Product Description What has driven hundreds of thousands of people to take to the streets in protest since late February, 2009? A cry of "enough" government expansion and interference and reassertion of individual liberty: a first principle that became a rallying cry behind a movement.
A New American Tea Party presents the voices behind the growing discontent among every day citizens with increased government taxation, spending, and intervention.
Author John M. O'Hara - a rising star in the conservative/libertarian movement - played an integral role in starting the first modern day tea party in February of 2008, an effort that sparked off a nation wide movement. On tax day in April 2009, hundreds of thousands of citizens gathered in more than 800 cities to voice their opposition to out of control spending at all levels of government. In August, citizens in every state of the union made their voices heard at congressional town hall meetings. On September 12, 2009 over half a million people marched on the U.S. Capitol.
A New American Tea Party explains how these protests evolved and were organized, and distills the results-including the often bizarre media backlashes-of the movement, the philosophy behind the movement, and the road ahead. Written by one of the leading organizers behind the protests, this book shows you how the costs of bailouts and other excessive government interference today is philosophically incompatible with the founding principles of our nation and simply unsustainable for future generations.
- Skillfully lays out the case against excessive government interference and why the tea party movement is necessary and significant
- Written by one of the top organizers and leaders of the tea party movement
- Offers a look into current and future policy battles and how the movement will grow in response
If you're concerned with the growth of government, the state of the union we will pass on to the next generation, and you want to see a roadmap for a better way forward, then you need to read A New American Tea Party.
How to Brew a Tea Party
Amazon-exclusive content from author John M. O’Hara
Goals There are three intrinsically linked goals of any tea party protest, rally, or march:
1)
Press – If a protestor screams at the Capitol and nobody’s there to hear it, did it happen? No. While you won’t always get the “mainstream media” there in full force, even a couple bloggers with smart phones can make a big difference in terms of documenting what happened and getting the word out afterwards. Bring your own camera and video camera. That said, plan for the best-case scenario. Make the timing and location appropriate to the news cycle.
2)
Solidarity – Whether you get 10 people in front of your town hall or 100,000 in front of the U.S. Capitol, for both the people present and those driving by or watching on television, you are showing solidarity behind your cause.
3)
Pressure - Rallies for rallies sake are not the end goal. They are tools towards the end of changing public policy. With a sitting legislature, elected officials must be motivated. Press coverage of engaged constituents goes a long way towards that end. Consider these three related goals for any tea party event.
Steps Here’s an outline of what you’ll need to do to accomplish these goals and make your event a success:
1)
Form a Coalition – whether your planning a march on Washington or your state capitol, consider adopting a big tent philosophy. Organizational buy-in from other like-minded groups will increase exponentially the people planning and attending your event. Do this before picking a date and time. You’ll avoid conflict and maximize opportunities for collaboration.
2)
Pick a Time, Date, and Location – First, what is the end goal? To pressure a state senator on a tax hike? Remember press, solidarity, and pressure are your intrinsically linked goals. If you pick the state capitol, make sure the legislature is in session, and considering the issue you are concerned with. If the event is to be outside, what is the weather forecast? Make sure you have appropriate permits lined up and any insurance for staging, A/V, et cetera. Most rally target areas, like legislative buildings, have restrictions on how large a crowd you can have, what you can have on the ground, how your equipment is powered, et cetera.
3)
Alert your base – use the phone, Facebook, Twitter, MeetUp, email lists, websites. Set up an event on Facebook people can forward. Set up an event for sign painting the day before. You can even create a “volunteer corps” group to draft extra hands to help on game day.
4)
Alert the press – Draft a simple press release with the “who, what, where, when, why” of your event with the phone number and email of a dedicated volunteer to handle press. Send it out to your local area press. Organizations you may partner with may subscribe to services that can target specific national, state, or local media. Consider asking your local radio talk show host if you can go on the air and speak briefly about the event.
5)
Staging & Signage – Depending on what resources you have, you’ll want to consider having a stage and some basic A/V equipment. Many times you can find companies that rent this equipment very frequently. They may even be tea party folks themselves and willing to donate some of their time or equipment to the cause.
6)
Speakers – Decide who will speak. Start with one person from your organization, and one from each coalition group. From there pick a couple enthusiastic volunteers and maybe a local talk radio host. People tend to gather at events early. Consider offering some entertainment, like a musical performance beforehand.
7)
Transportation – Depending on where you are holding your event,. Consider setting up carpools. You can post schedules and contact information on your website and Facebook event pages.
8)
Sign-in Sheet – You can expect a good deal of word of mouth / foot traffic for your event. Have a couple volunteers circulate sign-up sheets for your email list. People at your event are motivated – keep them in the loop on your future action items and events.
9)
Action Item - Make sure at least one speaker, ideally near the end of the event, announces an “action item” for attendees. It can be to tell their friends to sign up for your group online and stay tuned for the next event, or to call their elected officials about particular issue. One thing I like is when event organizers put elected officials’ numbers up on a large screen or read it out to everyone to save and call.
10)
Follow up – Follow-up with attendees with an email “thank you,” reiterate the action item, and direct them to the website where pictures and videos will be posted. Encourage them to forward the information to a friend, co-worker, or family member, and to submit their own photos and videos.
