The tea party movement muscled its way into the American political psyche over the past year with huge rallies, angry voters and colorful rhetoric. Its not clear how much voters are responding, but in Florida, at least, the Republican Party appears to have taken notice.
Nearly all of the statewide candidates on the GOP ticket have embraced and been embraced by - the tea party movement, the group of disenfranchised, mostly conservative voters who paraded the call for a change from the status quo over the past year, spurred at least in part by opposition to federal health care reform and the Obama administration in general.
Republican gubernatorial nominee Rick Scott has sounded tea party themes and showcased tea party paraphernalia on his campaign tour bus.
Senate nominee Marco Rubio became the immediate darling of the movement, gracing the cover of a New York Times Magazine titled The First Senator From the Tea Party?
And the woman who is arguably the tea party movements leader, Sarah Palin, is stumping for attorney general candidate Pam Bondi.
The result is a party slate that is more conservative than others in recent history. In 2006, Gov. Charlie Crist topped the ticket, putting a political moderate at the head of the Republican Party.
While the more formal Tea Party itself may not have actually convinced any candidates to run as representatives of that party, political scientists Susan MacManus aruges the group had a strong impact nonetheless, dictating the issues that GOP candidates have taken on and even the tone, with which theyve campaigned.
A lot of these candidates had to adjust their message and go much more anti-Washington, much more anti-spending, a lot of them adjusted quickly, said MacManus, of the University of South Florida. The Tea Party has really forced a lot of these candidates to address their issues.
I think the tea party movement per se isnt big enough to elect candidates, but they have been loud enough to affect who gets re-elected and who gets tossed, MacManus said.
The GOP didnt really have a choice, said Fred ONeal, chairman of the Florida Tea Party. The movement has taken off and pulled in a lot of people the Republicans need to vote for them, he argues.
I think the debt, the size of government, the Obamacare, it activated a lot of people that otherwise would have been sitting at home watching American Idol, said ONeal.
As the state Republican Party has pushed to the right its state chairman is a staunch conservative, Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine moderates, most notably Crist, have been pushed aside. Crist has exiled himself from the party altogether, and is now an independent.
A spokesman for the state Democratic Party said the tea party movement was simply a rebranding of the Republican base that could disenfranchise the average, more moderate Florida voter. In the state, there are more than 3.9 million registered Republicans, 4.6 million registered Democrats, 2.1 million registered without party affiliation and 356,729 registered in minor parties.
It's clear that the Republicans have nominated nothing but the most extremist elements of their party, said state Democratic Party spokesman Eric Jotkoff.
State GOP leaders have largely embraced the ideals and values of the Tea Party movement, said party spokeswoman Katie Betta. But the party wants to emphasize that there's still room for moderates, she said.
I guess for the past few years, everyone as a group, their focus was on inclusion and being more moderate and I think that's wonderful, Betta said. There still is room for the conservative tea party grass roots activists who really emphasize the core belief.
