Tea Party Convention: WNC Does Tea Party Nation
Feb. 4
On the evening if the first day, we gathered in the main hall for mingling and hors d’oevres. There, we ran into good people from Cherokee County, Cleveland County, Henderson County, and Polk County. Meet Debbie Arceneaux of Polk County 9.12 Project:
The featured speaker that evening was former Colorado congressman Tom Tancredo. While many of his remarks, especially those about the education system in America, were on target, Congressman Tancredo’s speech was met with mixed reviews and was, of course, portrayed by the media as jingoistic and racist.
The speech would likely have been objectionable to Progressives, Socialists, supporters of amnesty for illegal immigrants, and opponents of the preservation of American culture, but it was not racist. If I could find the entire speech anywhere online, I would post it here. Apparently, it doesn’t serve the media’s purpose to publish the entire speech in context. Here is part of the speech.
Feb.5
On the second day, after breakfast and a short speech by Memphis Tea Party organizer Mark Skoda, we broke out into sessions. We attended the Leadership Institute’s training session on using new media. This class was led by one of the media directors of the wildly successful Scott Brown campaign. In it, we learned more about the effective use of Facebook, YouTube, Twitter Google AdWords, Google Docs, Google Forms, Google News Alerts, online petitions and polls, Ning, Drop.io, and text messaging services such as Tatango. This class was a great value and many of the ideas put forward are things that Asheville Tea PAC will be able to use effectively in the upcoming Congressional campaign.
We then went to lunch where we heard speeches by Judge Roy Moore, candidate for Alabama Governor, and Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch. Tom Fitton’s speech was extremely informative. Asheville Tea Party members should definitely avail themselves of the information provided by Judicial Watch at their website.
After lunch, David DeGerolamo and I conducted a breakout session on “How To Unite State Tea Party Groups.” The session was well attended and received. After we finished our presentation (without PowerPoints because the IT guy never showed up) we took questions. When the hour allotted for our session was up, the participants agreed that they wanted more of this topic and material. We inquired of Judson Phillips, the convention organizer, if it would be possible to hold another session during the free period the next day and he provided us a room and a three hour time period.
At dinner, we heard from Congressional Candidate and media personality Angela McGlowan and WND founder Joseph Farah. McGlowan’s speech was inspiring. Farah’s speech was almost entirely devoted to challenging the authenticity of the President’s birth certificate. This was a disappointment to me and, I believe, a negative contribution to the Tea Party Convention.
Fortunately, what followed eclipsed Farah’s speech completely. We had the privilege of screening an as-yet-unreleased movie, Generation Zero. This movie which will be released in select theaters in the coming weeks, is a jaw dropping assessment of our current economic straits, presented in a way that holds you visually captive. I had the opportunity to speak to Stephen K. Bannon, the man behind the movie, at the close of the convention and found him to be sincere and passionate about his work. He wants this movie to not only be a tool for education and motivation, but a source of pride for the Tea Party movement which he feels is heir to the Ronald Reagan legacy. As soon as the film is available on DVD, Asheville Tea Party will host a public viewing.
Feb.6
On the morning of the third day, we heard from Amy Kremer, early leader in the Tea Party movement and one of the organizers of Tea Party Express. We also were treated to a speech from Andrew Breitbart, founder of BigHollywood.com, BigJournalism.com, BigGovernment.com, and Breitbart.tv. Andrew’s speech was amazing and, as he brought the crowd to its feet over and over again, his words brought the mainstream media to its knees. We are so pleased and proud that Andrew Breitbart counts himself among us. I had a chance to speak to him and, hopefully, have persuaded him that Asheville should be one of his next stops in his busy travel schedule.
After Breitbart’s total evisceration of the the mainstream media, we had a Panel Discussion. Our own David DeGerolamo, founder of NCFreedom, was a member of the three person panel answering questions from the general audience. The other two panelists were Amy Kremer of Tea Party Express and Mark Skoda of Memphis Tea Party. Videos of the panel discussion are available here and here.
After the panel discussion and lunch, we returned to the meeting rooms for our second session of “How To Unite State Tea Party Groups.” We presented the material with PowerPoint slides this time and took a few questions. Then, we broke up into four geographical regions to discuss amongst ourselves what works, what doesn’t, and what’s next. After a half hour, we reconvened and Judson Phillips joined us. At this session, we discussed how to use Tea Party Nation’s website as a hub of communication for the nation’s Tea Parties and where to begin with networking. In the coming weeks, we will be developing this network further with Tea Party Nation and devising a Toolkit for Tea Party organizers to use in their efforts to organize their states for improved communication. Also at this session, we had a chance to utilize a new media tool we learned about in the Leadership Institute session.
The day was capped off by dinner, a performance by singer/songwritier/patriot Jon David, and a rousing speech by former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Governor Palin’s much anticipated speech carried no hint of an attempt to coopt the Tea Party movement for personal or political gain. Much to the contrary, Governor Palin extolled the benefit of the Tea Party not having a national leader or spokesperson in that we are a force for change in both parties and across ideological boundaries. You can see her entire speech here.
Much to my great pleasure, the convention ended without a single mention of the formation of a Tea Party political party. It was entirely devoted to opening up lines of communication among patriot groups, encouraging the movement, and moving forward using strategies that work. There was no heavy handed partisanship on display and no divisiveness or conflict among members. If my schedule permits, I will gladly accept the invitation I received from Judson Phillips to present another session on “Uniting a State” with David DeGerolamo at the next Tea Party Convention in July.
Party on, Asheville Tea Party!
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Phillips has announced that the $549-a-head convention featuring Sarah Palin is sold out. But Tea Party critics and allies alike have been asking questions about what Phillips plans to do with the money. Concrete answers have been in short supply, and in the end it looked like too big a risk for any public office holder.
