Tea Parties Start to Look Like MoveOn deja vu

The tea parties will become a Republican version of MoveOn if they're not mindful of history. That will mean not accomplishing a single one of their stated goals. That may sound strange, so let's go back a few years.

MoveOn was started by a handful of activists concerned about the impeachment of Bill Clinton. Like the tea parties, it was a grassroots effort that relied on activists with little or no political experience. The Internet and current events brought them together against a government run amuck.

MoveOn became a force to be reckoned with. It was an organization initially funded by small contributions. As its members traded e-mails and discussions in the blogosphere, small meetings started to materialize. These small meetings became large meetings.

The Democratic machine eventually took note. It capitalized on themes of ending the war, election reform, impeaching Bush and otherwise holding the Republican majority accountable. Democrats weren't shy about letting these new activists work for the party, but sharing power was another story. Like the tea parties today, people were asking where these new activists were when the problem started. But they moved forward with the single-minded goal of replacing Republicans.

Democratic campaigns came in, offering to move these new activists along in the party. They brought them on board with campaigns and offered them paid positions. Eventually, a long series of personal army requests from the establishment led to a Democratic takeover in 2006 and the presidency of Barack Obama in 2008.

In 2007, the Democrats to gave Bush far more than he asked for. Impeachment was pulled off the table. Plans were cemented for a permanent presence of 50,000 troops in Iraq well after 2011, a plan that Obama hasn't deviated from. In 2010, all hope that MoveOn had for universal health care was the first thing to go. A progressive grassroots movement was effectively co-opted.

A few independent thinkers like Cindy Sheehan saw this coming after the Democratic takeover. The party, however, had other plans. Sheehan was effectively dispatched from the movement as the machine she worked so hard for turned on ending the war. It was all about electing Democrats from the very beginning.

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