Michigan's Mackinaw Center for Public Policy does a good job advocating for the individual over the State. They also recently put together a nice Tea Party Toolbox too! The following is an outline of Tool #1.

Tea Party Activists Have Attitude!

A. Tea Party Activists are Unimpressed by “Nice” Politicians.
Tea Party Activists hold politicians accountable for their deeds. Elections are not popularity contests.  Pictures and press conferences with their families tell us nothing of their politics. In fact, the Tea Parties were born out of frustration with “nice,” “well-meaning,” "caring" politicians.

B. There is No Virtue In "Party" Loyalty.
When it comes right down to it, a political party is nothing more than a bureaucracy seeking power for it's own purposes. Tea Party Activists are skeptical of the promises made by all politicians and political parties.

Also, the Tea Party movement itself is a means to an ends for "we the people."  It is not a means to an ends for any politician. Loyalty is too valuable to sell so cheaply.

C. Tea Party Activists Know Their Lawmaker's Voting Record.
Tea Party Activists are tired of listening to all the rhetoric and being "shocked," by what today amounts to nothing more than "reality-show" politics.   Therefore, a Tea Partier is knowledgeable about their lawmakers voting record!

1. Does he/she vote with their party all of the time?
2. Does he/she consistently vote in favor of limited government, including dissent?
3. Do the bills he/she introduces (or sponsors), increase the size of government, or reduce it?

D. Show Me the Money!
Tea Party Activists keep up to date on the people and organizations bankrolling politicians too! Partiers look for potential political conflicts of interest, as well as if the politicians stated personal values match those of their major contributors.

E. Tea Party Activists Know They Don't Have to “Win” to Change the World.
More often than not, the most important effect of an election is not who “won,” but who was defeated. When certain types of politicians lose, it creates changes in the incentives available to the political class.  Milton Friedman said it like this:

“I do not believe that the solution to our problem is simply to elect the right people. The important thing is to establish a political climate of opinion which will make it politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right thing. Unless it is politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right thing, the right people will not do the right thing either, or if they try, they will shortly be out of office.”

F. Tea Party Activists Focus on What They Have in Common with Each Other.
Tea Party Activists are aware of what's at stake. So, the Tea Party Activist stays most committed to the many things we all have in common. Such as ...

• Grievance: Chronic fiscal irresponsibility, now become acute fiscal extremism.
• Target: A self-serving, self-perpetuating political class that no longer represents the will of the people.
• Goal: Restore genuine representative, limited government by changing the incentives on elected officials.

Get your own Tea Party Toolbox today!

H/T Trying Liberty!

The practical reason for freedom, then, is that freedom seems to be the only condition
under which any kind of substantial moral fiber can be developed.
- Albert Jay Nock, Right Thing, 173.