Tea Party stuns with $12.2m cash haul

[American_Jihad]

Tea Party stuns with $12.2m cash haul

5/9/12 By John D. McKinnon


In this Friday, March 23, 2012 photo, Pat Denzer holds a copy of the U.S. Constitution to his chest at a protest in downtown San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)​

Sen. Richard Lugar, who lost his primary fight in Indiana Tuesday, doesn’t need any reminders of the tea party movement’s ongoing appeal. But for those who do, another one surfaced recently in the tax return of the tea party movement’s biggest umbrella organization.

The Woodstock, Ga.-based Tea Party Patriots reported raising $12.2 million for the year ended May 31, 2011. That vaults them into the ranks of some of the most successful conservative activist groups, including FreedomWorks, the Club for Growth and Americans for Tax Reform.

Nonprofit organizations’ annual tax returns are lagging indicators, of course, and the political-fundraising landscape has been evolving rapidly. But the Tea Party Patriots’ success underscores the continuing – perhaps even growing – power of the tea party.

Much attention has been focused this election season on super PACs and nonprofits – some with ties to the tea-party movement – that are raising large sums, often from wealthy donors, and pouring it into campaign-themed advertising.

By contrast, the Tea Party Patriots and their affiliated groups are generally staying focused on the grassroots ground game – training, issue education, webinars and tele-town halls, and mobilizing of volunteers. The Patriots say they have 3,500 local affiliates, as well as a mailing list of 310,000 small-dollar donors. They also say they’ve raised even more money for the 2012 fiscal year, although they declined to provide numbers.

It’s brick-by-brick organization building, and the results aren’t easily measured. But the Patriots leaders say they’re creating a structure that will last.

At the same time, the Patriots and other tea party groups are maturing, holding fewer raucous rallies and doing more phone-banking.

Tea Party Patriots: A $12.2 Million Haul - Washington Wire - WSJ

 

[SniperFire]

Tea Party is now the swing vote.

Works for me.

 

[The Infidel]

Being dead works good for us

 

[American_Jihad]

The Morphing of the Tea Party

8/6/12
By Lee Cary


The Tea Party movement morphed from protest signs to campaign signs.

That's how a Texas Tea Party activist succinctly put it when I asked him what's become of the movement. He said, "We put down our protest signs, and picked up campaign signs."

He said that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's victory lap after passing Obamacare was a "wake-up call." It signaled that mass demonstrations would not bring significant changes. Change would only come through the ballot box.


Hearing the call, the Tea Party vacated the town squares and hit the streets where it began organizing for the long-term.

It was always a grassroots phenomenon, so no territorial shift was required. And since it enjoyed little, or no, support from established GOP county structures, it didn't need to ask permission from the local GOP leadership, or accept its judgment as authoritative.

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