…doesn’t get the tea party movement.
The strength of the movement isn’t a national organization fund-raising, it is hundreds upon hundreds of local tea party groups running shoestring budgets.
Maybe they should consider embedding a reporter into a small local tea party group or two and just watch how it works. Maybe they would learn something.
Part of the Tea Party’s charm has been its eschewing of traditional political forms, including fundraising. The “suspicion” that some cast on elements within the movement is directed towards those who may have intentions of co-opting the grassroots for traditional party power. Its bootstrap quality attracts people to the rallies even if it does leave question about the movement’s ability to survive.
Besides, there is a basic conundrum in this question. While there have been many motivations and provocations that have pushed the movement’s growth, the poor economy and the top-down policies of Democrats that have created stagnation are the most powerful. That leaves people with not much discretionary cash to donate, making it ironically a bad time to launch a massive new political organization based on grassroots fundraising.
The bottom up organization is not a bug, it’s a feature.
memeorandum thread here
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