SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2010
KLMNO
EZ SU
A9 CANVASSING THE TEA PARTY
person, at least in the state of Ohio, who is the president of the tea party; it just doesn’t exist.That’s a disadvantage for us because we can’t move quickly on things. We can’t always agree.”
Fromonemember to thousands Many of the groups that were inter-
viewed claim hundreds of members and some boast thousands, butmost said they have fewer than 50. A number of them appear tobe limitedto family or friends— the Northern Connecticut Patriots, for instance, counts seven members; the SoutheastWyomingTeaPartyPatriotshas one. Jeff Lafferty, 48, a landscaper in Chey-
enne,Wyo., said he formed the Southeast Wyoming Tea Party Patriots in April after growing increasingly concerned about such federal actions as the bank bailouts and the stimulus bill. But Lafferty attract- ed just one person to his onlymeeting, in partbecausea9/12Project teapartygroup in Cheyenne was already active, he said. Moreover, he said he has since grown
disillusioned with themovement and the signs that some members are motivated by racismagainst Obama. Not only is his group no longer functioning, he said, but it “neverwas.” Donna Riner, 52, a medical practice
manager, founded the five-member San Carlos Tea Party, in San Diego, which has met just once. “I just invited friends and family members,” Riner said. “I wanted them to know what the tea party repre- sents. It’s about smaller government and less taxes. I wanted them to go on the national lists and join and givemoney to some of the big groups that support the people I believe in.” The tea party has been accused of
racismafter comments fromsome promi- nentmembers and signs at severalmajor rallies this year that attacked Obama for eitherhis raceor thefalsebelief thatheisa Muslim. At rallies, for instances, organiz- ers have kicked out questionable mem- bers and have sought to project a more tolerant image. But the interviews found that Obama’s
raceis, infact, important inmorethanone in 10 tea party groups. Andy Stevens, 68, a video producer and
a founder of the Tea Party Patriots in Anacortes, Wash., said he described Obama’s race and and religion as “some- what important” tomembers of his group because they remain troubled by what they see as the president’s un-American and un-Christian behaviors. In Stevens’s view, those include
Obama’s “socialist”policiesandintention- al failure to mention “the creator” when talking about inalienable rights. “There are questions that don’t get
answered, like citizenship and his birth certificate,” Stevens said. “I don’t know why questions keep popping up all the time. If something is irrefutable, the ques- tionswouldn’t keep popping up.” The groups clearly do not identifywith
any particularnational leaders, anindica- tionthat there isnoteaparty front-runner to take on Obama in 2012.When asked to name a national leader who best repre- sents their views,more than a third of the
groups said “no one.” Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin
(R) received the most mentions, with 14 percent, followedby talk-showhostGlenn Beck with 7 percent and South Carolina Sen. JimDeMint (R)with 6 percent. Onequestionremains: Ifmost teaparty
groups don’t engage in political cam- paigning,what exactly do they do? Lisante, fromMiamiCounty,Ohio, said
his meetings generally start with the Pledge ofAllegiance, followed by a prayer, and then a speaker and a skit—themost recent was about the bank bailout. (Lisante saiditwas very funny.)Thepoint, he said, is not to organize political action but to educate members and encourage themto become active on their own. “Basically,we say: ‘Listen,guys:Youcan
no longer be the one who doesn’t vote,’ ” Lisante said. “ ‘If you want to have an impact, you’ve got to showup.’ ”
gardnera@washpost.com
Database editor Dan Keating contributed to this report.
Methodology and credits
This canvass of local tea party groups is a first attempt to understand the network of individuals and organizations at the heart of the nascent politicalmovement. A total of647 interviewswere conductedOct.6-13with people listed as contacts for tea party groups. Interviewswere conducted on conventional land-line and cellular phoneswith tea party representatives in49 states. Phone numbers were collected online fromlists of tea party groups, froman online formcreated by The Washington Post and fromother sources.No definitive list of tea party organizations exists. Data collection and tabulation by Interviewing Service of America of VanNuys,Calif.,with management and consulting by Langer Research Associates ofNewYork. Also assistingwith data collectionwereGeorgetown University government studentsNigel Anthony, EmilyGaard, JordanGrushkin, EricMooring, SimonO’Connor,MelanieO’Sullivan, Stephanie Posek andKatherineRelle; and Washington Postweb producer EmilyKotecki and internDylanMatthews. Special acknowledgment toGeorgetownUniversity graduate student JonathanMummolo and professorsClydeWilcox andDanielHopkins.
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