Rove thinks tea parties should remain independent

In an oped in the WSJ today, Karl Rove had some enlightening advice for the tea party movement:

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.

My advice to them is to keep their distance from any single party and instead influence both parties on debt, spending and an over-reaching federal government. Allowing third-party movements to co-opt the tea partiers' good name, which is happening in Nevada, will only serve to elect opponents of the tea party philosophy of low-taxes and fiscal restraint. It could also discredit the tea party movement.

I largely agree with Mr. Rove, however if the tea party wants to continue influencing elections it must do so within the parameters of one of the major parties. Right now there are not enough tea party members to elect a candidate to office, and until that day arrives we have got to get our feet in the door. That has got to be accomplished through one of the parties, which would be the Republican party. It is hoped that the RNC will recognize that the tea party movement will help sweep republicans into congress, and that they should supply candidates with whom tea party members can vote for in good faith and conscience.