The Tea Party is in the Wrong Game

You gotta love the Tea Party.  Not the group itself, mind you, but the blood bath they are trying to incite.  Washington D.C. needs a jolt, the Tea Party is hoping to give it to them, and the rest of us are in it both for the entertainment value, and to reap any benefits they might sew.  If the Tea Party succeeds, it will have measurable influence in shaping the 112th congress (in 2012) and the country will be well on its way to perfection.  But that's a big IF, and perfection is in the eye of the beholder.

The Tea Party, as I see it, is a group of political mercenaries.  They might be able to bloody the playing field (a good thing), and might even be credited for a short list of casualties, but after the next election cycle, I think the party will be over.  Oh sure, some will try to keep it alive, but it's only a matter of time before no one will care anymore.

The Tea Party itself (as of today anyway) is too radical, shallow, and immature to survive.  They behave like they're at war with the establishment, but they'll soon learn that they're in a world-class game of chess instead.  It's the amateurs against the professionals...the NBA against Guatemala at the Olympics!  The board is already setup, and some of the pawns are on the move.  More and more incumbents are expressing compassion for the angry electorate, and you can bet their messaging machines will be hard at work to calm the storms.  So while the Tea Party is firing off empty one-liners, the establishment will be moving forward with proven strategies for winning hearts and minds.

The real test for the Tea Party is its ability to endorse winning candidates.  Assuming it survives this test, what specifically does the movement expect from these candidates?  Will anyone be able to live up to undefined (or maligned) expectations?  If the candidates endorsed by the Party become election casualties, as is speculated, the party will be over.  Why?  Because the group doesn't offer anything new to the political system.  They don't bring a new ideology, new principles from which to govern, or new solutions.  If they can't impose real influence, the movement will decay into dry leaves blowing in the wind.

What is this movement about anyway?
From what I can tell the Tea Party is against taxes; against health care reform; believes we need to bring "common sense" back to governance; the federal governments role should be limited, and of course, it believes that we need to kick the bums out of office (i.e. in their minds the democrats).   Well, it's pretty hard to argue with any of that, so what's my problem?  It's not new, and it's hyperbole!  What specifically are they proposing to do in order to solve [any of] our complex problems?  Is the government supposed to do nothing?  Is that their answer?  Just say screw it, not my problem!   Even incumbent Republicans can do better than that.

How did the movement get this far?
The only reason their rhetoric has gained a following is because we have an angry segment of the populace who want to be heard, and the Tea Party is riding this wave of anger.  This is an important point.  The Tea Party isn't leading a movement with a message people can believe in, it simply ceased an opportunity to coral a wave of anger and discontent.  In other words, it's following the anger, not leading with better solutions.  Combine this with self-indulgent media coverage (Category="Entertainment", Subcategory="News").  The media loves a good cock fight, so they give it good coverage, egg it on, and voila, it looks like the Tea Party is a real force.  The media savors the juicy content and milks it until the cow gives no more.  Everyone's a winner!

What's next?
I'm angry, and I want to be heard too.  But I also know that ears don't work very well when someone is screaming at them.  Sometimes it takes some noise to get attention, but once ears are focused in your direction, it behooves you to say something that matters.  Either the Tea Party doesn't get this point, or they don't have anything substantive to say; either way, if they don't figure this out soon, it will be check, and mate!