The Tea Party's Post-Election Plan for World Domination

[BrklynLiberal]

http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/11/future-of-the-tea-party

Shaking up the midterms was all fine and good, but now the conservative movement wants to "convert" you.


According to the memo and subsequent emails to members, TPP will host a "freshman orientation" for incoming members of Congress (many of whom will be getting congratulatory phone calls from tea partiers at the urging of TPP's leadership). It's the tea partiers' attempt to ensure that their newly elected members aren't unduly influenced by the likes of former Senate majority leader-turned-lobbyist Trent Lott, who has said that he intends to "co-opt" the newly elected senators so they will "fall in line" with the establishment and party leadership. Step two is a leadership summit for TPP's local coordinators to teach them how to maintain the pressure on elected officials tempted to sell out to the great American middle.

Step three is readying for a possible lame duck session of Congress. Tea partiers are promising intense opposition to "several disastrous bills that will likely be introduced or reintroduced," according to the memo. They envision the soon-bo-be-out-of-power Democrats rushing a host of bills to the floor—the cap and trade bill, further stimulus spending, and comprehensive immigration reform—and they're set to mobilize their minions against these initiatives. It's certainly not clear whether the Democrats have such plans, but TPP is even ready to oppose a lame duck campaign finance bill that would bring more transparency to the political process, something the tea partiers often profess to want.

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Hence the need for the tea party movement to join the perpetual fundraising machine of DC politics, which will require staff and more marketing to do more fundraising. To make all this happen, tea partiers are going to have to hit up some people with really deep pockets. That fact alone could change the tenor of the movement, which is already looking to millionaires for critical support. The 40-year plan memo was presented in September as part of a fundraising pitch to a secretive and wealthy group of far-right evangelical Christian movers and shakers who have underwritten much of the culture wars over the past few decades. Then, in September, TPP announced the receipt of a $1 million donation to use for local get out the vote efforts, but it refused to disclose the name of the donor—a move that directly contravened one of the tea party movement's core values: transparency. (Another donor, whose identity Mother Jones uncovered, gave TPP leaders the use of his private jet to travel the country rallying the troops before the election.)

TPP has other ideas for drumming up with funding, too, namely running ads on Rush Limbaugh's radio show and the Drudge Report, which they've already started doing. According to TPP, these ads will help with its "brand awareness, donation requests and issue-driven buys." Of course, it costs money to raise money like this. TPP estimates $500,000. Local activists report that weekly conference calls with the TPP leaders have featured regular appeals for money, and not in the small amounts the movement was built on. They're looking for thousands of dollars a pop. And this raises a question posed by some local groups: Do the activists need a big, expensive national infrastructure? Especially when much of it will apparently be devoted to—what else?—having more tea parties. (TPP claims in its memo that in 2011 there will be more than 2,000 local tax day tea parties on April 15.)

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To that end, TPP plans to follow the Republican lead and that of every other aspiring group: to hit college campuses, where it will form clubs, programs, and run recruiting programs. In its memo, the group says, "We want to explore every avenue to communicate the irreplaceable values of freedom." In the end, though, if TPP succeeds in funding its 40-year plan and doing all the things its says it will, it won't look so different from any other well-funded, professional conservative lobbying outfit in DC. It will, in effect, be part of the establishment.

Grassroots my ass................

[damntexdem]

1. It will prove even less successful than PNAC was.

But could cause as much pain, misery, and death.

[BrklynLiberal]

2. Terrifyingly true.