The Boston Tea Party is now several hundred people involved in party politics in the United States. How are we like, and how are we unlike, other political parties?

We're like other political parties in having a nominating convention, choosing candidates for president and vice president, having a political platform and program, getting our candidates on ballots in states such as Colorado, Tennessee, and Florida, and supporting political campaigns by, among other things, endorsing candidates from other parties who agree with our smaller government platform. We are like other parties by having members, a national committee, bylaws, and party procedures.

We're unlike other parties because we have organised things so that our members run our party. We do not have secret cliques with executive sessions holding private meetings to do dirty deals. All of our deliberations are public. If you want to know what the party is doing, look through this site. If you want to know what the party's national committee is doing, visit the Yahoo group where its deliberations are recorded.

There are three things about the Boston Tea Party that set us apart from other political parties. I think these are essential elements of our party structure, and worth working to keep. First, we have no dues. Second, we have no secrets. Third, our members have all the power.

There is no fee to join the Boston Tea Party. One of the good things about this feature is, we do not have to pay obeisance to the state (which, in case you haven't noticed, is run by two of the other parties). Since we do not raise funds or have dues, there is no chance we'll top the five thousand dollar trigger that would require Federal Election Communism, er, Commission, filings. Another nice aspect to this feature is the lack of corruption at the national level. There is no money to distort who gets to play with whom.

There are no secrets here. If you want secrets, if you like secrecy, find another party. If you want to dish dirt on other members of the party, expect to be found out. Most importantly, if you want to know what we're doing in your name, consult this site and the discussion lists for the national and state committees. We don't have anything to hide.

You have power. If you don't like a decision taken by the national committee, you can form a poll on this site to overturn that action. If a majority of those members who bother to vote in the poll agree with you, the action is overturned. If you need help on putting up a poll, ask Tom or me.

So, what about me? What is my job here? There's no money to hand out, so you don't need to curry favor with me. My main job is to tell you, yes.

Yes, you can form a state affiliate. Yes, you can petition to have your favorite candidate endorsed by our national or state committee, as appropriate. Yes, you can start a social networking site. Yes, you can run for office within the party, or as a party member. Yes, we can find funds to help with ballot access for you, for your candidacy, for causes you care about, from our members and friends. So far this year, it has been very gratifying to tell dozens of people "yes."

It seems to be working. We have eleven state affiliates, now. We have hundreds of members. We have dozens of Facebook groups and discussion lists. We have endorsed or nominated dozens of candidates. We are now a political party in many states, and a significant part of the national political scene.

Please join us. Please invite your friends. Get active, this year, while the political bug is spreading like a contagion.

I believe we have created a political party that can stand the test of time. We can organise for next year, for the Congressional elections in 2010, and for the presidential election in 2012. We can recruit more people, we can find more good candidates to support, and we can do more ballot access work.

Most important, we can get to know each other as decent, hard working, faithful supporters of individual liberty, private property, peace, and prosperity. Thank you for being a part of our team.