Riehl World View

h/t Instapundit. The Washington Examiner offers some advice for Tea Party folks who want to start being about bringing real change.

Thousands of Tea Party demonstrations are expected around the country today, but the movement must decide whether its purpose is merely to organize demonstrations and express outrage, or to move on to the next crucial stage of a successful grass-roots revolution — electing a new generation of public officials with the guts to make the hard decisions required to enact genuine reforms. That will require Tea Partiers — millions of whom have never before been interested in politics — to get involved in both political parties as volunteers, party officials, candidates for elective office, and campaign donors at every level of government. For those who are not yet involved, the Post-Party Summits political organizing workshops convening in coming weeks in cities around the country would be a great place to get started. Just Google "Post-Party Summit."

This was the topic of a phone call I had yesterday with Ned Ryun, President of American Majority. As his group was mentioned in a post or two of mine, he wanted to know if I had an issue with the group. I assured him, that wasn't the case at all. Along with many bloggers, I've been encouraging Tea Party folks to get more involved politically since the movement started. That hasn't changed. If anything, such efforts should begin to ramp up as we move towards November.

Some TP folks may be committed Democrats, or Republicans, and be looking to get more involved through our two party system, locally, as well as nationally. I've also been consistent in arguing against third party movements, as there simply isn't time for such organization building given the point we're at in American politics today.

Other folks may elect to go the candidate route, getting involved with, or working for specific campaigns. Many tea party folks have already begun exploring these various routes to bringing the kind of substantive change they want to see in American politics and policies today. I absolutely agree, it will take such efforts to make a real difference and not simply vent one's anger in protest.

I'd encourage any Tea Party person with the time and energy to somehow get more involved in formal political organizations to do so. Look around for groups, organizations and politicians most in line with the type of change you want and get involved. It will take much more than protests to bring about the right kind of change for America we need to see in the fall.

Elections have consequences. So does a lack of genuine involvement in them before they happen. Sort out who or what you believe in and please consider getting more involved if you haven't done so already. One can still get involved and Tea Party, just as many good Americans will be doing today.