The political awakening of a sizable number of Americans, as illustrated by the growth of the Tea Party movement across the country over the last ten months and the million who marched on Washington last September, has led many people, myself included, to seriously explore the options available to us to do more than just express frustration with the political situation that exists – it has motivated many to start getting involved with the campaigns of candidates who articulate shared values, to engage with local issues and to work to achieve their goals through existing political parties. With that last in mind, I attended a Porter County, Indiana, Center Township Republican meeting Wednesday evening, December 9, 2009. The experience stands in marked contrast to my only other previous exposure to the workings of the Porter County Republican Party, an Executive Committee meeting held in October in Kouts.
I went to the Kouts meeting to find out the GOP’s official position on the RTA referendum, as I had seen no mention of it in the local media, nor could people knowledgeable about local politics give me an answer; so, I went straight to the horse’s mouth. Astonishingly, I was told that they had no position on a proposal requiring an income tax increase, that it was not a political but a ballot issue and that every voter needed to decide the issue for themselves. It left an impression that no one was holding the reins and that the Porter County GOP ought to be on its way to the glue factory, if it wasn’t already.
The meeting of Center Township Republicans was a horse of a different color. There was housekeeping talk of precinct committee peoples’ duties, but there was also mention of having speakers for their organization on issues of national and local significance (apparently not a regular feature of this political organization’s meetings in the past) and of the planned use of internet social networking sites like Facebook to enhance the GOP’s dissemination of information and outreach efforts. The notion that these kinds of changes could spread through the entire Porter County GOP organization was part of the conversation and seemed to be received as being a desirable outcome. The atmosphere was that of a proactive group open to ideas, in search of a change from its past history. I found it informative and interesting.
But all the social networks in the world won’t be worth a thing if the Republican Party has nothing to say that voters want to hear. Will the Republican Party go back to its limited government, fiscal responsibility roots? Will the proactive openness I heard in the meeting materialize in fact, or will that wind of change blowing through the meeting room turn out to be a tempest in a teapot? I don’t know. Time will tell.
What I do know is that many voters with a Tea Party philosophy are looking for political engagement. One way to achieve that is to work through existing political frameworks. If you want to explore that route, you can start by checking out the websites of the Porter County Republicans, Democrats and Libertarians. Who knows? You may find working with one of them to be your cup of tea.
Tags: activism, Center Township, Politics, Porter County, Republicans