What Is the Ensuring Liberty PAC?

If you followed the news out of Nashville, you probably heard that some Tea Party folks are creating a Political Action Committee that will win 15 to 20 key Congressional races in 2010 and, perhaps, in years beyond.  What you didn’t hear at the press conference was that I am so strongly in favor of this move that I have agreed to serve  Ensuring Liberty PAC through its organizing parent, the Ensuring Liberty 501.c(4).   St. Louis Tea Party Coalition will continue unchanged.

[Note:  The website will be http://ensuringliberty.com/.  It is currently under construction.]

Who Comprises the ELPAC

Very simply, ELPAC is led by 5 people from some of the most effective local Tea Party organizations in America:

• Mark Skoda of The Memphis Tea Party
• Steve McQueen of The Quincy Tea Party
• State Sen. John Loudon (MO-Ret.) of St. Louis Tea Party
• Rose Corona, a California farmer
• Brad Ehmen
• Bill Hennessy

While you might not recognize these all of these names, I do.  These are the people who have been in the fox holes with us since day one.  They are bold and resilient fighters for freedom.  They are the men and women we turn to for counsel, support, advice, strength, and help.  I trust each one of them implicitly, and we turn over the keys to America to any one of them.  They embody the spirit of the Tea Party, and they have skills to win elections with grassroots activism.  They embody what happened in NY-23 and Massachusetts. 

Why the PAC’s Work is Crucial

When Dana Loesch and I launched the first St. Louis Tea Party in February, 2009, I had no idea it would create the political stir it did.  I did not know there would be more events.  I did not know we’d slow down the socialist tsunami that was descending on America.  I might have hoped for such an outcome, but I did not expect it. 

When the St. Louis Tea Party coalition announced the April 15, 2009, Tax Day Tea Party, we described it as “Round 2 in a 10-round fight that ends with a massive change in Congress at the 2010 elections.” 

The Ensuring Liberty PAC is one critical piece of the puzzle that will cause a massive change in the makeup of the U.S. Congress in 2010.

How the ELPAC Will Help Change Congress

Traditionally large donors contribute large sums to large PACs operated by the two major parties.  Those organizations (like the National Republican Congressional Committee) hire K Street consultants to help favored candidates win their elections.  When K Streeters and the GOP brass win your election for you, you better do as they say. 

The ELPAC will perform services for candidates similar to those previously performed by NRCC and the like.  We will identify candidates who arose from the Tea Party movement and who espouse our values on fiscal responsibility, limited government, national security, and low taxes.  If a candidate strays from our values during the election, we will exit that race and let everyone know why. 

Candidates whom we help win can and should feel an obligation to remain true to our values throughout their term in Congress. If they do not, we will target their careers for political destruction as surely as we target certain incumbents now.  For the first time in my memory, we will have members of Congress beholden to . . . the people they represent.

Who the ELPAC Will Support

Back in February 2009, I thought, as did many of you, that we might need a new party in America—one comprised of the great many people who were fed up with business as usual.  As time wore on, two factors disabused me of that notion:

1. The urgency of direct action required that most of our energies in 2009 go into stopping the White House and Congressional leadership from flipping the USA into a socialist empire.  Remember, Obama expected to takeover healthcare, impose the Cap and Trade multi-trillion dollar tax scheme, and eliminate the secret ballot for workers before Congress recessed in August.  We put all of our energy and time into stopping those atrocities.  Frankly, I believe that the urgency of our actions in 2009 were a blessing when combined with the second point.
2. A third party would have created a permanent ruling majority of statist and progressives.  As I studied the matter and spoke to people way smarter than I am, I realized that the 3rd party move could only help those who want socialism.  I blogged about this extensively, here here and here (just to name a few). Just creating a 3rd party would consume most of the center-right’s energy, time, and money for at least 2 years. And after that, at best, the 3rd party would pick up a few seats in Congress while splitting the center-right vote in hundreds of others giving Democrats a massive majority in both houses.  Sorry, people, but that’s not standing on principle: it’s standing on our brain.

ELPAC will mostly support conservative candidates running as Republicans who have a reasonable chance to win with our help.  For candidates like Doug Hoffman, we will provide the 3rd element he lacked: a serious, well-coordinated ground game.  In these races, I believe we will be THE difference.  In this election, I believe we will be part of the margin of victory for freedom.

How ELPAC Measures Success

I’ve heard that we must not support candidates affiliated with a party.  That’s great.  But it’s a recipe for disaster.  Do you know why Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts felt so good?  Because politics is a game measured by wins and loses, just like any other game.  Yes, people, we keep score in this world.  And political success means WINNING ELECTIONS.  I will measure ELPAC’s success when some conservative—most likely a Republican—accepts the gavel from Nancy Pelosi’s trembling hand in January 2011. If that does not happen, I fear that the forces of socialism and tyranny will use their power to silence all dissent in America.  That’s not fear-mongering; that’s history. 

How You Can Help

ELPAC is the natural and necessary next step in the Tea Party’s progression.  The Boston Tea Party led to stronger colonial legislatures that led to a strong Continental Congress that drafted the Declaration of Independence. The rag-tag Minutemen led to state militias that led to well-trained professional Army under George Washington, and that Army defeated the British. 

The “Nationwide Chicago Tea Party Protest” of February 27, 2009, led to a multitude of Tea Party coalitions that let to formal Tea Party groups.  Some of those groups have formed PACs, non-profits, and even LLCs.  ELPAC is one of these.  ELPAC is a professional army seeking to wage political war against a corrupt and corrupting leftist government.  By God’s grace, we will prevail. 

You can help by doing exactly what you’ve been doing since February ‘09: attend the rallies, call the radio stations, write the newspapers, march in the parades, make your signs, tell your neighbors, knock on doors, send out emails, fill the town halls, register conservative voters, canvass for the right politicians, sing the praises of liberty and low taxes, pursue happiness and good government, fight for your right to live free . . . or die. 

In addition, in 2009, we asked for very little in the way of donations.  We told you that the time would come for you to invest your dollars in political campaigns.  That time is just around the corner.  ELPAC will use your donations to win critical races, replacing the current Congress with one responsive to the Tea Party’s agenda.  It’s as simple as that.

Finally, you can pray.  ELPAC is not the only Tea Party PAC trying to win Congress back from the statists and progressives.  Together with you, we will win.  But we need your prayers, your strength, your devotion.  Six folks, however dedicated, cannot with this war without undying help from millions of others.  You have never let down your country or this cause.  Please pray that ELPAC and its cousins fulfill their missions to save America from the hellfire of socialism and tyranny.