I got an email solicitation from the RNC’s Steele today suggesting I “send a tea bag” to Washington. I responded with the following message:
Dear Mr. Steele — I find it repugnant that your committee is attempting to associate the Republican Party with the truly grass roots movement known as the Tea Parties. This is NOT a movement of “Republicans,” but of Americans who are fed up with Washington politics in general and of politicians of all stripes. To attempt to piggyback on this movement is a disgrace. Please, please, get out and DO SOMETHING to rebuild credibility for the Republican Party. Then you can run with that, but stay away from the Tea Parties. If you insist on creating an identity of this movement with your party you will drive away people who might otherwise eventually lean favorably toward Republican candidates, but only if those candidates stand for a new, truly American fiscal conservatism. The goal of the party should NOT be to keep existing pols in office, but to reinvent itself and bring new faces to Washington, people who are not afraid to stand up for what the American people need and want to see done.