Tea Party can be 'difference makers' in 2010 election: organizer

By James Q. Lynch 

The Gazette

CEDAR RAPIDS – Tea Party activists could be the “difference makers” in the 2010 elections, but only if they channel their anti-government fervor into changing mainstream political parties and electing sympathetic candidates, according to an organizer of a Tax Day rally in Cedar Rapids Thursday.

“I think we could very easily swing an election,” Tea Party organizer Tim Pugh said after a Greene Square Park rally that attracted more than 200 people, many waving flags and homemade placards. “With the numbers I've been seeing nationwide, especially, I think we could become a force to be concerned with if you are running for office.”

Clearly Republican congressional candidates hope Pugh is right. Three of the four candidates for the GOP nomination of challenge U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack spoke to the crowd, telling them it will take all the efforts of all conservatives – Republicans and Tea Party members – to change the direction of the federal government.

However, Pugh doesn't want to become an appendage of the Republican Party.

“We're not all Republicans here,” he said. “We have Republicans, we have Democrats, we have libertarians, we have independents. We need to be a group that is inclusive of everyone, but we want the same goal – less taxes, more freedom, less government intervention in our personal lives.”

That starts at the local level, Democrat-turned-Republican John King told the lunch-hour crowd.

“Republicans and Democrats are scared of us and they should be because we can kick them out of office,” said King, who sought the GOP nomination in a Cedar Rapids legislative race last year. “But the only way we win is if we don't slack off. We have to get involved … redouble our efforts.”

He told those at the rally to join a political party or find a candidate they can support and get involved in their campaign.

That's easier said than done for Chris and Bobbi Enos of Cedar Rapids. They agreed with speakers that government spending is out of control and the federal health-care plan is unconstitutional.

“The government needs a wake-up call,” Bobbi Enos said.

But with four children, Chris Enos doesn't think they have time to get involved in a campaign.

“That's the reality,” he said. “We'll be active, but probably not for a particular candidate.”

That's a start, King said. If people get involved in their local parties and start attending caucuses and conventions they can bring about change.

“There's a good number of us who got involved in the Linn County GOP – not as many as I'd like, but we've had an effect on the platform,” King said. “The tone of is changing, the tone of the entire party.”

Pugh hopes to host more events over the summer and fall to keep Tea Party activists active and involved. Given the turnout, he thinks interest in the Tea Party is still growing.

So does Carol Golden of Marion.

“The left seems to think we're a flash-in-the-pan,” she said after addressing the crowd. “They're underestimating us.”