Just over a month ago, the North Metro Tea Party Patriots (NMTPP) found themselves quite homeless, when the restaurant which had graciously served as their gathering place had to sell to new ownership.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way, and Jack Rogers, the NMTPP President soon found his group taken in by the equally patriotic ownership at The Mermaid of Mounds View. As the old saying goes, “when one door closes, another opens;” this “door” happens to be a much bigger, more ample room with space enough for twice as many NMTPP attendees. As it would happen, that’s precisely how many people showed up for a re-launch night filled with speakers of all ages and backgrounds, with a keynote given by a dear friend of the NMTPP—none other than Representative Michele Bachmann herself. While the NMTPP expected 200, over 400 people arrived at The Mermaid that evening to learn, be encouraged, and get excited all over again about this great nation.

Photo Courtesy of NMTPP

Launched by a rousing invocation given by Pastor Brad Brandon, the room then heard from a representative of the newly-formed East Metro Tea Party Patriots—Jake Duesenberg—who shared with the room Conservatism’s answer to Nancy Pelosi’s election strategy war rooms: The Traveling Tea Party Toolkit. This toolkit, which consists of a trailer, microphones, a podium, and other basic presentation material, is meant to be easily portable from town to town, to facilitate the sharing the common-sense message of small government and fiscal responsibility in towns where formal meeting rooms may not be an option.

Jake Duesenberg (Photo Courtesy of NMTPP)

Bucking the notion that the Tea Party sends young people packing, the group was graced by the message of two young men—Dave Benner and Mason Landborg, respectively. Benner debunked the myth that Thomas Jefferson’s reiteration of the separation of church and state was meant to keep the church out of the state. In minutes, he explained several hundred years of English and American history leading up to the real separation; that is, that the state was to stay out of the church. Landborg, a high school student from Blaine, bravely stood in front of several hundred people and shared his frustrations with the one-sidedness he experiences daily from those meant to be educating young minds, not brainwashing them. His favorite president? Ronald Reagan—a leader he says is wrongly remembered by his teachers as someone who cared only for the rich. This young man’s understanding of Reagan’s philosophy is far more inspirational and certainly more truthful. “We’re not supposed to be jealous,” said the young Landborg, “We’re supposed to strive!”

Mason Landborg (Photo Courtesy of NMTPP)

As unpretentious as ever, Representative Bachmann sat with the crowd as she listened to the speakers who came before her, beaming with pride at the group of patriots with which she was surrounded. This is a women who just months ago was running for the highest office in the nation; in reality, the highest office in the world, yet the experience left her untouched. This was no more apparent as she sat among friends at this local gathering. She is a little over five feet of pure enthusiasm and  excitement about this country; all of which she took on stage when she came to speak about the Tea Party, news from Washington (which she jokingly refers to as “that town”) and encouraging words about the future.

(Photo Courtesy of NMTPP)

On Benghazi- Bachmann sits on the intelligence committee, and is privy to information most Americans will live a lifetime without knowing. Sharing what she could, Bachmann pointed out one simple fact: Despite what this administration has tried to tell us about its role in the military operations (or really, a lack thereof) in response to the terrorist attack, only ONE person can order the military across borders. This is a responsibility which cannot be delegate. Our Commander-in-Chief did nothing to help the doomed men in Benghazi.

On Boston- There’s a new change in the mindset of the FBI and the CIA. As Bachmann put it, there’s a sort of “willful blindness” to the reality of Islamic terror. So much so, that the FBI—in response to a letter from Muslim groups—removed all references to Islam and Islamic terror from its training manuals and from the vernacular of its instructors. After weeks of fighting to see a list of the references in question, Bachmann finally obtained them. To her surprise, the list contained nothing more than passages from the Koran, the Hadith, and other sources from which jihadists derive their inspiration . . . nothing more. Our intelligence departments are being coerced into blindfolding themselves against the terror that stares them right in the face—it’s no wonder that the Islamic Society of Boston (whose board members serve as the spiritual leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood) wasn’t investigated; that Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s overseas field trips were given little more than a passing glance; that such great lengths were taken to avoid labeling this attack as Islamic terror. Bachmann referenced Sun Tzu’s The Art of War when she asked, “How are we to know our enemy if we’re not allowed to NAME our enemy?”

On Elections- “Let’s get over it!” Bachmann encouraged when speaking of the “royal funk” we’ve all found ourselves after the reelection of the president who has overseen the worst decline since the Great Depression. As she pointed out, unemployment among Americans ages 18-34 is a whopping 45%; “how can we NOT have the youth vote?” Bachmann implored. We have a message of common sense principles that works, not because it sounds good, but because history shows us that it is successful. We simply must persevere, especially in the face of the back-door OCE (Office of Congressional Ethics) tactics manipulated by the puppet strings of Nancy Pelosi and George Soros, meant to bog down the efforts of champions for liberty like Bachmann. As Bachmann stood on that stage, she assured the crowd that she was there to stay, and there to fight for the fate of the nation.

On Obamacare- The repeal bill that Bachmann authored the night that the Affordable Care Act was passed is finally coming up for a vote. With increasing costs and difficulty sparking a mounting discontent with the law on both sides of the aisle, Bachmann is confident that the House can pass the bill. Ted Cruz, the rising-star first term Senator from Texas, holds the other half of the bill in the Senate. Referencing her favorite childhood book—The Little Engine That Could—Bachmann is optimistic.

Senator Dave Thompson (Photo Courtesy of NMTPP)

Senator Dave Thompson of the State Legislature soon took the stage, where he jokingly made reference to the difficulty of following a political superstar like Bachmann. Nonetheless, his message was equally inspiring. “I don’t see victims,” said Thompson, “I see people who have within them the seeds of greatness.” He highlighted an inherent characteristic in left-wing governing style; that is, that citizens are seen as incapable of making it on their own. We all remember well the now-infamous flippant comment from our President, “you didn’t build that!” Thompson refuted such an idea, pointing out that we all hear about our rights often, yet we hear so little about our responsibilities. It’s up to the people to make something of themselves, and to preserve a society which allows such perseverance. “This is a battle of the soul of the people,” said Thompson, a man who later revealed is considering a run for the state’s highest office. “Do you remember the movie The Music Man?” he asked, making reference to the scene in the 1962 flick where the young boy asks the protagonist whether or not there really was a band, to which the man answered, “There’s always a band, kid.” Thompson’s point? Things are tough right now. To be certain, we’ve seen grave losses at both the federal and state levels, with the ideals that once made this nation great being trampled underfoot. Despite this, however, there’s “always a band.” There’s always the ideal . . . and for that we fight.