State’s tea party hopes to grow after health vote

David Schwartz, the Maryland director of Americans For Prosperity, said he's confident more people will be energized to take part in tea party events from now until Election Day after the historic vote in Congress to overhaul health care.

"I think it was a punch to the gut, again, sort of a reality check," said Schwartz, who helps organize tea party events in Maryland in a group that was established in the state last April. "This is the real beginning of the 2010 campaign."

So who are tea party members in Maryland and what do they want to do?

Maryland tea party activists are part of a loosely organized grass-roots movement with no centralized structure or main leaders. Members are mostly conservative, but the group boasts independents and even Democrats as members.

Delegate Don Dwyer, one of the Maryland General Assembly's most conservative members who helped lead the group's first event last April, said the movement is not about political parties. Rather, Dwyer said tea party events draw people who are concerned about the loss of their rights and freedoms.

"I think it would be wrong for any party to try to hijack that movement, because it really is the people's movement, at least from my perspective," Dwyer said.

Americans for Prosperity has about 10,000 members in Maryland, Schwartz said, and the group works with 10 smaller groups in the state.

Schwartz, a 28-year-old Bel Air resident who worked on former Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich's campaigns, uses three words to sum up the essence of the Tea Party movement: "Leave us alone."

"We want to be left alone. We don't want the government coming in and taking over our health care," Schwartz said. "We don't want our taxes to rise. We don't want them telling us how to educate our kids. The government has grown way too large."

Groups from different parts of the state often use e-mail to communicate and gauge interest in getting together to hold rallies.

"We've got a gentleman's agreement that if we don't agree on an issue we just won't get active and it's worked out very well," said Patrick McGrady, a 24-year-old Aberdeen resident who is running for state delegate. "We all get along to get along."

Maryland is a solid blue state, where Democrats outnumber Republicans in voter registration by a 2-1 margin.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, a Democrat who has been the state Senate's president since 1987, said the tea party movement has been "an important factor, but not anything that's going to dominate the politics in Maryland."

"It's a very progressive state," Miller said. "It's a blue state, and the tea party activists are very important. Everyone knows where they come from, but at the same time they're not in the majority or even close to being in the majority."

Nevertheless, Maryland tea party members are working to gain political clout. Some are running for office, including positions in the state Legislature and Congress.

Charles Lollar, who is black and describes himself as a conservative Republican and tea party activist, is planning to run against U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. He wants to take a business approach to Congress, cutting spending while using business techniques to lower prices for health care products. He also wants to change health care, but by encouraging entrepreneurship that ensures taxes don't rise.

"If you can increase consumer confidence by making the process more efficient, by making the products better, it's a win-win all the way around," Lollar said.

Schwartz describes himself as "unapologetically conservative" and a registered Republican who isn't happy with the way the party is going, noting that he didn't vote for President Bush when he ran for re-election.

"We're very, very independent and our membership loves that, because I think in the end they're just as upset with what the Republican Party did in the last four, eight years, as they are upset at the Democrats," Schwartz said.

As for what's fueling tea party frustration, Schwartz said it's the failure of elected officials to make hard decisions.

"They feel like they've sent a lot of these guys to office to do the hard work to do the tough decisions, to balance the budget the right way, and they're not doing it," Schwartz said. "All they're doing is playing games just to get elected every four years."

McGrady, a registered Republican who filed with elections officials in August to run for delegate, is new to politics. He said he raised a few thousand dollars in September, and he counts Republicans, Independents and Democrats among his supporters.

McGrady said the nation needs lawmakers who can take a stand on tough decisions without worrying about getting re-elected.

"It would not hurt my feelings if I did the right thing and got voted out," McGrady said. "Lifetime politicians are killing our country."