I joined the Tea Party in my locality a few years ago when it began because I sincerely believed in its simple, but extremely powerful and direct message:
Low Taxes
Limited, Constitutional Government
Individual liberty
and nothing else. The Tea Party was not to be a political “Party” with positions on every subject under the sun. It would only be involved in its particular concerns, so as not to dilute its message.
Then what is this nonsense, especially in the last year, regarding certain Tea Party groups espousing opinions on other hot-button items? The Tea Party vowed not to stray from its points. With the number of varying “Tea Party” groups all taking on extraneous — and not always agreeing — positions, it only serves to give ammunition to other groups to discredit the Tea Party on non “core” Tea Party issues and point out their inconsistency. This does not help the cause of low taxes, limited government, and individual liberty.
It is not necessary to have an opinion and position on every little thing. The Tea Party would do well to focus on its core tenets only and continue to push that unified message.