Tea Party survival strategy

"If I have my precedents right, the tea-party movement by itself will not take lasting political form. The spontaneity and diversity of such revolts unfits them for the long haul," wrote author and journalist Richard Brookhiser in a recent Wall Street Journal opinion editorial. Brookhiser referenced prior flash-in-the-pan political movements to make a convincing argument that the Tea Partying days will not be long-lived. For the good of America, however, the partying must continue, and I think I know how to keep the party going.

The Tea Partiers likely will sweep dozens of leftist politicians out of the federal government in the 2010 elections, and the movement could end up defeating President Obama in 2012. Their ultimate goal must be to restore America to greatness. To reach that attainable goal the Tea Partiers will need to focus on more than healthcare and the political race du jour to make an impact beyond 2012.

If we examine the healthcare struggle closely we'll discover it's a symptom of a much larger problem: American civic illiteracy. If Americans understood fundamental principles of our democratic republic we wouldn't have gotten to the point of having the obscenely large and intrusive federal government we have today.

Last year, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute's annual survey on American civic literacy revealed that 71 percent of Americans in their sample failed a basic civic literacy test, with an average score of 49 percent. For college graduates the average score was a pathetic 57 percent, while politicians registered 44 percent. Last week, ISI released data demonstrating that increased civic literacy is more effective than a college education in improving one's appreciation for basic American principles.

If we want to change America, we must boost our civic literacy.

The Tea Partiers should attack this problem. Like the healthcare reform battle, the fight to restore America's civic literacy will be ugly but winnable. Unlike the healthcare battle, this challenge could take decades and give the Tea Partiers a long-term cause for revolt.

The civic literacy battle will be a difficult one because education bureaucracies and unions will vigorously oppose the centerpieces of civic literacy renewal: parental education choice and union reform. Matthew Brouillette, president of Pennsylvania's Commonwealth Foundation said, "Education labor unions are full-fledged political machines. That's what they are first and foremost. Teaching excellence and the education of children are secondary and tertiary matters."

In addition, the battle will be winnable because Americans will eventually realize---as they did fighting healthcare---government has overreached in controlling the American education industry. Excessive government control is the cause of our civic literacy sickness, which can be cured if the Tea Partiers write a prescription for a strong dose of education freedom and competition.

Brookhiser suggested that the Tea Party movement would burn out like past political revolt movements. If the Tea Partiers fade into history after our civic literacy problem is solved, they will be remembered as the political movement that saved more than a healthcare system. They will have saved America.