The Tea Party desperately needs some elemental public relations lessons, and one of its main problems in this area derives from its basic composition. As a decentralized movement, with no real head or leadership, the Party is dependent on the media depiction of its actions without any ability to influence them.
They have no spin doctor unless you count Fox News and Rush Limbaugh, two messengers widely viewed as prejudiced in their portrayals. If the Tea Party consists of average Americans, it needs some way to show that without images of the crazies holding up racist protest signs.
Electoral victories in the primaries this Tuesday would go a long way towards cementing their gains and improving their image. There’s no PR better than success.
However, this continues to ignore the fundamental problem: the need for leadership or a national spokesperson to rebut negative stories and highlight the good ones.
If Ron Paul can serve as a titular head for libertarians, the Tea Party must be able to organize enough to choose a similar representative. And Sarah Palin won’t do. She’s just too controversial and too self-interested.
Frankly, I’m just as glad to see the Tea Party go on like it is. They provide a perfect foil for President Obama and continue to be viewed as far outside the mainstream. However, from a PR perspective, they have a long way to go.
