Monday, November 5, 2012

Tea Party in the Streets

The Determinators, a new documentary produced by the Tea Party Patriots, is hitting voters’ mailboxes in a sign of the vigorous and sophisticated grassroots organizing presence of outside conservative groups.
The Tea Party affiliate sent out 360,000 copies of The Determinators to “undecided households in key states,” according to the Patriots’ website, along with a copy of the Constitution.
“We wanted to make sure that people in the country understand why we are concerned about the healthcare law and the choices that our country has this election as far as the future of our country goes,” Jenny Beth Martin, Tea Party Patriots cofounder, told the Free Beacon.
The Patriots followed up on the documentary by calling those households, Martin said.
The documentary is part of a larger effort by the Tea Party Patriots and many other conservative groups to increase voter turnout.
Martin explained that the Patriots have more than 3,500 local groups. The central Patriots organization serves as the support organization for these local groups.
Jackie Bodnar, press secretary for FreedomWorks, said that the “bottom up-structure” of the conservative grassroots movement distinguishes it from liberal organizing efforts.
“We have volunteers,” she said. The left has more of a “top-down” structure, she added, that often relies on paying union members to attend events and do the groundwork for campaigns.
This “fundamentally different” structure changes the dynamic of volunteer interactions with voters.
“The difference is really the sincerity and authenticity,” she said.
This kind of grassroots organizing is “new to the right,” said Levi Russell, director of public affairs for Americans for Prosperity (AFP).

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