 2010 duringher unsuccessfulbid to unseat then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in Nevada. After losing to Reid, she ran for the Senate again in 2016, but lost theRepublican primary to U.S. Rep. Joe Heck by 50,000 votes. Trump also lost Nevada, but by a smaller margin ofabout 27,000 votes.
This time around, Angle is looking to unseatU.S. Rep. Mark Amodei,a Republican who served as Trumps Nevada state campaign chairman. It's unclear if he is running for re-election, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported Tuesday.
The tea party movement shook up national politics in 2009, forcing many Republicans in Congress to the right out of fear they would lose their seats to grassroots candidates such as Angle, who championed gun rights, mass deportations forundocumented immigrants and Christian values. At the time, 75 percent of tea party supporters were 45 or older, aNew York Times/CBS News poll found. Roughly89 percent were whiteand only 23 percent graduated from college.By the time tea party voters helped Republicans win back the House in 2010,about32 percentof the country backed the movement'sideas. That support dropped to 17 percent by 2015 as the tea party took a backseat in Washington.
"The tea party is less a new, independent movement than a reinvigoration, another manifestation, of the conservative movement. And it is something that weve seen strengthened in response to government overreach," a report from the conservative Heritage Foundation concluded last year.
But with Trump's surprise White House win in November, some tea party leaders are hoping to mount acomeback fortheir small-government platform. Tea party activistsholdinga rally against the Affordable Care Act last week on Capitol Hill were joined by Republican Sens. Rob Portmanof Ohio and Rand Paul of Kentucky, among others.
The battle is just beginning, said Paul, who won office duringthe 2010 tea party wave. They have to remember it was the tea party that put them in power, he added of lawmakers looking to replace the health care law.
The leader of the Tea Party Patriots worked this week to support Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court, Judge Neil Gorsuch, as a Senate hearing probed his qualifications.
Our Tea Party Patriots are making phone calls and sending emails and letters to their senators from across the country,Jenny Beth Martin, author of the 2012 book "Tea Party Patriots: The Second American Revolution," told Breitbart News.
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Is the Tea Party Back? After Trump, Sharron Angle and Other ... - Newsweek