A Tide in Numbers Show Unexpected and Deep Support

“There is a tide in the affairs of men.”

William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar Act 4

It seems that more and more people feel compelled to take part in the growing conservative movement currently sweeping across this country. As a left-wing agenda is aggressively being pushed in Washington and out-of-touch politicians shamelessly bow to special interests – resulting in an obscene national debt, rising unemployment, and a nationalized healthcare system – families back home feel deliberately kept out of the process, their concerns removed from debate.

Last night I attended a meeting of the North Houston Tea Party Patriots; a topic that repeatedly came up in conversation was the problem – albeit a healthy one – of consistently higher-than-expected amounts of people showing up at their assemblies and rallies.  What began as a loose group of concerned citizens gathering in their homes grew to a substantial organization that required renting a large warehouse for weekly meetings and a team of volunteers to staff office needs.

In April of 2009, a group of motivated citizens coalesced together to plan their first Tea Party in the North Houston area – a Tax-Day Tea Party on April 15, 2009. They reserved a local park in The Woodlands and anticipated a few hundred people would attend to voice their frustration over the recent budget-busting stimulus plan. As the event began that afternoon, so too did the crowd begin to arrive, with an unending stream of cars, backing up area roads for miles. Thousands flooded into the park wanting to be a part of this event, which for many, was their first ever-political action! Word of the event had spread like a Texas grass fire throughout the north Houston region, and over five thousand citizens and their children stepped forward to express their concerns (not too shabby for a Wednesday evening event during the middle of the school year!)

Supporters grew over the year, and by April 15 of 2010, their next Tax Day rally was more than twice as big, [mappress]with 15,000 patriots flooding into the Sam Houston Race Park. With a larger venue that was more conveniently located, they were able to attract more Houstonians and Harris County residents, all eager to voice their growing concerns over our nation’s perilous direction. Their radical demand? A return to conservative, common-sense policies in Washington – respect for our Constitution and fiscal restraint. And while this tremendous event took place in my hometown of Houston, across the United States countless similar rallies took hold of this idea and articulated a nationwide phenomenon.

It’s a convenient argument to dismiss a lone-voice as insignificant, an anomaly in political discourse that must be ignored by elites resting comfortably high above in ivory towers; an agenda-driven media mocks those who question Ivy-League credentialed authority as the unwashed masses; working families are told to “eat cake” and feel fortunate that we have such gifted leaders to make all-important decisions on our behalf. When small groups – motivated to act on behalf of eroding liberties – evolve to countless numbers occupying stadiums across the country, it’s a stark observation that in this day and time “the tide in the affairs of men” is causing unexpected amounts of a once-dormant public to become increasingly active in the political process and vigorously working to bring a new conservative direction for our nation. Politicians and elite media assuredly will spin, but at the end of the day numbers don’t lie.