The recent election of Republican Bob Turner to the 9th Congressional District seat in New York represents a pivotal event in American politics in the second decade of the 21st century. We are nearly three years into the presidency of Barack Obama and, it seems, the electorate has grown less and less enamored with the far-left policies of the Democrat agenda in general and the Obama presidency in particular. The significance of this election is evidenced by the fact that Democrats have held this seat in Congress for nearly ninety years.
It brings to mind the Billy Joel song, “New York State of Mind”. But, to an even greater degree, it represents a “TEA PARTY State of Mind”.
The Democrats – from Maxine Waters and Andre Carson to Debbie Schultz and Chuck Schumer – along with union leader James Hoffa have spent months belittling and denigrating the Tea Party movement and those associated with it. Tea Partiers have been branded racist, evil hate-mongers. Waters asked the Tea Party to go to hell. Hoffa called those affiliated with the movement “sons of bitches”. Even Vice President Joe Biden jumped on the bandwagon when he likened the Tea Party to a group of terrorists.
However, the Tea Party is not a “party” in the literal sense. It is, rather, a state of mind – a collection of principles and core beliefs and values that a great many Americans possess irrespective of actual party affiliation.
The Tea Party state of mind is a belief in the individual rather than the government; that the individual knows how best to spend his or her money – not the government. It is a belief in individual freedom and liberty devoid of interference by an over-reaching and meddling governmental bureaucracy; a belief fostered by a citizenry that has grown weary of a government telling it what kind of light bulbs to use. The Tea Party state of mind is a belief that the United States really IS the greatest nation on Earth and, it could be argued, the greatest nation ever in the history of mankind.
The Tea Party state of mind, as evidenced by the New York election, is not about Democrat versus Republican. It is about liberty versus totalitarianism. It is about runaway, rampant deficit spending versus fiscal restraint. It is about the belief in American Exceptionalism versus the US kowtowing to nations that have demonstrated repeated, blatant unfriendliness toward our nation. It is about an economy of prosperity as opposed to one encumbered by an ever-increasing degree of governmental interference and regulation.
The Tea Party state of mind lurks in the psyche of many millions of Americans. Many already know it. Millions of others – like those in the 9th Congressional district in New York – are coming to the realization that they, also, have a Tea Party State of Mind.
James Sharp is a middle-aged, middle-class, middle-management salesman who believes in secure borders and fighting our enemies with a strong military. He also believes in limited government, free markets, and unlimited opportunity and personal liberties for all citizens of the U.S.
