Dear Fellow Tea Party Patriots,
Thousands of you responded to our "Three for Tea" survey at the end of 2009. Thank you for taking the time to help set the direction for Tea Party Patriots. The National and Local Coordinators took those results and have created the plan you will see below. It was a lengthy and thoughtful process, which we describe below.
Outline of What is to Come in 2010
- Final Voting on Contract from America Begins: February 18, 2010
- Recharge the Movement Protests: February 27, 2010
- Nationwide Screenings of Tea Party Movie: February 27, 2010
- Tax Day Tea Parties: April 15, 2010
- Rollout of Final Contract from America: April 15, 2010
- Constitutional Educational Training, Founding Principles Bus Tour
- Activist Educational Training
- Independence Day Events: July 2 - July 4, 2010
- AUGUST HEAT - Congressional Town Hall Meetings
- 912 March on DC: September 12, 2010
- Get Out the Vote and Voter Education: October - November, 2010
- ELECTION DAY, Tuesday, November 2, 2010
- Year-Round grassroots lobbying when legislation arises
Three exciting things are happening in February of 2010:
- Rollout of Final Voting for Contract from America, February 18
- Recharge the Movement Street Demonstrations, February 27
- Tea Party the Documentary House Viewing Parties, February 27
On February 27th, to show where we have been and that we intend to continue to make our voices heard, we will have a round of Tea Party Patriots Street Demonstrations called Recharge the Movement Demonstrations. These will be very raw and rough like the first round of tea parties were last year. Most locations will not have lots of predetermined people to speak and instead will use bullhorns and be a bit more unscripted as they were on February 27th of last year. The messaging will continue to be our core values of fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government, and free markets.
April, 2010 - TAX DAY TEA PARTIES
Last year on April 15th, we had over 850 tea parties with over 1.2 million people in attendance, on a Wednesday, protesting out of control government taxing and spending. These tea parties were all over the country. This year, we will have Tax Day Tea Parties again on April 15th.
We will have tea parties both small and large around the country. There will be several major regional events including in Washington, DC, Atlanta, and Sacramento. We are also working on regional events in 1 - 3 other locations which are still to be determined. The regional events will be in the late afternoon (on the west coast) and evening hours (on the east coast) and will be webcast across the country. Additionally, keynote speakers at each of the locations will be simulcast on jumbotrons to the other regional locations.
This approach will hopefully give people who want to participate in a larger event the ability to do so without having to go to through the full expense of traveling across the country to a single location. Additionally, it will give those who want to participate from their home the ability to do so via the webcast.
At the Tax Day Tea Parties, we will roll out our final version of the Contract from America. We will ask you to sign the Contract from America and we will also be asking elected officials to sign the Contract from America at the Tax Day Tea Parties.
Last year many organizations signed on as coalition partners for Tax Day Tea Parties. We are working to do the same this year. So far, we have Freedom Works and American Liberty Alliance as coalition partners. We will be announcing more coalition partners in the weeks to come.
April - June, 2010
Our focus in May and June will be training. We will have training opportunities for you regarding the Constitution and founding principles. Additionally, we will have training to teach you how to become a better activist.
The training will show you how you can become more involved in the tea party movement. Whether it is writing blog posts about our core values, walking door to door to teach people about our core values, or making phone calls to elected officials, you will learn about ways you can use your talents to get more involved.
While this training is scheduled to start in April, it will be ongoing throughout the year.
In addition to the training, we will watch for educational and grassroots lobbying opportunities regarding hot legislative topics. These activities will be similar to what we have already been doing with Cap and Trade and Government Takeover of Health Care.
July, 2010
Since we are patriots, we cannot let July 4th go by without celebrating America's Birth and Independence. Rather than compete with existing and traditional Independence Day celebrations, this year on July and around July 4th, we are encouraging each local coordinator (or representative of a local tea party group) to organize your local tea party group to participate in Independence Day Parades, Fairs, and Festivals in your local communities.
Tea Party Patriots is also exploring an idea for a bi-coastal Independence Day Family Tea Party Event. This idea is in the preliminary stages and we will have to see how it plays out.
We also encourage you to host a Tea Party Patriots Backyard BBQ and Ice Cream Social in your own home in July. We will have 1 day around the country where we are asking Tea Party Patriots members to host house parties. At these house parties, we will teach our own circle of influence about what the tea party movement is, what we stand for, and why it matters. We have some fun activities planned to go along with these Backyard BBQ and Ice Cream Socials. Stay tuned for details.
August, 2010 - TOWN HALL HEAT
In 2009 Tea Party Patriots, like you, redefined the traditional Town Hall meetings held by members of Congress during their summer break. Congress will be on recess in August 2010 and back at home in their districts around the country. We will keep you up-to-date on Town Hall dates, times, and locations, as well as the hot legislative issues which will be on the agendas.
In addition to Town Halls, we will be planning for our second 912 March on DC.
September, 2010 - 912 March on DC
We had many questions and thoughts regarding whether or not to do the 9/12 March on DC again this year. Do we have the resources? What are our expectations? Etc. In the end, the question became, "How can we not do the march again this year?" You, the grassroots members, want to come back to Washington, DC on a single day to make your voices heard.
We are a grassroots, bottom-up organization and we honor your desire. So, we are headed back to DC on September 12 for another March on DC. Again, Freedom Works will be the primary host of the event. We will be one of their coalition partners. Our National Coordinator, Jenny Beth Martin, will again be National Co-Coordinator for the 912 March on DC along with Freedom Works' Brendan Steinhauser. Just like with the Tax Day Tea Parties and last year's 912 March on DC, we will reach out to other like-minded fiscal and constitutional organizations to partner with them as we plan and implement the March on DC.
Like last year, there will be opportunities for training and networking. Also, Tea Party Patriots will host the Sign Making Party again on September 11.
Watch for details in the coming months regarding other partnering organizations, speakers, training events, and more.
October - November, 2010
As we draw closer to Election Day, we will have voter guides online that will compare candidates for various offices based on our core values:
- Fiscal Responsibility
- Constitutionally Limited Government
- Free Markets.
We will provide you the information you need to make the best decision when you are at the ballot box.
December, 2010 One way to grow is to evaluate what you have done and what lessons you have learned from your actions. In December, we will do just that. At the end of the year, we will recap what we have done, what we have learned, what we can do better, and how we can make a bigger and better impact in the future. There will be another survey similar to the Three for Tea Survey that individual members may fill out to offer their input on what we have done, where we should go, etc.We will use this feedback to plan for 2011 and beyond.
The Process
After reading the responses to the 2009 survey, the First Coast Tea Party in the Jacksonville, Florida area graciously sponsored and hosted the National Coordinator team at a Board Strategy Meeting. The National Coordinator team reviewed the results and created a plan for what they thought you our grassroots Tea Party Patriots wanted.
But, the National Coordinator Team never makes a final decision without input from the Local Coordinators. We know that they are in touch with you on a daily basis and we trust their judgment. After the Board Strategy Meeting, Local Coordinators from around the country came to Washington, DC for a Local Coordinator Leadership Summit.
You may not be aware of the fact that many dedicated Tea Party Patriots Local Coordinators around the country have quit their jobs or stopped their second jobs to promote this movement. They are having to make decisions about whether to continue with the movement or to go back to work to pay for their bills or cut out all the niceties like going out to dinner or date nights with their spouses they enjoyed before last February. Most of the local coordinators we talk to no longer watch TV at night but instead are on long conference calls and meetings to keep the momentum moving. They have dropped their involvement in other activities they used to participate in to give every spare minute to the movement. They are literally sacrificing their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor. We wanted to make sure we could accommodate as many of those people as possible with your generous donations.
While in DC, the local coordinators went through the plans and refined them. It was an incredible meeting! There were members of 912 Groups and members from Freedom Works who also participated in the meeting. Finally, they had the opportunity to meet others face-to-face who they have talked to over the phone for the past year. They also discussed the best practices, plans for the 2010, plans for beyond 2010.
Since several more Local Coordinators could not make it Washington, DC (most only had 5 days notice), we took the 2010 plans to the Local Coordinator Leadership Council weekly conference call this Monday for final approval of the plan. With their final approval, we present the plan to you. We present it knowing that each individual member of Tea Party Patriots has had the opportunity to set the direction for the tea party movement this year and beyond.
You are the heart and soul of the Tea Party Movement. Thank you for promoting the causes of fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government, and free markets with us!
Your Tea Party Patriots National Coordinator Team,
Debbie Dooley, Mike Gaske, Kellen Giuda, Ryan Hecker, Jenny Beth Martin, Mark Meckler, Sally Oljar, Diana Reimer, Billie Tucker, and Dawn Wildman
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