TEA Party Groups Finding Their Voice...

TEA Party Groups Finding Their Voice...

SARASOTA, FL. (NS/SN) -

The "old money" island community of Boca Grande has traditionally been safe conservative territory, where residents warmly have greeted vacationing Bush family members.

So National Republican leaders may have been hoping for a quiet trip when they chose the resort town near Englewood for a retreat this weekend. Instead they found protesters lining the streets, and in an unusual twist, the people waving and chanting slogans were proud conservatives.

Welcome to the TEA Party, a movement demanding attention with raucous town hall meetings, a march on Washington, D.C., and a national convention. The Englewood TEA Party chapter is drawing more people to its monthly meetings than the local Republican Club.

At the center is Randy McLendon, onetime Baptist preacher turned real estate agent, with gray hair and a drawl from his native Georgia that invites Mike Huckabee comparisons. Congenial and comfortable before a crowd, McLendon helped organize the Boca Grande protest and hopes to turn the Englewood TEA Party group into a political force. "There needs to be a total overhaul of our political system," he says.

Initially dismissed as a fringe conservative backlash against President Barack Obama, TEA Party groups are going strong a year after Obama's election.

Until nine months ago McLendon had never attended a political event other than the occasional anti-abortion rally. Now, county commission candidates are appearing at his meetings seeking votes. He recently discussed the TEA Party's goals with U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key.

Still, he is something of a reluctant prophet.

As an anti-establishment movement, the TEA Party is suspicious of self-proclaimed political leaders. McLendon casts himself as more of an organizer. He works two jobs and has two children. He does not want to attend a bunch of late night meetings.

But after spending the last year screaming at the television over Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus program and attempted overhaul of the nation's healthcare system, McLendon began looking for like-minded people.

"Being conservative is just not enough anymore," McLendon told a crowd of 200 at the group's meeting this month. "We've got to figure out ways to actually make a difference." McLendon does not believe the federal government should do much beyond national defense and foreign relations. Making a difference means stopping "Obama's radical expansion of government," he says, calling the president's actions "unAmerican." "He does not love this country the way it was established," he said.

But McLendon criticizes Republicans as well. Part of the goal in protesting the Boca Grande Republican gathering was warning Republican leaders not to count on TEA Party support in the upcoming elections.

The TEA Party protesters waved signs in downtown Boca Grande that read "Keep your hands off our tea bags" and said Republican leaders could be targeted for ouster in the 2010 election. "The Republican Party needs to be cleansed. The Democratic Party needs to be cleansed. It all needs to be cleaned up," McLendon said.

McLendon draws much of his information from conservative commentators such as Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh.

Last March, McLendon spoke to about 600 people at a TEA Party event in Venice. He decided to form an Englewood chapter and hosted 23 strangers in his living room with cookies and Coca Cola in September as they watched the National TEA Party 1 million strong march on Washington. Nearly 90 people showed up at the group's second meeting in November, including Bob Bacon.

If McLendon is the voice of Englewood's TEA Party group, Bacon is the muscle.

Bacon, 64, is 6-foot-2 and lean, with an upright, military posture. A "Don't Tread On Me" hat covers his bald head. He is partial to calling people patriots. The Vietnam veteran and father of six arrives early to the group's meeting to set up and is the last to leave, with his wife, Ruth. The Bacons built a good life as owners of a furniture store that expanded to 14 locations, but sold the business so Bob could pursue his passion as a Charlotte County sheriff's deputy. Bacon's list of grievances against the government includes a luxury tax that hurt his furniture company and a judicial system that puts criminals "back on the street as fast as we can arrest them."

With a core group of volunteers, McLendon and Bacon believe they are organized enough to influence local and even national politics. They plan to interview and endorse candidates. They are raising campaign contribution money and distributing Marco Rubio bumper stickers, signaling a potential impact in Florida's Republican U.S. Senate primary between Rubio and Gov. Charlie Crist.

Ray Corcoran, president of the West Charlotte County Republican Club, believes the TEA Party movement is purge of moderate Republican tendencies. Not everyone thinks the movement will go far. Englewood resident Butch Carlin attended the recent meeting and left wondering how the TEA Party was much different than other conservative political groups. "I think they're kind of toothless myself," said Carlin, who initially told a reporter he came to the meeting to recruit people for a militia and later called himself a pacifist who would not hurt a bug. "They don't seem dedicated to really radical change."

McLendon said he never met Carlin and that his views do not represent the organization. The TEA Party is here to stay, he said. "We are the people who make this country work," he said. "We are the silent majority but we're not going to be silent anymore."

Robin Stublen who heads the Punta Gorda, FL TEA Party Group has held TEA Parties with more than 2,000 people in attendance. They are also participating in the protest against the RNC this weekend and will host another TEA Party Feb. 27th in Punta Gorda where their membership of over 1,000 people is expected to turn out in force.

The Punta Gorda TEA Party Group will also be hosting another big TEA Party on 'Tax Day 2010 - April 15th' in Punta Gorda, FL with speakers Chris Markowski of the Nationally syndicated 'Watchdog on Wall Street' Radio Show and Ret. Fire-Rescue Capt. Matt Bruce, Vietnam Veteran as well as a First Responder on 9/11/2001 to the World Trade Center with a son currently serving as a career Officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. Mr. Bruce is currently host of the Nationally Syndicated 'The Captain's AMERICA Radio Show' along with being the Radio Voice of the TEA Party along the Gold Coast of Florida as a few of their featured speakers with more names to follow...

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