Greetings to the Leaders of the Tea Party Patriots,
This email is going out to all the leaders of the Tea Parties around the nation. We've spoken with many of you personally, and we hope to speak
to all of you personally in the upcoming days. You are the true heroes of the tea party movement, and we appreciate each and every one of you.
We are honored to work with you, in one of the greatest grassroots movements in American history. Together, we stand shoulder to shoulder as
the Tea Party Patriots.
We've received numerous emails and phone calls asking, "What is next for the Tea Party Movement? How do we turn the protests into actions
that will change our nation?" Additionally, we're getting a lot of questions about the original Tax Day Tea Party Coalition, and its go-forward status.
We hope to adequately address all of these issues below.
Thanks for your continued support.
Mark Meckler, Amy Kremer, Jenny Beth Martin, Rob Neppell
National Coordinators - Tea Party Patriots
Tea Party Patriots
www.TeaPartyPatriots.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Past...
Original Coalition
There seems to be a lot of confusion about the original TaxDayTeaParty coalition and it's current position on moving forward. We'd like to
clear that up for you. To start, it's important to note that all original coalition members are in support of the Tea Party Patriots as
the heart and soul of the tea party movement, with the exception of Michael Leahy.
The following are statements from each coalition member, expressing their support of the the Tea Party Patriots. We thank them for their
support and acknowledge them for the integral role each played in helping this movement struggle to its feet, and become a force to
contend with. Without their vision and support, provided at a time when success was not inevitable, the tea party movement may never have
reached the critical mass it can claim today.
DontGo - According to Eric Odom, founder of the DontGo movement, "There are over 800 rock stars who are responsible for the success of
the Tax Day Tea Parties on April 15, 2009. We support the Tea Party Patriots as the only truly grassroots organization that speaks for the
heart and soul of the movement, and for all of the stars who make it possible. We wholeheartedly support their efforts to help all Tea
Party organizers to coalesce in a single group where they can be most effective. While others, including Michael Leahy, may claim to speak
for the movement, we know the truth. We know the people organizing the Patriots are grassroots folks who did the heavy lifting at a
national level to make April 15 a reality, and we look forward to helping in any way we can."
SmartGirl Politics - According to Stacy Mott, co-founder of SmartGirlPolitics.com, "We support the Tea Party Patriots as the
logical continuation of the grassroots movement started on April 15th. We will be working cooperatively with the Tea Party Patriots as
the heart and soul of the movement. We will be making our resources and expertise available to their members in order to seek out and
train fiscally conservative women to be effective activists and candidates for local, state and federal office."
American Solutions - Adam Waldeck, Online Community Manager for American Solutions, and the point of contact between AS and the Tax
Day Tea Party Coalition states, "We believe that the Tea Party Patriots represent the essence of what the tea party movement is, and
should be. They are the only real successors to the movement which was formerly known as TaxDayTeaParty. We intend to work closely with
them in the future to develop a resource base for the training of activists across the nation."
#TCOT / Top Conservatives on Twitter - The final member of the original coalition, #TCOT (Top Conservatives on Twitter), by agreement
cannot take a position in support of any particular organization. It's founders, Rob Neppell and Michael Leahy have gone their separate
ways on this issue. While Michael Leahy has founded his own organization with himself as the leader, Rob Neppell has joined the
Tea Party Patriots national coordinators team to volunteer his technical expertise to the grassroots effort.
Unfortunately, early this week, the national coordinating team for the Tea Party Patriots were forced to end our relationship with Michael
Leahy. Though we tried our best to resolve the differences between us, they had become so fundamental that we had no choice.
Specifically, Michael had great difficulty in working as an equal member of a grassroots team, and despite repeated requests that he
alter his behavior, he insisted on acting as the self appointed "Leader;" issuing orders, directives and making decisions without
considering the grassroots or consulting with the other members of the team. We are, and intend to continue to be a bottom up, grassroots
movement. There is no room for that type of behavior in this movement.
In short, all members of the original coalition team, with the exception of Michael Leahy, are now supporting the efforts of the Tea
Party Patriots. There is no longer a "coalition," and thanks to your efforts, the Tea Party Patriots are able to stand on their own. The
Patriots have excellent relationships with all the members of the original coalition, and many more organizations intending to move in
the same direction.
The existing national coordinating team for the Tea Party Patriots (Mark Meckler, Amy Kremer, Jenny Beth Martin and Rob Neppell) has a
ground up, grassroots approach and we understand that YOU are the real leadership of this movement. This is fundamental to everything the
Tea Party Patriots stand for, and everything we believe. We who are attempting to serve you at the national coordinating level are not
here to lead the movement. We are here to reflect what you believe and what you want. We are here to try to provide you with resources,
networking and a cohesive national presence. We hope you are pleased with what you see so far.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enough history. We hope that ends the discussion about the past with openness and transparency and allows us to move forward. Here's what
is going on now, and what we have planned into the future, based upon your expressed desires.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Present and Future...
Central Website and Hub for Tea Parties
Tea Party Patriots is the hub website going forward for the Tea Party Movement. The site is located at
www.teapartypatrtiots.org . The
site is a work in process but already has awesome functionality. For instance:
You can enter and edit your own Tea Parties right here:
http://teapartypatriots.org/index.ph...ist&view=edite...
You can join the social network either by using your Facebook id or
creating your own id:
http://teapartypatriots.org/index.ph...ity&view=front....
You can create groups within the site to notify your local Tea Party Patriots of upcoming events.
If you do not have a website for your Tea Party, you can use TeaPartyPatriots.org as your website.
Upcoming Events
Our next National Tea Party date is July 4th – Independence Day. The theme for July Fourth is " Declaring Independence from Tax and Spend
Politicians. " Enter your Tea Parties on the teapartypatriots.org site. Please do it right away. And if you were the organizer of the
last Tea Party, we want to make sure you get in there and enter your next Tea Party immediately to avoid any confusion. We will be here to
help you in the planning and execution of your Tea Party just like we were for the February 27th and April 15th events.
While we encourage all cities to participate in the Independence Day Tea Party, we know Patriots around the country are clamoring for more
and they want it right now! There are several cities planning Memorial Day events and Flag Day. We will help cities planning their
Tea Parties on the National Date and on other dates as well. Again, these Tea Parties can be entered on the teapartypatriots.org site.
Don't delay...register today!
Many, many people want a March on Washington and we are going to team up with Freedom Works with their March on Washington on September
12th. You can go to
http://912dc.org/ for more information about Freedom Works' March. As we have more information about it, we will
be posting it to TeaPartyPatriots.org.
National Leadership Council
You are the people who planned and executed the two previous rounds of Tea Parties. You are the ones who have built this movement from the
ground up. You have demonstrated the leadership ability and commitment to the cause of government fiscal responsibility. You have
established relationships in your local community and will continue to build upon them.
To honor your sacrifices for the movement, we would like to list each of you on our site as not only Local Tea Party Coordinators but also
as members of our National Leadership Council. In the next few days, we plan to call each of you about our efforts so that we can talk to
you and get your input in a smaller group setting than the larger Monday night call.
...
to enter your name, Tea Party City Name, phone number, and best time to call you, it would help us as we schedule these calls.
Other Sites Popping Up
There are several other sites popping up around the web for Tea Party information. Many of them do not list who the people are behind the
sites. Please use caution as you fill out information with these sites. We do not know to whom some of the sites belong and they may
or may not truly be associated with our cause for reducing out of control taxing and spending. You can trust that the Tea Party
Patriots are, and will always remain, true to the cause.
Organizational Structure for National and Local Tea Party Organizations
There have been many questions about how to organize locally and nationally for the Tea Party Movement going forward. We are
diligently researching these questions. We are working to determine whether and how state and local organization can roll into an umbrella
of a National Organization. We are working to determine what is required not only by the IRS but also with the FEC. Please be patient
with us as we gather this information. We have been advised by attorneys that it is better to be slow and cautious with these
decisions than to jump in quickly, create the wrong type of organization, and then be limited by that structure. As soon as we
have solid information we can pass to you, we will do so.
Weekly Conference Calls
Going forward, we will continue to have the Monday night conference calls so we can share ideas and grow the movement. We will add more
calls as needed we get closer to an event.
Connect With Us