Judge Andrew Napolitano, Sarah Palin and Rick Perry should form a new Federalist Party

Ron Paul has brought a sea change in American politics. Without Paul there is no Tea Party of substance. It is merely a populist howl without vision or direction and we have heard it all before. But Paul brought substance: states’ rights, constitutional government and sound money. Ideas which hadn’t been broached in either party this past century. These ideas have been amplified by Texas Gov. Rick Perry in his important book, Fed Up! Our Fight to Save America from Washington, and on Judge Andrew Napolitano's pioneering show on constitutional law, "Freedom Watch.” The Judge is, as he calls himself on occasion, the "night watchman" — an angel devoutly guarding our freedom as we sleep. That his show actually ran on prime time every night of the week for the past couple of years is tribute to the changes occurring in America. But for the moment, those times have stalled.

Judge Napolitano's show was canceled on about Presidents Day this year. I wasn't surprised. His Presidents Day show last year would shock the fainthearted. It was something like I had never seen on mainstay media, bravely, nobly going back to our constitutional beginnings and lifting up the rock to see what crawled underneath. The jovial Judge still does commentary for Fox Business, but the great ship has sailed. Perry likewise is not exactly out of a job, but back to square one. His vision put forth in Fed Up is forward-looking, mature and responsible and he occasionally discussed his views on the judge’s show.

We have seen in our recent times the beginning of a new movement. It began when 29 states followed the cue of New Hampshire State Rep. Dan Itse, who claimed that Jefferson's Kentucky Resolutions provided a correct rationale that the states had the right not to participate in ObamaCare. In my opinion, it makes no difference now what the Supreme Court decides on this issue. The important thing is that these states spontaneously and uniformly rose together in opposition to a federal mandate. We have not seen states rise up ever in the modern period like that. It brings America a new beginning.

Pundit Michael Barone early on compared the Tea Party with the ’60s, meaning it was a multifaceted cultural moment. Only this time it was among conservatives. There is a basic anthropology to this and all grassroots movements. The Tea Party needs now to leave behind the immature and unformed (like Glenn Beck, but also Newt Gingrich and Dick Armey, who merely tagged on to it) and rise up to a new stage with advanced and seasoned players like Napolitano and Perry. Bring in Sarah Palin as well; she knows how to pull a crowd. They might start a new party to package and nurture this life force.

As Jefferson was the true federalist it might be called that, the Federalist Party. It might be a better fit for a governor like Idaho’s Butch Otter, Kentucky’s Sen. Rand Paul, Utah’s Sen. Mike Lee, for Joe Miller if he decides to run for governor of Alaska and for Rick Perry if he decides to run again for president in 2016. Twenty-nine states have already stepped forward.

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