There are obvious differences. The Tea Party was ideologically unified and further to the right than the women’s march was to the left. And of course, we know the Tea Party succeeded; it’s too early yet to know what will happen with the women’s march. But with anti-Trump sentiment already aboil, there’s every indication that the march will become the movement’s touchstone. Unfortunately, the Republicans have begun to make the same mistakes that Barack Obama and Democrats made with the Tea Party in 2009 and 2010.

Democrats responded to Tea Party supporters by mocking them, dismissing them and even belittling them. The left said that the Tea Party demonstrators were bitter, uninformed, even ignorant. No effort was made to work with them, and when their ranks began to swell, Democrats called them crazy extremists. This type of talk only fanned the flames of dissent, and the Tea Party thrived. It grew in size and strength, becoming a major grass-roots movement. The results were three catastrophic congressional elections for the Democrats, in 2010, 2014 and 2016.

Now, with the rise of this new movement, Republicans are taking the same path as Democrats did with the Tea Party in 2009. We are calling the people who participated in the Women’s March outside of the mainstream, and laughing at their actions. The march seems to represent exactly the sort of target the right like to deride — feminists, millennials, “social justice warriors.” Congress and the White House were largely silent, while their proxies in the news media took potshots — saying, for example, that American women should “grow up,” and that women in other countries have it much worse. While such comments might be low hanging fruit for retweets, they are no way to engage with legitimate, widely shared views, even if you disagree with them.

But it’s not too late. Elected Republicans must start meeting with the Women’s March leaders and engage in a meaningful dialogue.

Somewhat surprisingly, many in the anti-abortion community have already aligned with this movement. They sought to march with them on Saturday. Sadly, some members of the far left in the march vocally opposed their participation, a tension that we Republicans could exploit.