Eric Cantor and MY Tea Party Surprise!!!

The Phoenix

As I write this it is the day after Eric Cantor - Majority Leader of the House of Representatives' Republican Party - lost his Primary Election in his district in Virginia.  I find myself joining in the surprise apparently everyone has - including all of the main stream media (regardless of their political...liberal/conservative...democratic/republican...leanings).  Last night it seemed like all of the cable news shows and the various Facebook pages I follow were exploding in their shock over this election!  One of the reasons for their shock could be that they were embarrassed that they (and the pollsters) didn't see this coming.  The Cantor loss (given the importance of his position in Congress) seems to be the biggest PRIMARY loss in modern time!

The one fact that has most captured my interest, however, is the "DAVID VS. GOLIATH' nature of Cantor's opponent's (David Brat) victory.  I'm struck by the comments about Brat's seemingly being the "TEA PARTY'S CANDIDATE" while his campaign didn't benefit from any support and funding from the national Tea Party funding sources.  In fact, it seems like funding didn't have much to do with Brat's victory at all.  Brat raised around one and a half hundred THOUSAND dollars while Eric Cantor raised over five MILLION dollars.

So today, as I was making my final decision about what to write about, I found myself thinking that what happened with David Brat's election is really a TEACHABLE MOMENT for many of the points I hope to make in this blog. So I couldn't pass by this opportunity to reflect on some of the learnings this victory offers for the case I'm trying to make in this PHOENIX PROPOSAL blog.

The first thing that struck me about this election was the controversy over whether or not this victory represents a true victory for THE TEA PARTY. Without any national Tea Party backing, today's analysis has wondered about whether this victory can really be claimed as a sign of the strength of the national Tea Party (in recent weeks, with the loss of so many nationally-backed Tea Party candidates, the Tea Party's influence was declared "on life support".) Yet today, less than twenty-four hours after Eric Cantor's loss, he's already announcing that he's going to step down from his House Republican Leadership position!  Last night, as election results were coming in, observers declared that this upset was the result of Cantor's support for Amnesty in the Immigration debate. Then.. in the next breath, newscasters pronounced the death of any vote on ANY Immigration Proposal!  The consequences of Cantor's loss seems to be so significant that one observation was that it might even cause Jeb Bush to dismiss any thoughts HE might be having about running for President!

I don't know about you..but I found myself sitting back and thinking...SERIOUSLY?!?!? How could this be true?  And...what should I - a single person writing a blog with a dream that perhaps these reflections might bring about some nationwide POLITICAL MOVEMENT learn from all this?

So...the first thing I did today was to finally do some research on how the Tea Party got started? What I found really amazed me. More importantly, it made me even more confident that the idea of a PHOENIX PARTY is a real possibility.  Why? Well the story of how the Tea Party got started is not only hard to believe; it also feels like what's going on for me right now.

Those who write about the beginning of the Tea Party point to it being started by a WOMAN FROM SEATTLE WHO BLOGGED!!! Her name is KELI CARENDER and she writes under the Pen Name LIBERTY BELLE. Five years ago, prompted by her anger at the proposed Stimulus Package (like the newscaster in that movie NETWORK!), Keli decided she could either take some action or crawl into bed and forget everything.  She decided to take action. She decided she would use her blog and also contact any influential people she could to get people to come out for a protest event against the Stimulus Package. Keli believed that the country shouldn't be spending money it just didn't have. She decided to call this event a "Porkulus" protest and she got 120 people to show up. For a profile on Keli and her role in the start of the Tea Party see this article written in the New York Times in 2010 - a year after she hosted her first Tea Party Protest (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/us/politics/28keli.html?_r=1&)

Four days later a broadcaster on CNBC  (Rick Santelli) went on another NETWORK-movie-like rant about the government's plan to refinance mortgages. Santelli suggested holding a "tea party" for traders from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to gather and dump these derivatives in the Chicago River.  Santelli's rant became a "viral video" and the term "Tea Party" replaced "Porkulus" and a political movement - from such a simple set of events - was born!

What had I learned about the Tea Party so far? 1) It was started by a female BLOGGER who's described as a "part-time improvisational COMEDIAN  (yes...I'm serious!) who has a degree from Oxford University (mine's from Columbia University's Teachers' College) that she uses to teach adults MATH and RESUME writing". 2) It gets it's name from a TV HOST who's rant on a financial news network became a video that went viral!

I also learned that when pollsters check, only 10 % of the population identifies itself as a member of the Tea Party. Since the Tea Party is a "political movement" and not a "political party", one needs to register in a particular political party in order to vote.  Though most Tea Party supporters have aligned themselves with the conservative values of the Republican Party, not all of them are registered Republicans. Some are registered Democrats.

Why is the Tea Party so influential?  Today I discovered the concept of ASTRO-TURFING.  In its simplest form this means that while the Tea Party is considered a "grass-roots movement" - it's real source of power comes from the 'astro turf' that covers this 'grass'. In short it means that big money sources - like the Koch Brothers - and their Political Action Committees (PACs) are the "back room power-brokers" of the Tea Party...funding everything from commercials to fliers.

While I don't disagree with this analysis, David Brat's comment in his Victory Speech last night is the one insight I hope the readers' of this blog learn to believe:

"DOLLARS DON'T VOTE - PEOPLE DO" 

Brat's victory illustrates several other points I hope supporters of a PHOENIX PARTY can also learn:

• All politics are local politics. If one is to make any change in Washington...or on the state and local level...it will take one victory at a time...one Representative...one Senator...one Governor...(you get the picture!).  Big CHANGE can be overwhelming. Lots of little changes can seem MANAGEABLE!
• The most important thing in an election is not money, it's SHOWING UP! Compared to the millions of voters in the US, the number of voters who showed up in this one district in Virginia is really quite small. Yet, the implications of Eric Cantor's defeat seem to be enormously significant.  Success may not require LOTS of political victories. Maybe it requires only a small amount of IMPORTANT ONES!
• Primaries matter! Mid-terms matter! These are times when the expectation is that there will be low turnout.  The people who find the energy and make the effort to go out and vote can have a great deal of influence even if that group of people is rather small.
• Political energy - especially energy that comes out of fear and anger - is powerful energy. The voters in Virginia were afraid of Amnesty for Immigrants. Whether I agree with their fears or not, THEY were afraid that legalizing immigrants will create job losses and lower pay. They were afraid that Eric Cantor would vote for Amnesty. They were afraid that he would do so regardless of what they - the people in his own district - wanted. They were also angry voters.  They were angry that Eric Cantor wasn't showing up for them. His political interests had become more about his national interests and less about what his local constituents' interests and concerns were.  If David Brat and his Democratic opponent in Virginia's fall election for THIS district's representative have learned anything, they should be clear about the fact that there will be consequences if they do not pay attention to the constituents in this district. Be afraid! Be very afraid!

The election last night has made me very hopeful. A very powerful national political movement had an amazingly simple beginning. (I love it...a female blogger...a teacher... who's also a part-time comedian!). Political success comes one victory at a time. There is no national Tea Party movement with recognized party leadership. The Tea Party is made up of lots of local Tea Party Chapters.  The idea of starting lots of local Phoenix Party Chapters is far less daunting than creating a national movement! Big money is helpful (and if there's any benefactor out there who wants to use your money to help the Poor help themselves I certainly would consider your offer!)..but...it isn't essential.  People who Vote are essential. And...most of all...David Brat's David vs. Goliath Victory has taught me that the numbers are on our side! Victory may be a Surprise..but...it is also a Possibility!