Lloyd Marcus: Surprisingly, many on our side — Republicans and conservatives — are still clueless about the Tea Party or have a negative view of it. They have fallen prey to the mainstream media’s rhetoric that we are a bunch of anti-government extremists with a few redneck racists thrown in for good measure.
But folks, this is not an accurate description of the Tea Party. Not by a long shot.
Ten years ago, at a social event, a politician told me he ran for office as a Republican and lost. Without skipping a beat, he said he was running again as a Democrat because they promised him better financial support. I thought, how is this possible? How can someone reverse their values to further their political career? Man, was I naive.
Though referring to Republicans, my buddy Joe eloquently nailed the problem in politics today: “As long as this is a party of men who seek power, rather than fight for principles seared into their souls, then the Republican Party stands for nothing other than being the opposing party to the Democrats.”
“Principles seared into their souls.” Such are the kind of candidates we in the Tea Party are seeking and rallying around: character-driven candidates who say what they mean and mean what they say. It is truly a sad commentary on the decline of our culture when such expectations are deemed fanatical. Good Lord, how far we have fallen.