Washington State's tea partiers organizing and politicking … But can they shift an election?

The News Tribune ^ | 5/09/10 | JORDAN SCHRADER; Staff writer

[mdittmar]

Tea party groups in Washington can assemble thousands of people for anti-tax rallies, but their work once cameras are gone may be more important to their mission.

Members of the fledgling groups aren’t just protesting. They might show up at your door as volunteers for their favorite candidates – or as the candidates themselves. They are joining their local Republican Party organizations and making plans to be at June’s party convention.

Add that old-school grass-roots organizing to ongoing online efforts to recruit new members and improve communication between groups, and Washington tea partiers say they will be a decisive voice in the fall elections.

“There’s going to be huge turnover come November,” said Rick Bauer, who organized the Olympia Tea Party. “It’s just a matter of keeping the fire going.”

That could be the hard part, even before the election. Though state and national organizations have tried to harness their energy, tea party groups initially formed to protest President Barack Obama’s agenda for economic recovery, not to sway elections.

There is no national tea party platform – and in fact there is no single “Tea Party” – though people throughout the decentralized movement agree government should tax less, spend less and conform to what they see as abandoned principles in the Constitution. Groups have varying levels of communication. So far, most groups have not endorsed candidates.

“The strength of the tea party movement is that they are not a highly organized movement,” Bauer said. “It’s a weakness at the same time, because it’s hard to get people organized.”

Greg Woodworth, a FedEx driver from Fife, put it more succinctly at an April 15 rally in Olympia where his group, the Tacoma 9/12 Project, set up a booth.

“The tea party is like herding cats,” he said.

[Gaffer]

It worked in Utah.....

[sionnsar]

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[SeaHawkFan]

Linda Smith did it a number of years ago.

[anniegetyourgun]

WA conservative political efforts are like watching a sack race - painful, awkward, and not much of a coordinated effort.

[hout8475]

Yes, I remember that. She and several other good conservatives unseated lib Dem incumbents in 1994. All but two of the state’s seats were held by Republicans in the 105th Congress. However, most of those seats have gone back to Dems since then. Only three of the state’s nine seats are now held by Republicans. Hopefully, Republicans can take a few of those others back again.