The Red and Black

Issue date: 4/17/09 Section: Opinions

Grassroots movements not the answer to reviving GOP

Of the teabag protests, College Republicans Chairman Greg Wilson said, "And all of these are grassroots events, they're not headed by a large organization or political party."

How disingenuous. New York Times columnist Paul Krugman has pointed out the purportedly grassroots movement was actually orchestrated by right-wing organization FreedomWorks (headed by former House majority leader Richard Arney), who contacted right-wing activists in various states, distributed talking points, wrote press releases and used wealth and extensive connections to manufacture an AstroTurf protest.

Whoops.

Why, then, are they pretending to be a grassroots movement? Maybe the dying GOP is trying to stay relevant to those hip, youthful kids with their campaign spirit, and replicate the success of MoveOn.org. Maybe they thought it would be less convincing if their populist movement was in fact an event planned by political bodies and funded by the usual wealthy elite. I guess if you're trying to convince the people who are benefitting from the Obama tax plan (read: everyone making less than $250k a year) that they're worse off, you can't do so from your beach house on Grand Cayman.

Perhaps, if the GOP would like to revitalize itself, it should try to do so honestly. Of course, as Anderson Cooper has said about finding a new Republican voice, "It's hard to talk when you're teabagging."

Phillip Brettschneider
Sophomore, Marietta
Anthropology and English

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