Tea Parties a success: What's next?

By all accounts (at least outside the CNN newsroom) the tea parties yesterday were a success. Thousands of Americans peacefully showed their disgust with this administration's fiscal policies all around the country. The turnouts were very good, and even better was the behavior, especially in contrast to that of ANSWER and Code Pink rallies we've seen over the past 8 years. What's more encouraging are the obvious signs of fear on the left: CNN and MSNBC were in full attack mode and Nancy Pelosi was quoted spinning these demonstrations as "astroturf" not "grass roots." When the Democratic spin meisters are operating at this level, something's afoot. What it is is the left's worst nightmare: a mobilized, outraged conservative base. That's exactly what has been missing the past few years.

The question remains: What happens next? If conservatives are indeed able to maintain this level of involvement and mobilization heading into the midterm elections, that could spell trouble for the current Democratic majority. Without a majority to rubber-stamp his legislation, Obama could be looking at some serious problems during the second half of his term. Already we've seen his "bipartisan" campaign rhetoric was merely so much smoke being blown up the collective backside of America. Obama's actual ruling philosophy is more in line with his "I won" statement.

Bottom line: Obama has done a pitifully poor job of uniting Americans behind him during his first 100 days. Rather than providing "hope" as promised, he has moved a significant portion of the population to outrage. Polls are showing that some of these folks probably even voted for Obama. All the more reason for outrage, in my estimation. Just about every politician in my experience disappoints to some extent. Campaign rhetoric gets so ramped up, no one can sustain what he/she promises on the trail. Obama, however, may just be treading new ground in this department. At best, he has clearly shown himself to be a hollow shell of "the one" who promoted so much change before the election. At worst, he's shown himself to be duplicitous, running on one agenda, and now governing from a far different place. To those of us who were paying attention during the campaign, this comes as no surprise.

The tea parties may just be a beginning. By 2012, we could see a feeding frenzy as more and more disenchanted voters voice their displeasure.