I was asked recently by the NCGOP Chair, “Are you more TEA Party or Republican Party?”
Huh? But they’re not mutually exclusive? They’re different and also the same like I am a woman and an American. I really didn’t know how to answer that, but finally said, “I’ve always been a Republican.” He accepted the answer without further inquiry, but it really made me think. So, let me start from the beginning.
The definition: TEA = Taxed Enough Already.
We’re just people who have had enough of the same old games, the incalculable spending, the excuses, and the political shift to the Left that cause us to pay increasingly more in taxes. Enough! We’re asking for accountability and responsiveness in government. At the center of this “TEA Party phenomenon,” we did not want, or need, Obamacare/nationalized healthcare.
The TEA Party shares a great deal in common with the American voters – remember Nov. 2010?
Back to my original point, I am a true believer in the GOP. I am as conservative as Rush Limbaugh. I raised my daughter listening to Rush and Dr. Laura. That’s mainstream conservative GOP thought. Right?
I share no philosophical ideals with the Democrat platform – nothing.
However, I am not a supporter of Republican politicians who abandon the platform, and legislate or govern as amoral, irresponsible stewards of taxpayer money. That makes me sad, and, honestly, has contributed significantly to our $15.4 trillion national debt.
But putting even the spending aside, the TEA Party and the GOP are overlapping sets of slightly different things. Like I said before, the TEA Party and GOP are not mutually exclusive. They’re different like me being a woman and an American. You can’t really separate them.
Now, not all TEA Partiers are Republicans. In fact, many are Independents / Unaffiliated, Libertarians, and even an occasional conservative Democrat. But all share common goals with the GOP philosophy – smaller government, more personal responsibility, lower taxes, etc… and thus they should be seen as an important constituency to the GOP in a 2012 victory. Of the two Parties, there is only one logical choice votes. One thing that’s for sure, all registered Republicans asking to be involved with sometimes painful process of GOP politics are indeed Republicans first.
So why was I asked that question? It might be safe to say there is a misunderstanding. The TEA Party thinks somewhere along the way, the GOP has forgotten their roots and abandoned their own platform. But the GOP probably only knows the strident, angry, sign-carrying mob who has had enough! I guess we’ve both come along way since November 2010.
The commonalities between the GOP and the TEA Party are so numerous, that I don’t even know how we got here. There is plenty of common ground on which to work together and defeat Barack Hussein Obama – the most destructive president in American history! Our goals are absolutely the same and inclusive – not mutually exclusive. We may differ on which candidate we support in the Primary, but that’s the nature of the Primary process. We’ll all come together for the General election.
So where does that leave me?
I’m attempting to stand in the middle, trying to bridge this divide. I know no one who wants to start a third Party. I know some who have called me names for being too persuaded by the GOP and a kool-aid drinker for my compliments and support of the GOP. Sometimes I can’t win with either side, but I still work like the very existence of America depends on my effort.
I stand in the middle with the Constitution, with the rule of law, with the NC GOP Platform, and with Conservative ideals. I am not a GOP outsider, but I’m asking to help win this election and educate voters about the philosophies that make the GOP so great.
Here’s where I become strident, even though I stand in the middle, I don’t want compromise with the Democrats’ Socialist agenda. I want change in the direction of less government spending, SHRINKING the current size of government – like what has been accomplished in North Carolina in 2011. It is unacceptable to just reduce the rate of growth in government. We must shrink spending, the national debt, and the size of the government. We must begin today and carry it into tomorrow.
I love this country. I love my family. I agree with my Republican Party. The TEA Party and the GOP are certainly not mutually exclusive teams. We are overlapping subsets of philosophies. Or maybe it’s better to say we are two sides of the same coin.
We must defeat Obama and the only way we can do that is by electing republicans to all levels of government.
Christine Steele Gates Caldwell County Republican Party, Executive Committee member At-Large Caldwell TEA Party, president — caldwellteaparty.org
Caldwell TEA Party 
Well-written post, Christine. Thanks for trying to explain.
thanks.
Christine, excellent summary. When we finally send the Kenyan packing you really need to think about how you can represent the people of NC at the next level. I’ve seen your organizational skills in action, they are impressive, your passion for conservative values and your ability to follow through to logical conclusion. I can see you as State Representartive Cristine (when Edgar decides to go) or State Senator Chrisitne when our current rising star moves up to the next level. The end game for the TEA Party, the Republican Party, Independents and Libertarians is to defeat the Resident Evil currently taking up space in the Whitehouse. We need to take control of the Senate, maintain control of the House at the state and national levels. While we’re at it we need to take back the Governorship of NC. The alternative, is economic disaster, installation of a Socialist dicatorship by our dictator, wannabe, POTUS and loss of our personal freedom. If you think it’s bad now wait until Obama has NO restraints on his actions because he won’t be facing reelection. WE CANNOT SURVIVE AS INDIVIDUALS OR AS A COUNTRY WITH FOUR MORE YEARS OF THIS MISREABLE EXCUSE FOR A POTUS. We all have our favorites we passionately want to be POTUS. Whoever makes the cut EVERY ONE OF US needs to put aside any disappointment our favorite son or daugther didn’t make it, to vote for our ONE CHANCE for survival. WE CANNOT WAIT for 2016, OUR COUNTRY WILL BE LOSS and our freedom subjugated to the will of the State. We need to rally behind our party’s choice and act like our lives depend on his or her success, THEY DO. We all need to VOTE like our very lives depend on the outcome, THEY DO! LET FREEDOM RING!
Wow, Charles! Thank you for all your kind words, I wasn’t expecting any comments like that from this piece.
I agree with all of what you said about the elections in 2012! #WINNING because failing is not an option.
Bravo Christine! Bravo!
This is exactly why you are my Commander-in-Chief.
Great post Christine. There are tons of confusion in this area and of course the GOP hasn’t a clue!!
Mike The GOP does have a clue. The GOP has also been usurped by the faction we must identify as Globalist’s. In order for these greedy people to succeed in their endeavors, they must first lose the value that national sovereignty is important. We must work to bring the Americans left in our land back together or we will be divided up, to the point that we fall. Jesus said it best when he said that a nation divided against itself cannot stand. We must push the agenda of America, which is that we are Americans fighting to save the greatest nation on earth from destruction from within, by infiltrators, who are posing as shephards, while in reality they are ravenous wolves Please push American’s which will draw us back together.
You’re quoting Lincoln, not Jesus. Fail.
Great job Christine. Sharing. And great seeing you last Sunday!
Respectfully submitted by SD2010.
Very well put Christine. Thanks for clarifying what many of us are thinking. I see some GOPer’s out there that are too “political’ to align with the Tea Party. I respect their conservative values but I’m tired of the politics as usual game that they cling to. Your diagram nails it….
thanks, Ken. I’m glad it has prompted so many to respond. I hope we can get some constructive lines of communication open.
EXCELLENT! Thank you for nailing it…nothing more I can say except join us in the New Movement to Reemphasize the True Intentions of the TEA PARTY MOVEMENT! http://www.bigbreitbarts.com
rts.com
Welcome to a new movement called “BigBreitbarts”
We are the citizen journalists who power the Tea Party Movement. And I don’t mean the false idol tea party money and power grabbers. The real and genuine grassroots freedom loving, greed hating, Constitution following citizens of America. We are not the war mongers of the Rothschilds, we are not the Federal Reserve thieves, we are the prosperity, the energy independent, the feeding each other through hard work and community. We are not the entitlement generation, we are not the fiscally insane government, we are the people who are getting ready to take our country back from these insane control and robber barons. We are the “BigBreitbarts”.
Please join us by sending us an email with the subject line…”count me in” and we will add you to our email list and move forward. rlw@bigbreitbarts.com
https://www.facebook.com/groups/368837369806585/
United for FREEDOM and TRUTH! Thank you to our fallen Hero Andrew Breitbart and our sincere prayers go out to all personally hurting over his untimely death.
-It is not so much what you do while on this earth that remains, but what is left behind eternal claims~ BigBretbarts- Rhonda Lee
http://breitbart.tv/ http://www.BigGovernment.com
http://www.BigJournalism.com.
http://bigpeace.com/
http://www.breitbart.com
My Patriot response to his untimely death…
http://www.bigbreitbarts.com
“I want a Center Right Nation that Fights for its Soul!”
We honor our Fallen Hero here and will pass the torch and reignite the Fire in the Heart of the Real TEA PARTY MOVEMENT: We have only yet begun to fight! We love you Andrew, we will defend you and your family and our great Nation against the Tyranny of the Left!
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Christine you have confirmed my suspicions that the Tea Party Movement is first, last and always will be GOP – Grand Old Party! We, you, I and all of our kind say lets get back to Constitutional government. That is a great idea but why is that? We all are putting great faith in that document but that document is the words expressing the ideas and beliefs of our founders. So, I ask, should we not also put as much belief in what our founders had to say outside of our Constitution? I say even more so for they were very wise as evidenced by their work.
From the days of the American Revolution till the international moneychangers came back to America to steal our monetary system our founders and their progeny have professed the hatred and distain for PARTIES and FACTIONS. Their prophesy has come to fruition – a divided country on the verge of losing the dream that was theirs, a nation where the peoples freedom and welfare were the only focal point.
Madison used the following phrase in one of his Federalist Papers submissions when he was describing the separation of powers between the Federal government and State goveranemnt; “The people were made for Kings and not Kings were made for the people.” Yet today the two party system has supplanted kings for patty.
If the two party system was good for America then why do we the situation that we are faced with today? If the GOP had all of the answers then why haven’t they controlled the government? The same question applies to the Democrats. The answer can be laid at the feet of the international moneychangers.
In 1892 as the assault on the control of America’s monetary system was being laid out the international moneychangers bought up 27 of the most influential newspapers existing in America at the time so that they could control public opinion. In this same year they made public throughout the US Bankers association the following;
“Our top leaders are perfectly aware of the truth. They are presently working at establishing an imperialism (central banks) of the capital to rule the world. But while they are implementing this plan, they must keep the people busy with political antagonisms.
“We’ll therefore speed up the question of reform in the custom rates by the political organization called the Democratic Party; and we’ll put the spotlight on the question of protection and of the reciprocity by the Republican Party.
“By dividing the electorate this way, we’ll be able to have them spend their energies at struggling amongst themselves on questions that, for us, have no importance whatsoever, and on which we only touch upon as instructors of the common flock.
“It is thus that, through discreet acts, we can maintain what was so generously projected and executed with such a remarkable success.”
Impossible you say? Their motivations are the trillions of dollars of income they have and continue to make world wide. Once they created the FED they changed the way the people elect their Senators so that they would have more influence over them than their states that they represented. Next came the introduction of “Think Tanks” and the first created was the CFR, Council on Foreign Relations. These think tanks are used as idea centers to further cultivate division between the party faithful. Is America divided? You bet your sweet zippy! The most successful plan in any aggressors play book is the ole divided and conquers. “Every kingdom divided against it self is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against it self shall not stand:” A great example of that is the story in scripture of the “Tower of Babble.” The people’s success was stopped by God when he confused their language. In today’s political climate there is now way a red shirt can talk to a blue shirt bringing America to desolation.
Remember God allowed His people to be dispersed around the world so it would not be too far fetched that He may allow this great country of ours to fall into desolation.
All organizations (political parties) have a self preservation DNA and that means they will do whatever to survive. Political parties source of survival are the big bucks that the money elites are able to give them, why not they have made trillions of dollars from their stealing of a nation’s most creative power their own monetary systems.
Now that the money elites have their talons so deeply embedded in our political system that the only way out is to get rid of the two party system and become a nation of individuals once again.
So my questions to you who may read this is can you stand on your own two feet? Can you think for yourself? Why do you need a group to tell you what is right or wrong? And lastly, if the two party system is so great then why is America in the situation that she is today?
You are right. It has to change, because both parties have become usurped by what you identify as the source. We must make the decision to take America back from those who are controlling everything with money. We must take it back with something greater than money. Our fathers knew what this was, and once we are oppressed enough. we to will desire to taste it as well.