While conducting business in my own software development company, I've been applying for positions in Information Technology all over the state.  Today, my wife alerted me to a non-confuser-oriented moonlighting possibility that immediately appealed to me: become an "Examiner" for Examiner.com.

The San Francisco (?) Examiner has come up with a way to survive on-line where so many newspapers have had trouble.  Examiner.com has branches in cities all over the U.S., five of them in Wisconsin (e.g., The Examiner - Green Bay).  Each branch has dozens of "Examiners"; local correspondents who write about specific areas of interest...the same ones you'd find in a newspaper, just written by regular folks.

Well, I'm a regular folk-type person and the Job Description for the Examiner appealed to me:

Examiner.com is looking for politically and socially conscious people in the community to promote their knowledge on our Top 100 website by becoming an Examiner.
 
Examiners are local insiders with solid insights and writing skills.They have their own page on our website complete with a photo and bio which may also include a link to their personal site.
 
As a result of their articles, Examiners often gain perks such as invitations to attend special events, offers to be quoted in the media, and other doors of opportunity may open up.

So they're counting on paying their correspondents peanuts, but they know their audience!  I love peanuts!

So I went to the job application site and began to fill in the information.  First they asked me what specific political topics I'd like to cover.  I checked off the Tea Party, libertarianism, and the 2010 elections.  Easy so far!

To the question, "What experiences or credentials do you have that qualify you to write as the Green Bay Tea Party Examiner? ", I answered:

I was a volunteer for the Ron Paul Presidential campaign in the Fox Valley area in 2007-2008.  I write a political/personal blog: www.TheTownCrank.com.  I was a Neenah Common Council member in 2006-2007.  I ran Common Council election campaigns twice, in 2007 and 2009.  Currently a member of the Sustainable Neenah Committee.  I am a regular contributor (since Nov. 2003) to the Appleton Post-Crescent Reader Reaction Forum -- I even have FANS!  I have published several newsletters over the years (non-political). I attended both of the April 15th Tea Parties held in Appleton in '09 and '10.

Then they asked, "In your articles, what are some topics you would examine and why?":

• How Tea Party candidates connect with voters.  It's easy to get the big reactions at the Tea Party rallies (and there have been several this year from Oshkosh to Green Bay); but what do people running for office with Tea Party credentials actually say when they're knocking on doors?
• How Tea Party candidates relate to the county and state party organizations.  Another aspect of elections that could bear examination:  are the local parties helping or hindering Tea Party-type candidates?
• How much does the Tea Party resonate in Northeastern Wisconsin?  Some say that the Tea Party is all bluster and no substance; some say that it will boot a whole lot of incumbents from office in November; still others say that it doesn't have anything significant to say, much less have leaders to say it.
• How have Tea Party candidates arisen?  What pushed them into backing the Tea Party movement?  Does it bother them that there doesn't seem to be a conventional party organization?  Do they see any weaknesses versus the standard two-party candidates?

So far, so good.  Then came the fish-or-cut-bait requirement: they wanted me to submit a "sample column" of from 200-400 words.  Ooookaaay.  So I cranked up the writing juices and wrote this as my submission:

Can the Tea Party Actually Win?

Can such a diffuse organization as the Tea Party have a hope of winning elections in November?

There have been insurgent political movements in the past, notably the Reform Party formed by Ross Perot after his first unsuccessful run for President.  But what kind of staying power did it have?  The Reform Party USA disintegrated after Jesse Ventura's gubernatorial victory in Minnesota in 1998.

The hype is huge right now with Tea Party successes posted in recent primaries around the country.  But the big political guns are out and they're aiming to shoot down high-flyers like Christine O'Donnell in Delaware, Sharron Angle in Nevada, Rand Paul in Kentucky, and Joe Miller in Alaska.

In northeastern Wisconsin, Outagamie County Supervisor Jim Steineke of Kaukauna, the main organizer behind the Appleton Tax Day Tea Parties the last two years, won the 5th Assembly District Republican primary with 38% of the vote in a three-way race.  His opponent, Democrat Mert Summers, ran unopposed.  Steineke has the name recognition advantage.  Besides his involvement with the Tea Party and his County Supervisor seat, he's also the Vandenbroek Town Chairman.

Things are complicated by the impression many people have that the Tea Party movement is leaderless.  But, as Jonathan Rauch of the Brookings Institution noted in an excellent article in the National Journal, "How Tea Party Organizes Without Leaders":

[The Tea Party activists] intend to rewrite the rule book for political organizing, turning decades of established practice upside down. If they succeed, or even half succeed, the tea party's most important legacy may be organizational, not political.

Critics wonder where the Tea Partyers were during the Bush administration when the national debt doubled.  The answer?  It formed and gathered strength.  Evidence of that comes from the turnover of Congress in 2006 to the Democrats.  It busted loose when, in quick succession, the AIG bailout, TARP, the GM and Chrysler bailouts, health insurance reform, and the stimulus plans roared like tsunamis over the American economy.

The mood of the Tea Party nationwide can best be summed up by Peter Finch's line in the movie, "Network": "I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!"  Despite the belittling of the Tea Party by mainstream Democrats and the standoffishness of mainstream Republicans, it appears that Congress will change hands due to the influence wielded by this organization that isn't an organization.

Finally, they asked for a biographical blurb of up to 850 characters.  Here's what will appear on Examiner.com if they hire me:

Steve Erbach, founder of TheTownCrank.com, lives in Neenah with his wife and three children.  He is a major techno-geek with decades of computer software development chops.  He's been a Den Leader and Cubmaster for Pack 3038 in Neenah, and Popcorn Technology Kernel for the Bay-Lakes Council of the Boy Scouts of America.  He was a Neenah Common Council member from 2006-2007 and currently serves on the Mayor's Citizens Advisory Committee as well as the Sustainable Neenah Committee.  His political heart is with the libertarians but he agrees with Otto von Bismarck that "politics is the art of the possible".  That's why the Tea Party movement appeals to him.  His columns on the burning issues of the day have appeared in the Appleton Post-Crescent Reader Reaction Forum since November 1993.  Contact Steve at tc@TheTownCrank.com.

Wish me luck!

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