The Party that's not a Party

Over the course of American history, many major movements that have influenced change have been united by a leader. There has always been someone to unite the supporters of a movement that can spread of the word of movement and let the masses know what the movement specifically hopes to accomplish.

According to one woman, the newest political movement in America, the Tea Party movement, does not need one.

"I can't really explain how it's working other than, you know, there are different groups focused on different things," said Amy Kremer.

Kremer, who currently serves as Chairman of the Tea Party Express, joined students participating from the George Mason University Video Studio along with Steve Scully, the political editor for the C-SPAN networks, and students from the University Denver to answer questions about the Tea Party.

A lack of leadership is only one of many when discussing the Tea Party. According to some critics, including former Secretary of State Colin Powell, they do not have a concrete plan to execute its platform of fiscal responsiblity, limited government, and free markets.

"[The Tea Party movement] does not become a real force until it starts to talk to the issues. You can't just have slogans. You can't just have catchy phrases," said Powell in an interview on NBC's Meet The Press.

Kremer responded to Powell's criticism by saying that she disagreed with the former Secretary of State, but instead of citing specifically how the Tea Party would like to carry out its agenda, she opted to criticize Powell and the Washington Metro Area.

"A lot of these people who live inside the Beltway are removed from reality. They don't have their pulse on America," said Kremer.

If we were to put our pulse on America, what exactly would we hear from what Kremer calls "average Americans?"

"Overall, the people want to send principled conservatives to Washington," said Kremer.

While the Tea Party wants to elect social conseratives, Kremer emphasized that the movement not does fall under any particular party lines or political party.

"I don't think we are in sync with [most Republicans]. We are not here to send Republicans to Washington. We are here to send conservatives to Washington," said Kremer. "This is not about Obama at all. It started with Bush and continued through the Obama administration," she added.

According to Kremer, the Tea Party does not have any interest in being a political party, but rather, in being a "force" that sends conservatives to Washington and holds elected officials accountable.

As the 2010 midterm elections inch closer to November, students from George Mason University asked Kremer if she believes Tea Party candidates can compete, specifically Delaware's Christine O'Donnell.

"The same people saying O'Donnell can't win are the same people saying Scott Brown couldn't win [in Massachusetts]," said Kremer.

The distance learning class, which is produced by C-SPAN, is a unique opportunity for students to interview guests via online video conference. This course airs on C-SPAN3 on Fridays at 5 p.m. and also streams online.