Donald Trump’s quest for the Oval Office certainly has been fascinating.
This weekend, protesters in Arizona and their anti-Trump road blockage made for breathless press coverage. I suspect the organizers of that inanity are going to be shocked when they learn that it helped Trump win more votes and gave the business mogul free media attention.
Now, Trump is being blamed by the elite media for the impending death of the Tea Party. For example, the Los Angeles Times engages in fantasy reporting with this analysis:
…Trump’s candidacy has not only fractured the Republican Party, it’s threatening to break apart the tea party movement and erode a once-powerful voting block that has driven conservative politics and elections for the past seven years.In addition to grass-root defections by activists like Dooley, tea party leadership has split over Trump’s presidential bid. Some conservative activists met this week to try to stop him, while others have joined his campaign.Meanwhile, major financial backers, including groups funded by the billionaire Koch brothers, have been sidelined from publicly backing GOP primary candidates, partly out of fear they might alienate their divided base.The soured relationship should come as no surprise. The tea party was always somewhat of a marriage of convenience between Washington’s free-market powerhouses and frustrated ordinary Americans who showed up at rallies with their tri-cornered hats and “Don’t Tread on Me” flags.
Demonstrating how little they understand the Tea Party movement, the report kept referring to “Tea Party leaders”.
There is no such thing. There are organizers. There are participants. However, no true “Tea Party” has a leader.
The citizen groups that have evolved over the past 7 years remain focused on smaller government, fiscal responsibility, and adherence to the U.S. Constitution. Some groups may support particular candidates, some don’t.
However, the “Tea Party” movement can’t splinter, fracture, or otherwise break apart…because it was never a cohesive entity to begin with.
Some of the co-founders of our San Diego group gathered together recently to talk about the primary season. Most of them were thrilled the idea that their vote will have some meaning in the June 7th primary. None of them are Trump supporters…however all will vote for him if he wins the nomination.
But we would not kick someone out of our Tea Party group if they voted for a Third Party. There will be no splintering, fracturing, or rolling-over now or into the foreseeable future.
Our real focus will be on getting information to the voters about the 8 propositions that are on the statewide ballot already, including California Condoms in Pornographic Films Initiative (2016). I suspect the Libertarians in our group will have have a thing or two to say about enforcing the mandate for condoms in the adult film industry.
California Tea Party Groups organizer and dynamo, Dawn Wildman, has this analysis:
We have never been about candidates, we have always been about issues. The elite media continues to conflate conservatives and Republicans, ignorant of the differences. What we share with Donald Trump is the need to work around the press instead of with the press.
As the LA Times and other press outlets will continue their fantasy coverage of Tea Party, we will continue working to inform voters of the issues.
In other words: We are doing the job the American press won’t do!
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