Our job got much more difficult last night. That is how Jenny Beth Martin opens this segment, the morning after Democrats won big in the 2026 midterms, and then she tells a story she lived. In November 2008, President Obama had won the White House, the House, and the Senate: a tough night, a tough day, and a tough few weeks for Republicans. Instead of staying frustrated, a few small groups asked what they could learn and how they could set the groundwork to be better: Top Conservatives on Twitter, a hashtag and a registry so conservatives could find each other online, Smart Girl Politics for conservative women, and the DontGo movement from the summer of 2008.
Then, in February 2009, Rick Santelli's rant on the stimulus bill called for a tea party like the founding fathers had. The leaders of those three groups got on one conference call; Jenny Beth Martin was on it. The following week there were 48 tea parties with 35,000 people. Six weeks later there were more than 850 across the country.
Her point: they did not stop. They took a breather, figured out what to learn and how to improve, and were ready when the time came to act. That is what Tea Party Patriots Action will do over the next couple of months, deciding what to keep, what to improve, and what to drop. She asks you to do the same. Don't give up. Don't lose hope. America is bigger than any single election and any one politician, and its strength comes from the founding principles and from our fellow Americans.
Jenny Beth Martin is co-founder of the Tea Party movement and Chairman of Tea Party Patriots Action.
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Join Tea Party Patriots Action: teapartypatriots.org
00:00 — Our job got harder last night; the Tea Party movement began after the 2008 loss
00:32 — Instead of staying frustrated: what can we learn, how can we improve
00:47 — Top Conservatives on Twitter and the hashtag that let conservatives find each other
01:15 — Smart Girl Politics brings conservative women together online
01:29 — February 2009: Rick Santelli's rant and the stimulus bill
01:56 — One conference call, then 48 tea parties with 35,000 people, then more than 850 in six weeks
02:26 — "We didn't stop": a breather, the lessons, then ready when the time came
03:08 — The next two months at Tea Party Patriots Action: what to keep, improve, and drop
03:27 — Don't give up. Don't lose hope. America is bigger than any single election
04:06 — Bigger than any one politician: founding principles and fellow Americans
04:28 — Join Tea Party Patriots Action at teapartypatriots.org
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