Monday, 06 June 2011 07:07 | Last Updated on Monday, 06 June 2011 08:36 | Written by Matt Nye

On Saturday June 4th Amy Kremer, the Chair of the Tea Party Express, stated on Fox News that the Tea Party would not consider a third party candidate, saying "there is no way we would support a third party candidate". She went on to say that the Tea Party would remain "completely neutral" in the Republican Presidential Primaries. This latter statement stunned me and Tea Party activists across Brevard County. My knee jerk reaction was: if we're going to be "completely neutral" in the Presidential Primaries what the hell is the point of the Tea Party movement?

While Ms. Kremer is certainly free to speak for her organization, she does not speak for the entire movement as was portrayed, and certainly not for the people I have spoken with here in Brevard. It is my firm belief the sole purpose of the Tea Party movement should be to influence Republican primaries across the country by advocating fiscally conservative candidates at all levels with the explicit threat of supporting or running a third party candidate if the Republican establishment doesn't comply. The threat of a third party is the only leverage the Tea Party has to ensure Republicans field fiscally conservative candidates.

This interview shows why the Tea Party movement MUST remain decentralized. I have spoken with many people locally who have donated to Tea Party Express, Tea Party Patriots and Tea Party Nation because they wrongly assume our local group will somehow benefit from their donations. Now we see the money will not only not be used to support local groups, but it will be used to disarm and de-fang the entire movement.

None of the national groups are active here in Brevard. If you are going to donate, please donate to the local group using the buttons above or the link here. Together we CAN make a difference in the Republican Primaries at ALL levels.