The movement has centered around the patriots of the Revolutionary Period, and a return to the limited Federal Government demanded by our Constitution, and which was in place during that time period.

However, being an opposition force with no elections in sight is a lot easier from being one in an election year. In 2009, simply criticizing those in power was good enough. This year, the Tea Party faces a much bigger challenge. They are going to have to decide who they will support, and what their platform really is.

If the Tea Party was born overnight in a fury over Government waste, excesses, and a lack of listening to its citizens, then those issues would seem to be the base of its platform. However, for the Tea Party to gain real credibility, it needs to differentiate itself from the Republicans.

The GOP has taken a beating in recent years because it didn’t remain true to conservatives. If the Tea Party allows itself to become indistinguishable from the GOP then it, too, risks a similar fate.

Is the Tea Party going to become an arm of the Christian church as the GOP has? Will they dare to separate the social issues from economic and national security issues?

Here are some recommendations the Tea Party should consider:

1) Adopt most of the Constitution Party’s platform.
2) Lay off the opposition to gay rights.
3) Steadfastly refuse to affiliate with any church or the values thereof. (This is Government not church)
4) Take a page from the Libertarian playbook and inject some intellectualism into the discussion.
5) Turn down the hyper emotionalism.
6) Get some serious speakers for their conventions.
7) Stop wearing silly outfits.