Where the Tea Parties Should Go From Here - The power of the movement is its independence from Democrats and the GOP.

by Karl Rove at The WSJ

[I completely agree that the Tea Parties need to fight to maintain their independence. I wish, at times, that “Party” wasn’t even part of our name. Let the Tea Parties be considered America’s conscience, the keeper of it’s principles – JS]

There has been a lot of talk about combining the tea party movement with the Republican Party. And on a small scale, that seemed to happen last week in South Carolina after state GOP representatives agreed to create a "Tea Party Republicans" group to coordinate activities with tea partiers in Greenville and Spartanburg.

This week, however, those arrangements fell apart as some tea party groups dissented from the decision. Other attempts to draw tea party groups into formal alliances are running into similar difficulties. That is a good thing. The tea party movement will be more effective than it otherwise would be if it refuses to allow itself to become an appendage of either major political party.

The tea partiers have made an important splash because they are not yet another auxiliary to the Democratic or Republican parties. Like the pro-life and Second Amendment movements before it, the tea party movement will have a bigger impact if it holds the feet of politicians in both parties to its fire. Each party must know it can win or lose swing tea party voters…

We've seen the rugged populism akin to the tea party movement emerge in our nation's history before, often as a force for good and sometimes for ill. This episode is likely to make a positive impact if its members keep their political choices private while making their policy demands public.

The Republican Party and the tea party movement have many common interests right now. But they are, and should remain, distinct from one another. This is one instance when, if they merged, the sum would be less than the parts. Read more…