As I see it, the Tea Party represents the resurgence of classical Liberalism, which is based on self restraint, personal responsibility, and civility towards fellow citizens.
At the same time, I think we need to be careful to not just look backwards, as for example to the world of our Founding Fathers, steeped as it was in institutions such as slavery, and the exclusion of non-property owners from participation in the democratic process.
The United States was founded as a place where MORAL progress was possible. We ended slavery. Everyone got the vote. We have acted on many occasions to combat tyranny and oppression.
And we can do better. We need to remember this, and consecrate ourselves to the motto “the best is yet to be”.
My answer to the “how” is Goodness, as I define it, but the beauty of our system is that all of us can come up with our own answers, and compare them. That is the task now, to generate new ideas, new forms, new directions, based on very old principles.