Getting the message to Columbus, Washington begins at the local level
To the editor:
It is very heartening to see that more than 100 Highlanders are actively engaging in the Tea Party position and functions. It is also very good to see Highland’s local “Tea Party” group planning a Tax Day Rally in protest against the excess government spending, the unrestrained growth of government and the destructive “business-as-usual” politics in Washington and Columbus. Hopefully, many more of Highland’s citizens will join the rally April 15 on the County Courthouse lawn to send the protest message to the politicians in Washington and Columbus. However, it is reasonable to wonder about the effectiveness of holding the rally at a “generic” address like the Courthouse.
From a place like the courthouse, the Tea Party message is being broadcast to everyone, and general publicity is good, of course. But when a message is sent to “everyone”, it is not being sent to anyone in particular and thus the responsibility for changes (or even a response) is not being addressed to the people whom we want to change. By addressing “everyone” – no one is put on the hot seat to get some change in motion… and so no real change gets started.
To be really effective, our Tea Party message needs to be heard by the president and the members of the U.S. Congress and the governor and the members of the Ohio General Assembly. But none of them will be here to listen to our voices and our Tea Party’s message. Is it even possible to get all those high muckity-muck Democrat and Republican elected people to listen to us?
They do listen to the national chairmen of their political parties. But we won’t see the national chairmen of the Democrats or Republicans strolling by the courthouse on tax day either. But is there a way we can get our Tea Party message to them so they will pass it on?
Well, the national party chairmen, the big “heads of each Party have to listen to the party chairmen from each State because the State level is the
support for the national level – its shoulders – so to speak. But we probably cannot expect all Ohio’s State level Democrat and Republican Party
leaders to be visiting Hillsboro on tax day either.
But then, the State level leaders depend on the County level political party leaders to keep them informed and to help groom candidates and to
force the message of the national Parties down the throats of the local voters.
The County Party Chairmen are the “legs”, the State level are the shoulders and the national level is the “head”. Without the “legs”, the “head” isn’t
going anywhere. THAT could be the very answer to truly getting the Tea Party actually heard in Columbus and Washington.
The answer may well be for the Tea Party group to address their protests and concerns and feelings directly to the county chairs of the Democrat and Republican parties instead of just standing at the Courthouse waving at the traffic and launching their message into thin air. It is, after all, true that "All Politics are Local".
The Tea Party group has every right to address their protests to Highland County Democrat Chairwoman Ms. Dinah Phillips and to Highland
County Chairwoman Ms. Kay Ayres. It happens that Ms. Ayres is also the State level Vice-Chair for the Republicans and thus should be expected to carry the Tea Party message even higher and faster.
These two chairwomen fully deserve to hear how the Tea Party supporters feel – and in plain, no-sugar-added language – so they can send that “Enough
is Enough” message to the State and the National leaders who will then be hearing it from someone they had better listen to.
Letters and phone calls to these two chairwomen are perfectly fine tactics. Peaceful, legal protest can take many, many effective forms and not all of them have to be from the
“Goodie Two-Shoes” manual. Let these party chairs redeem themselves by aggressively taking the demands of We, the People to the arrogant, deaf “leaders” in Columbus and Washington to get some real change in motion.
Sincerely,
Jim Moore
Hillsboro