The tea-party movement -- our biggest mistake in 2010?

Don’t get me wrong, I love the passion and was thrilled by the hundreds of Tea Parties with their millions of participants as it happened across this land in 2009. I was heartened that so many Americans were standing up to the anti-American left like that. But how do we channel that passion into something that can lead to positive change?

Without question powerful change needs a leader. Unfortunately, unless a leader steps forward that can gather all those many Tea Party strings into a single strong rope, it is likely that the whole thing will just pass away and be left a footnote in history. And what will this do to those yearning for change? What else could it do but cause them to become even more cynical going out than when they came in, leaving them thinking that nothing can be done and that we are doomed? This could lead to even worse societal strife down the road as frustrations build.

The other thing change needs is funding. Let’s face it, change cannot come without money and while Tea Partiers have not yet been stingy with political donations, it has been like a scattergun as opposed to an aimed and powerful rifle shot. Whether we like it or not, money is and always has been the life’s blood of politics and we Tea Party goers must find a way to harness the interest we all have had in change and parlay that into political donations that will lead to a successful take over of our political scene. We can’t bend politics to our will without money. Reagan knew it, Richard Viguerie knew it, even Jerry Falwell and his Moral Majority knew it. These famous conservatives were able to channel political donations in the millions of dollars to the right places and conservatism became a powerful force because of it.