Days after the 2016 election, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., suggested that there might be “some sort of actual Tea Party of the Left.” Plans were immediately set in motion to formalize his concept.
The Left is smart to take a page out of the Tea Party’s playbook. They have finally realized that what liberals are doing is not working. The confused hodgepodge of issues crowding the Women’s March, the ineffectiveness of the Occupy Wall Street protests, and the hateful rhetoric of anti-Trump protests are getting them nowhere.
They see how the Tea Party movement’s unswerving commitment to one idea (fiscal responsibility) managed to unite Americans across the nation and even across the aisle. They see how grassroots helped Republicans win the House in 2010 followed by the Senate in 2014. They see how activists helped block Merrick Garland’s appointment to the Supreme Court and secure the confirmation of Scott Pruitt for the EPA.
The Left is jealous. They want these kinds of spectacular victories for themselves.
While they are wrong in thinking that Americans share their progressive politics, they are right in thinking that victory can only be won at the grassroots level. Winnie Wong, co-founder of the People for Bernie Sanders, recently said, “We’re going to do our best to elect more progressives to the Senate and to the legislature. Both at the federal and at the local levels. We want America to be full of Berniecrats. And that’s what we’re going to continue to do.”
This is a call to action. The next six months are critical. Even though conservatives won, and won big, now is not the time to take a break and bask in success. Grassroots activists cannot afford to close up shop and go about their lives. The Left isn’t going to give up without a struggle: Town hall protests and social media mobilization are just the beginning of the backlash.
Conservatives grassroots activists have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to do reforms they’ve dreamed about for years. The new political landscape has opened the door to the possibility of passing major pieces of legislation to restore growth and revitalize constitutional government. There are Republican majorities in the House and the Senate, as well as a Republican in the White House. Many of them have expressed support for the principles and policies listed by FreedomWorks on our “Freedom Agenda” of legislative goals for the 115th Congress.
But the battles will not just be at the federal level. The 2016 election saw Republicans strengthen their grasp on state legislatures as well. Republicans now hold control of 32 state legislatures, a record for the party.
It’s time to do more than stage public demonstrations. It’s time for conservative activists to take their message straight to representatives in Congress and representatives in state legislatures and pressure them to keep their campaign promises. On-the-ground and in-person activism will pay dividends.
President Ronald Reagan used to say, “If they can’t see the light, make them feel the heat.” That is our theme in 2017, and it needs to be the theme for people across the country who stand for limited government, lower taxes, and lower regulations.
Adam Brandon (@adam_brandon) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is president and CEO of FreedomWorks.
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