Why I’m a Smart Girl and You Should Be, Too

Maybe you went to a tea party on tax day earlier this week. Maybe–like me–it’s not really your thing to protest, but you are still worried about the country’s growing and unsustainable debt. You’re wondering what you can do to get involved.

Sure, the growing number of people getting online to receive and share information is remarkable. Every day, more and more of those people are using the Internet for political activism, too. But reading and writing blog posts only goes so far. At some point, you have to get off the computer and head to the streets.

Enter: Smart Girl Politics.

Smart Girl Politics formed just after the election when a couple of average moms who had never been involved in politics before got nervous. They were nervous about their country and they were nervous about their children’s futures. Some of them didn’t have conservative neighbors to turn to, so they hit the web to find like-minded ladies.

I’ll admit that I hesitated at first to join the group because I didn’t understand a clear mission of the group. As one who’s grown increasingly intolerant of the popular feminist movement, I wanted to be sure I could identify with this organization before I signed up. I’m all for strong women and I think more women should care about politics and be involved, but I didn’t want to sign on for man-bashing or anything that purported women to be superior to men. That’s just not my style. But I digress…

I quickly realized that the reason why the group didn’t have a clear mission: it was the most genuinely grassroots effort I had ever witnessed. It was entirely organic. So no, there wasn’t a neat and tidy communications team crafting a polished mission statement on day one. There was real women trying to connect with other real women. That was the only impetus. The mission as presented to me was that the organization would like to involve more women in the political process at all levels. I, of course, supported that idea and decided to sign up. I thought that if I got in at the ground level, maybe I could help develop that mission. Or maybe I could volunteer in some way. A few months later, it feels as though I merely blinked and became a member of the Board of Directors for SGP, an organization with which I’m so proud to associate.

As we all learned in the movie Field of Dreams, “If you build it, they will come.” And did they ever. Other women recognized the excitement within the idea of building up a national network of conservative women. SGP has become one of the fastest growing conservative organizations. Women (and men, too!) are quickly coming to Smart Girl Politics to connect with others who share their concerns, yes, but the real beauty is that so many of them want to take action. They’re not content to sit at home and complain behind a computer screen.

That’s why so many members of SGP got involved with the tea party movement. In fact, many members of SGP organized tea parties, including some of the biggest in the nation, like Washington, D.C., Atlanta and, my hometown, St. Louis. Because the organization has grown so rapidly over the last month or so–thanks to the support of Sean Hannity, Michelle Malkin, Newt Gingrich, and the incredible power of word of mouth–there’s no way to know how many members of SGP attended tea parties in their area. The exact number isn’t what matters anyway; what matters is that the energy that the organization has created online translates into offline action. SGP has put itself on the map and has invited American all over the country to join those of us who are actively concerned about the future of our great nation.

The tea parties may be over (for now), but the momentum of concerned conservatives has only just begun. One thing that’s become clear is that the members of SGP want to think and act, unlike our friends on the Left who are content to feel. Because of this, SGP is inviting conservatives across the country to attend a meet-and-greet event tomorrow to connect with the neighbors they might not know who share their hopes and concerns. Connecting with each other in real life–not just online–is essential for the conservative movement to make inroads when election season rolls around. It’s an off year for elections, but the opportunities we have in Virginia and New Jersey in particular are still great and still merit our blood, sweat and tears. I’ll be at the meet and greet event here in Northern Virginia tomorrow and, if you live in the area, I hope you’ll join me. It’s at the Continental bar in Rosslyn at 6:00 p.m. and I expect a great crowd. Come meet other Smart Girls (and Guys) and let’s keep this momentum going.

Earlier this week, I had the priviledge to represent Smart Girl Politics on ABCNews.com. I’m also involved with planning a women’s leadership conference that SGP will host this September near Nashville and I’m excited to see what else develops for the organization. I think SGP is still trying to decide what it wants to be when it grows up. I know that I won’t always agree with everything the organization does, but this doesn’t bother me at all. In fact, I think this is what makes Smart Girl Politics so strong: the group is uniquely organic and grassroots-focused and thus has positioned itself to move mountains–one woman at a time.

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Related posts:

1. At the Smart Girl Summit: Social Media and the Smart Girl
2. Talking Smart Girl Politics and Tea Parties with ABC News
3. Heading to CPAC

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This entry was posted on Friday, April 17th, 2009 at 4:44 pm and is filed under Politics and Capitol Hill. The entry is tagged under happy hour, offline activism, online activism, smart girl politics, tea party. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.