A kind word for the Tea Party, for those who are simply fed up

“What is the Tea Party, anyway?� a friend asked the other day. “Are there meetings? I’d like to go.�

Many within it describe the Tea Party as a movement. That means it is lot of different things, and different people, all at once.

A movement may contain radicals, people who do not want to play by the current rules, as well as people who are basically moderates but who have given up on the usual politics for the moment. They believe in the system but want to shake it up.

It’s important to try to sort out the radicals from the folks who are simply fed up. The John Birch Society was around for years, preaching fear, reaction and conspiracy. In 1964 the Birchers rode a larger movement — Barry Goldwater’s libertarian conservatism. Goldwater himself despised the Birchers because he saw them as puritans and haters. He wanted to dial back government. They wanted to abolish public schools.

There were people in the anti-war movement who were for violent revolution. But most people in that movement were ordinary people who wanted the political class to listen. They weren’t radicals, just people seeking fresh air.

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Something like that is happening today. There is the core Tea Party, a second ring, and the larger Tea Party.

At the core are people who believe in conspiracies and all manner of absurd and scurrilous things about our president. These are the old Birchers and racists and haters who have always been around. But they are a small number, maybe 3 percent of America.

There is a second layer of people who are strong libertarians. They want minimal taxes, no standing army, no Social Security.

Then there is the larger Tea Party — the ordinary people who are simply fed up. They want change. They may not be sure about what kind of change, but they want something different, with different people in office, at a lower cost to taxpayers.

Well, they’re entitled. Thomas Jefferson believed that the citizens themselves could govern. And Andrew Jackson tried to prove it.

If you don’t believe working people with everyday, down-to-earth concerns can figure out government, you don’t have much faith in people, or democratic government.

“The House of Representatives will be full of yahoos come January,� says another friend.

It may well.

That’s what it is there for.

And that is the blessing of the larger Tea Party. It reminds us that our politics is not the exclusive property of the political class.

Bill Buckley said he’d rather be governed by the first 100 people in the Boston phone book than 100 Harvard faculty members.

The gamble of our system is that Buckley’s 100 can do the job, if they apply themselves.

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The lack in the Tea Party so far — the tragedy for them and for all of us — is the absence of intellectual seriousness and work ethic.

There are exceptions.

You may not agree with Rand Paul, but he has thought about what he believes and what he would like to accomplish.The deal is: Anyone can run, but if you win you have to do the job.

A prominent Republican said of Tom Foley: “He’s smart and decent and I like him. But I don’t know if he wants to work.�

Ditto Linda McMahon. Why do we see so many lawn signs for McMahon? People just like her. They like her. She is fresh and different. She’s from outside the political class. She is unpretentious and has a sense of humor. She ran a business. If “change� is a legitimate battle cry for the left, it is legitimate for the right.

But change to what?

The deal is: Anyone can run, but if you win you have to do the job.

It is a fair question to ask a candidate: Why do you want to be a governor, a senator or a congressman? What is your better idea?

If you asked Ronald Reagan for his alternatives in 1964 and 1966, he could tell you. He was the ultimate amateur; the ultimate outsider. Many thought him a nut. But he took responsibility. He sought and won a job where the buck ended: governor. He did a good job running a big state for eight years. Then he ran for president.

Anger is not enough.

The whole world is angry.

You want a “revolution�? You want office? You want the government? Fine. But put something on the table. Politics and government are work. Someone in Buckley’s 100 must be willing to work.

Keith C. Burris is editorial page editor of the Journal Inquirer in Manchester.