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Local Tea Parties dealt a triple blow

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Three of the highest profile local Tea Party organizers each were dealt setbacks in personal crusades on Wednesday.

Carolyn Guillot of the Thousand Oaks Tea Party, Carla Bonney of the Ventura County Tea Party Patriots, and George Miller of the Ventura County Tea Party spend a significant amount of their free time organizing ordinary citizens to protest out-of-control federal spending.

On the side, each has pursued projects close to their hearts--projects that experienced setbacks today.

After months of fighting for a monster auto-mall sign by the 101 freeway, the Thousand Oaks City Council approved the project over the objections of Guillot's team, who argued it was an eyesore and showed up to numerous meetings to argue against it.

Bonney is also engaged in a long-term fight with the city council, only in Ventura. Last year, the city installed parking meters downtown. Bonney and some local business owners are leading a campaign to collect enough signatures to put an initiative on the ballot to repeal the meters. She had successfully recruited popular radio talk-show hosts John and Ken to appear at a rally with her this week.  But today, she had to notify her supporters that the pair had to cancel.

The big news of the day, however, was President Obama's release of his long-form birth certificate. After Miller wrote on his website that he still had doubts about Obama's eligibility to be president, he caught some bad press. The Star made him the central part of their story on the topic, which also featured Guillot and Bonney. The article was critical of the trio, and the comments that trailed after the article on the Star's website were harsh and unnecessarily personal.

It's only one bad day, however. By nature, the three of them can't be held down, and they've overcome much bigger obstacles than these.

Ventura County Tea Party formally splitting in two

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dont_tread_on_me.jpgIt's difficult to keep up with the shifting Tea Party groups--the players, alliances, aims and factions. That's part of the charm--this is a leaderless grassroots, bottom-up national movement, after all. It's expected that there would be overlapping territories, redundant organizations, and confusion over names.

Nationally, we've seen the National Tea Party Federation expel the Tea Party Express this week, itself a sister of the Tea Party Patriots. Then there's the 9/12 Project, Tea Party Nation and the Campaign for Liberty. The TPE is known for their highly publicized bus tours, Glenn Beck is the spiritual leader of the 9/12 Project, TPN received national attention for hosting the "Tea Party Convention," and Campaign for Liberty is a Ron Paul organization. Confusing, I know.

The largest Tea Party in Ventura is following suit, as it is splitting in two now that some members are leaving to formally create a non-profit organization.

Unofficially, the two groups have been working separately for months and have their own websites.

The face of the original Ventura County Tea Party is Carla Bonney, whose team executed several well-attended marches in Ventura, primarily at the Government Center. They are not incorporated.

The driving force behind the new Ventura County Tea Party is George Miller, who successfully pulled off a five-candidate Congressional debate earlier this year.

Bonney wants to continue to focus on a strong street presence, while Miller, who is helping to start the new non-profit, is emphasizing a more direct impact on politics (which he calls Tea Party 2.0). Miller's group is meeting in August to hammer down the details of their organization.

So what do we call these two groups? 

Bonney's group is associated with the Tea Party Patriots, but it's also known as Ventura County NGTTIA, which stands for Not Going To Take It Anymore (I find it a little unwieldy). I'll refer to them as the Ventura County Tea Party Patriots for now. Miller's group simply goes by the Ventura County Tea Party.

Despite being ideological brethren, the two Tea Parties are not expected to partner up in upcoming projects. Instead, look for them to largely remain independent of each other.



IngeMusings
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This blog attempts to add perspective and context to local and national politics, through a variety of disciplines, such as history, economics, and philosophy--all tempered with common sense. About the author

Eric Ingemunson's commentary has been featured on Hannity, CNN, NBC, Inside Edition, and KFI's The John and Ken Show. Eric was born and raised in Ventura County and currently resides in Moorpark. He earned a master's degree in Public Policy and Administration from California Lutheran University. As a conservative, Eric supports smaller government, less taxation, more individual freedom, the rule of law, and a strict adherence to the Constitution.
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