I just walked into my home for the first time in three weeks. Today marks the first day of my break from the American Liberty Tour. A break that will last through Friday, the day I rejoin the crew in New Orleans.

Ken Marrero and I have been on the road since September 2nd. We began in Phoenix, crossing up through Las Vegas and Reno, before joining up with the tour crew in Oakland.

The past three weeks have been, without question, extremely valuable for both the American Liberty Alliance as well as those who we’ve had the opportunity to meet with. And so far, we’ve been able to speak directly to about 6,000 American Patriots on this tour.

My flight from Nashville to Chicago provided some much needed time for reflection and thought about the tour thus far. There are a couple of thoughts that stand out beyond the rest and I thought I might share them with you.

True Grassroots vs The Old Guard
There is something happening out there that few understand or consider. Especially those who work within beltway organizations and groups.

I find it interesting to note that the old guard of the liberty movement, even those who have only come about over the past few years, have completely overlooked the power of a few. I’ve been shocked in recent weeks to discover that folks who I’ve admired in the movement for years simply don’t get it.

In the past month, I’ve watched good folks who have worked in this realm for longer than I’ve been able to legally drive… completely misread parts of the movement. They think they understand what will happen next. They think they can declare the outcome of an event before it happens, and they think they have a clear vision of what the movement is all about.

But in reality, they really don’t have a clue.

I’m not going to name names. That isn’t important at this point. And I would also note that these same people and organizations do indeed still provide extremely valuable resources and assistance to the liberty movement.

But my point is that the old guard truly doesn’t understand what is happening. And because of this, in my opinion, there is some miscalculation in strategy on their part.

On the other hand, I think it’s entirely possible that many in the old guard have a vision that excludes the real grassroots side of the liberty movement.

They take funding and use it where donors dictate. And sure, this funding has success, but that should always be the case for funded political efforts. I mean, anytime you throw a ton of money at something… there should be at least some measurable level of return on investment.

The real grassroots efforts, however, raise their own money and dictate their own actions. This is certainly the case for the Tennessee Tea Party. Stacie Burke and crew had to raise thousands of dollars to put on last Friday’s Liberty Rally in downtown Nashville. They raised it through small, individual contributions and put on a rock solid event.

The same can be said for Jared Law out in Salt Lake City. I have no clue what his group had to raise to help put on the 9/12 liberty rally in Salt Lake City, but it had to have been in the thousands. Where were the big organizations? Where were the guys/gals throwing tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands into the mix?

Simple. There were none. But how did Jared Law and Stacie Burke organize costly rallies that enabled thousands of American Patriots to meet, network, rally and build a stronger movement in Salt Lake City and Nashville?

Because they’ve been able to build a small, dedicated coalition of ten or twenty folks who will give enough effort to equal that of a hundred or more.

The Power of a Few
It’s amazing what so few people can do.

In fact, if you remember, we managed to run TaxDayTeaParty.com, a website that had more than 1.7 MILLION visits in six weeks, dealt with more than 400 emails per day, and helped organize more than 835 tea parties in a day, with no more than 15 volunteers.

I think we as a movement sometimes get far too caught up in numbers. In terms of movement leadership, we need to pay more attention to the smaller, less attention grabbing but more effective pockets of activists who will do virtually anything needed for this movement.

The movement is often attacked for lack of leadership. We’re constantly hearing that our effort has little direction and few who take the lead.

There are plenty who pay attention to mass gatherings. There are plenty who want to be seen as the “players” when cameras are present.

But only a few dare work behind the scenes to organize movement leaders and community developers. It’s a thankless job. It requires countless hours and effort that will likely go unnoticed.

Donors don’t want to help with this side of the movement. The media won’t cover it. The old guard doesn’t understand it and the parties simply disregard it.

Be that as it may, it’s something that we as a movement badly need. It’s something the American Liberty Alliance wishes to take on. It’s something the American Liberty Tour has began to implement.

We at the American Liberty Alliance understand the power of a few. And this power begins with you.

If you haven’t yet joined the American Liberty Alliance… please do so now.

For Liberty,

-Eric Odom

Eric Odom

Eric Odom is Executive Director and Co-Founder of the American Liberty Alliance. Eric is a libertarian minded, free-market activist. His profession is web strategy and online community development.

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