Tea Partiers Won't Go When Fun Ends

by Ed Feulner & Senator Jim Demint - October 14th, 2010 - Poltico

In only 21 months, the tea party has exploded from a handful of scattered, spontaneous rallies into a full-fledged national movement capable of throwing out incumbents. Challenging entrenched Washington habits, it is a force both parties must reckon with.

Skeptics and opponents, however, continue to ask two basic questions. First, does the tea party have any real philosophical depth, a historical pedigree? Second, will its force dissipate after the elections?

The last is the best question I have heard asked about the election outcome, because it will determine whether the Tea Party movement wastes its energy in internal bickering or becomes a force for moral good in a nation that has lost its way for two generations. I am committed to demanding that the Tea Party movement live up to its best instincts. I plan to see that it becomes a dominant force in reclaiming our nation from those who knowingly are trying to destroy what makes us an exceptional force for good. I ask that everyone join in that great effort.