Over the next week, msnbc.com will meet the rank-and-file members on a road trip through Indiana to get a close-up view of what makes these activists tick.
Not everyone we contacted in advance agreed to be involved, citing their perception that the Tea Party has been unfairly portrayed in the mainstream media.
“The chance of getting fair coverage from (your company) is less than zero percent,” one Tea Party activist said. “I don’t mean any disrespect.”
Nor do we. In this project, the goal is simply to put a human face on the wave of activism that has washed over the political landscape and become hard for Washington to ignore. In the coming week on PhotoBlog, we will be publishing portraits of some of the Tea Party activists who agreed to take part in the project, along with short profiles detailing their thinking, history and political actions.
We will also get a ground-level look at the Tea Party network — and perhaps a sense of its future — while they hold local meetings, attend rallies and actively campaign for candidates.
Stay tuned.
James Cheng / msnbc.com
Lenn "Curley" Gapinski, wearing the George Washington outfit he sometimes wears when teaching classes
on the U.S. Constitution, at his vineyard near Monticello, Ind. on Oct. 16
Faces of the Tea Party - Vintner and constitutionalist
on the U.S. Constitution, at his vineyard near Monticello, Ind. on Oct. 16
Faces of the Tea Party - Vintner and constitutionalist
It’s a bit surprising to find a winery in central Indiana, sandwiched between corn fields and patches of hardwood trees. But there it is - down the road from Monticello, Ind., and up the road from the even-tinier town of Buffalo, tucked amid a field of grapevines sits a modest home and a barn-like structure housing Evangeline Orchard’s wine-making operations. Lined up in barrels in the storage area are at least 10 varieties including blackberry, raspberry, pumpkin and, yes, tomato.
Evangeline is the latest undertaking of Lenn “Curley” Gapinski - testimony to the Indiana native’s determination to make it on his own, and figure things out on his own, including his political philosophy.
“The sun rose and set over FDR, according to my father,” he says.
But with age, the 58-year-old Gapinski has moved far from the Democratic loyalties of his family. He is staunch advocate of low taxes - maybe a 10 percent flat tax - and a free market with minimal government intervention. He proudly flies the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag next to the Stars and Stripes over his orchard. “I consider myself a patriot today,” he says.
After high school, Gapinski went off to work as a millwright at Bethlehem Steel, quickly advanced to supervisor and then moved into a mechanical engineering position on the strength of self-taught skills. He remained for 35 years, but lost his pension and health insurance as the company changed hands before retiring in 2007.
He started thinking about the Constitution back at Bethlehem Steel, where he used to talk politics at lunch with an older worker - a conservative.
It was during the Carter administration - a time of gas lines, price and wage freezes, and the coworker maintained that the government was moving into all sorts of areas that were not allowed by the Constitution.
“A light came on,” says Gapinski. “I thought, ‘Hey we can’t depend on the government for everything'... I found that although I was raised a liberal, the conservative movement made more sense to me.”
After his retirement, Gapinski and his wife, Cheryl, put their savings into this small vineyard, and he dedicated himself to two things -- growing grapes and studying the nation’s founding.
Now, dressed as George Washington - right down to the powdered wig - he teaches classes on the U.S. Constitution to Tea Party groups.
In his view, the country began going off the constitutional rails by 1913, when legislators passed the 16th amendment allowing Congress to levy an income tax.
“That (amendment) gave lawmakers the opportunity to tax whatever they wanted, and they have taken advantage of it,” says Gapinski.
Gapinski says TEA stand for Taxed Enough Already (though others in the movement dispute this), and he believes the core issue of the Tea Party is taxes.
In pursuit of that, he would like to see the Tea Party remain at arm’s length from both major parties.
“The Republican Party would love to have the Tea Party as an extension of the Republican Party,” says Gapinski. “But the Republican Party has not been true to its conservative values. We need to hold (them) accountable.”
Although Gapinski agrees with the anti-abortion position of conservative Christians, he says, “This is a personal issue, not a Tea Party issue.”
On the other hand, Gapinski’s faith and his political views are inseparable.
Speaking to church congregations around the area, Gapinski likes to show a video called “Our Godly American Heritage,” produced by David Barton, which argues that the founding fathers never intended to keep religion out of government, but wanted to prevent any one denomination of Christianity from prevailing over others.
Gapinski believes that the way the “separation of church and state” is implemented wrongly because it tries to rid public institutions of religion.
“There has been a lot of misinformation on our heritage in the last century, especially since the 1960s,” says Gapinski. “I want to show the deep relationship the founding fathers had with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
In his personal life, Gapinski’s faith will guide his vote this Nov. 2.
“The night before elections, my wife and I will get down on our knees and pray. We will open our Bibles randomly to see if there are messages (God) wants us to hear,” he says. “And we will go on the Internet to do a last round of research in case there is anyone we are unsure of.”
Then, he and Cheryl will go to vote at 6:30 in the morning when the polls open.
Evangeline is the latest undertaking of Lenn “Curley” Gapinski - testimony to the Indiana native’s determination to make it on his own, and figure things out on his own, including his political philosophy.
“The sun rose and set over FDR, according to my father,” he says.
But with age, the 58-year-old Gapinski has moved far from the Democratic loyalties of his family. He is staunch advocate of low taxes - maybe a 10 percent flat tax - and a free market with minimal government intervention. He proudly flies the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag next to the Stars and Stripes over his orchard. “I consider myself a patriot today,” he says.
After high school, Gapinski went off to work as a millwright at Bethlehem Steel, quickly advanced to supervisor and then moved into a mechanical engineering position on the strength of self-taught skills. He remained for 35 years, but lost his pension and health insurance as the company changed hands before retiring in 2007.
He started thinking about the Constitution back at Bethlehem Steel, where he used to talk politics at lunch with an older worker - a conservative.
It was during the Carter administration - a time of gas lines, price and wage freezes, and the coworker maintained that the government was moving into all sorts of areas that were not allowed by the Constitution.
“A light came on,” says Gapinski. “I thought, ‘Hey we can’t depend on the government for everything'... I found that although I was raised a liberal, the conservative movement made more sense to me.”
After his retirement, Gapinski and his wife, Cheryl, put their savings into this small vineyard, and he dedicated himself to two things -- growing grapes and studying the nation’s founding.
Now, dressed as George Washington - right down to the powdered wig - he teaches classes on the U.S. Constitution to Tea Party groups.
In his view, the country began going off the constitutional rails by 1913, when legislators passed the 16th amendment allowing Congress to levy an income tax.
“That (amendment) gave lawmakers the opportunity to tax whatever they wanted, and they have taken advantage of it,” says Gapinski.
Gapinski says TEA stand for Taxed Enough Already (though others in the movement dispute this), and he believes the core issue of the Tea Party is taxes.
In pursuit of that, he would like to see the Tea Party remain at arm’s length from both major parties.
“The Republican Party would love to have the Tea Party as an extension of the Republican Party,” says Gapinski. “But the Republican Party has not been true to its conservative values. We need to hold (them) accountable.”
Although Gapinski agrees with the anti-abortion position of conservative Christians, he says, “This is a personal issue, not a Tea Party issue.”
On the other hand, Gapinski’s faith and his political views are inseparable.
Speaking to church congregations around the area, Gapinski likes to show a video called “Our Godly American Heritage,” produced by David Barton, which argues that the founding fathers never intended to keep religion out of government, but wanted to prevent any one denomination of Christianity from prevailing over others.
Gapinski believes that the way the “separation of church and state” is implemented wrongly because it tries to rid public institutions of religion.
“There has been a lot of misinformation on our heritage in the last century, especially since the 1960s,” says Gapinski. “I want to show the deep relationship the founding fathers had with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
In his personal life, Gapinski’s faith will guide his vote this Nov. 2.
“The night before elections, my wife and I will get down on our knees and pray. We will open our Bibles randomly to see if there are messages (God) wants us to hear,” he says. “And we will go on the Internet to do a last round of research in case there is anyone we are unsure of.”
Then, he and Cheryl will go to vote at 6:30 in the morning when the polls open.
James Cheng / msnbc.com
Emery McClendon, 59, speaks at the "Stand Up Indiana - Stop Obamacare"
rally in Indianapolis, Ind. on Oct. 16, 2010. McClendon, a veteran and a Fed-Ex
driver was a key speaker at the rally.
Faces of the Tea Party - 'We are not the KKK'
Emery McClendon is a husband, father, Air Force retiree, Christian, a FedEx driver, amateur radio guy and photographer. In general, his race is beside the point.
But this series is about the Tea Party, a movement that struggles to persuade some observers that it is not merely a racist reaction to a black president. The 59-year-old McClendon, as can clearly be seen in James Cheng’s photo, is a black man. He is also a prominent voice in the Tea Party movement.
McClendon was among the highlighted speakers at a recent rally in administration against the health-care package, adding his voice to the chorus with this message: the Tea Party movement has nothing to do with race.
“We are not the KKK,” he boomed with rhetorical flourish. “We are patriots.”
McClendon was raised at a time when the black population was overwhelmingly Democratic. It wasn’t easy to “come out” as a conservative Republican.
“I grew up in a household where they would break your neck if you voted any other way,” says McClendon. “But they were very conservative. My parents really didn’t know how conservative they were.”
The Fort Wayne native served in the Air Force for four years then joined the Indiana Air Guard. His 23 years as a FedEx driver paid the bills while he and his wife, Queenie, raised their three sons.
Over time McClendon decided that his views on abortion, limited government and taxation - principles he says he learned from his parents - just didn’t match liberal views.
“I ended up thinking I wasn’t a Democrat or a Republican, but more of a Reagan conservative,” he says, and he has voted accordingly since the election of George H.W. Bush.
By the time McClendon established the local Tea Party chapter last year, he had a network of conservative friends. At the group’s first rally in front of the Fort Wayne courthouse, former conservative presidential candidate Alan Keyes delivered the keynote address.
Since then, McClendon has frequently been invited to speak at Tea Party events in Indiana and elsewhere. Public speaking comes easily to him, he says, because as a child he used to travel with his uncle, a bishop for the Church of God in Christ, listening to preachers and talking morals and values.
The warm reception he receives at Tea Party events isn’t universal, even among family members.
“I’ve been called an Uncle Tom,” he says. “They say (I) should support the president because he’s the first black president. I support the president. I just don’t agree with his beliefs.”
If you get right down to it, McClendon is pretty disgusted by President Obama - even writing that Obama’s election was the saddest day of his life.
“I never thought the American people would fall for a person they didn’t know anything about,” says McClendon. “He has Socialist views and, even worse, Marxist…. He goes around the world bowing to leaders and talks about how the market system doesn’t work.”
In McClendon’s view, this show of presidential humility doesn’t mesh with the notion of “American exceptionalism” that is embraced by the Tea Party.
“We stand above because of our morals, our Constitution,” says McClendon.
“(The Tea Party) is a group of individuals who love their country and feel they are losing their country. They are finding out there are other people who are standing up for principles…. When we return to those principles, we will return to exceptionalism.”
But this series is about the Tea Party, a movement that struggles to persuade some observers that it is not merely a racist reaction to a black president. The 59-year-old McClendon, as can clearly be seen in James Cheng’s photo, is a black man. He is also a prominent voice in the Tea Party movement.
McClendon was among the highlighted speakers at a recent rally in administration against the health-care package, adding his voice to the chorus with this message: the Tea Party movement has nothing to do with race.
“We are not the KKK,” he boomed with rhetorical flourish. “We are patriots.”
McClendon was raised at a time when the black population was overwhelmingly Democratic. It wasn’t easy to “come out” as a conservative Republican.
“I grew up in a household where they would break your neck if you voted any other way,” says McClendon. “But they were very conservative. My parents really didn’t know how conservative they were.”
The Fort Wayne native served in the Air Force for four years then joined the Indiana Air Guard. His 23 years as a FedEx driver paid the bills while he and his wife, Queenie, raised their three sons.
Over time McClendon decided that his views on abortion, limited government and taxation - principles he says he learned from his parents - just didn’t match liberal views.
“I ended up thinking I wasn’t a Democrat or a Republican, but more of a Reagan conservative,” he says, and he has voted accordingly since the election of George H.W. Bush.
By the time McClendon established the local Tea Party chapter last year, he had a network of conservative friends. At the group’s first rally in front of the Fort Wayne courthouse, former conservative presidential candidate Alan Keyes delivered the keynote address.
Since then, McClendon has frequently been invited to speak at Tea Party events in Indiana and elsewhere. Public speaking comes easily to him, he says, because as a child he used to travel with his uncle, a bishop for the Church of God in Christ, listening to preachers and talking morals and values.
The warm reception he receives at Tea Party events isn’t universal, even among family members.
“I’ve been called an Uncle Tom,” he says. “They say (I) should support the president because he’s the first black president. I support the president. I just don’t agree with his beliefs.”
If you get right down to it, McClendon is pretty disgusted by President Obama - even writing that Obama’s election was the saddest day of his life.
“I never thought the American people would fall for a person they didn’t know anything about,” says McClendon. “He has Socialist views and, even worse, Marxist…. He goes around the world bowing to leaders and talks about how the market system doesn’t work.”
In McClendon’s view, this show of presidential humility doesn’t mesh with the notion of “American exceptionalism” that is embraced by the Tea Party.
“We stand above because of our morals, our Constitution,” says McClendon.
“(The Tea Party) is a group of individuals who love their country and feel they are losing their country. They are finding out there are other people who are standing up for principles…. When we return to those principles, we will return to exceptionalism.”
James Cheng / msnbc.com
The Cosgray family on their farm outside of Monticello, Ind. From left, Nicole, 16, Rachel, 20, Laura,
Sam, 48, Tyler and his baby, Bella, 4 months old, and far right Alex with wife Amanda.
Sam, 48, Tyler and his baby, Bella, 4 months old, and far right Alex with wife Amanda.
Faces of the Tea Party - Team Cosgray
When we arrive, the smell of baking cookies pervades the Cosgrays’ ranch-style home in the countryside outside Monticello, Ind. Outside, it is clear and silent except for their chatter, and the crunch of our footfalls crossing the field covered by cut corn stalks.
The Cosgrays are a close family, knit together by conservative Christian beliefs. They work hard, study hard and live in a place where they have their own water and power supplies, and where they could plausibly be self-sufficient. Their oldest son Alex, 27, farms 20 acres of family land - refusing government subsidies, on principle.
To Sam and Laura Cosgray, massive government spending in the name of averting economic crisis has been an affront to their common sense, and their sense of fairness.
“We bust our backs every day going to work, teaching our children values and working, and that you don’t rely on the government... (you) make it on your own,” says Laura Cosgray, a 47-year-old mother of four. “Then the government has the audacity to come in and take our money... to prop up the banks that are failing because of corruption and greed.”
The frustration is not new to the Cosgrays. The feeling that the government was straying - getting too big, too intrusive and too liberal - had been building for them since the 1990s. When their son, Tyler, set out to join the military after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, Sam and Laura decided they wanted to serve their country too. The inspiration as to how to best do that came later.
“When (Sarah Palin) came onto the national scene, that was America right there,” says Laura. “I couldn’t wait to get home and turn on the TV (and see) the lady we have been waiting for - a conservative, a family woman. Then we started getting very involved.”
She found the C-Corn.com Website ( http://c-corn.com/) set up by Anna Kroyman, a Monticello woman who was trying to establish a local Tea Party. At the first meeting of the White County Tea Party Patriots, the Cosgrays made up six of 12 members.
They have all remained involved. Sam works long hours at Caterpillar, but he helps out with most events. So do Rachel, 20, who is studying to be a teacher, Nichole, a 16-year-old student. The snickerdoodles in the oven are for a Tea Party meeting later in the evening.
The family is quietly encouraging 25-year-old Tyler, who has finished his service in the Marines, to build the credentials he needs to run for local office in coming years.
For Laura, who was a stay-at-home mom for 17 years, it is as if she ducked into a phone booth and emerged as supercharged Tea Party activist. Energized by TV and radio host Glenn Beck, she tirelessly recruits for the Tea Party - handing out flyers at home and garden shows. When she worked at a drive-in bank, she put Tea Party flyers into the canister with the cash she sent back to the cars.
“It’s kind of like us being Christians,” she says about her enthusiasm for the Tea Party. “(As Christians) we tell people about the Lord. … It just becomes who you are.”
Laura is looking beyond the Nov. 2 election, with plans to keep organizing for the Tea Party.
“Our goal in 2011?” she says. “I think we are going to try to fund a very, very conservative Republican to run against (senior Republican Sen.) Richard Lugar.”
The Cosgrays are a close family, knit together by conservative Christian beliefs. They work hard, study hard and live in a place where they have their own water and power supplies, and where they could plausibly be self-sufficient. Their oldest son Alex, 27, farms 20 acres of family land - refusing government subsidies, on principle.
To Sam and Laura Cosgray, massive government spending in the name of averting economic crisis has been an affront to their common sense, and their sense of fairness.
“We bust our backs every day going to work, teaching our children values and working, and that you don’t rely on the government... (you) make it on your own,” says Laura Cosgray, a 47-year-old mother of four. “Then the government has the audacity to come in and take our money... to prop up the banks that are failing because of corruption and greed.”
The frustration is not new to the Cosgrays. The feeling that the government was straying - getting too big, too intrusive and too liberal - had been building for them since the 1990s. When their son, Tyler, set out to join the military after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, Sam and Laura decided they wanted to serve their country too. The inspiration as to how to best do that came later.
“When (Sarah Palin) came onto the national scene, that was America right there,” says Laura. “I couldn’t wait to get home and turn on the TV (and see) the lady we have been waiting for - a conservative, a family woman. Then we started getting very involved.”
She found the C-Corn.com Website ( http://c-corn.com/) set up by Anna Kroyman, a Monticello woman who was trying to establish a local Tea Party. At the first meeting of the White County Tea Party Patriots, the Cosgrays made up six of 12 members.
They have all remained involved. Sam works long hours at Caterpillar, but he helps out with most events. So do Rachel, 20, who is studying to be a teacher, Nichole, a 16-year-old student. The snickerdoodles in the oven are for a Tea Party meeting later in the evening.
The family is quietly encouraging 25-year-old Tyler, who has finished his service in the Marines, to build the credentials he needs to run for local office in coming years.
For Laura, who was a stay-at-home mom for 17 years, it is as if she ducked into a phone booth and emerged as supercharged Tea Party activist. Energized by TV and radio host Glenn Beck, she tirelessly recruits for the Tea Party - handing out flyers at home and garden shows. When she worked at a drive-in bank, she put Tea Party flyers into the canister with the cash she sent back to the cars.
“It’s kind of like us being Christians,” she says about her enthusiasm for the Tea Party. “(As Christians) we tell people about the Lord. … It just becomes who you are.”
Laura is looking beyond the Nov. 2 election, with plans to keep organizing for the Tea Party.
“Our goal in 2011?” she says. “I think we are going to try to fund a very, very conservative Republican to run against (senior Republican Sen.) Richard Lugar.”
James Cheng / msnbc.com
Kent Hizer at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 360 in Mishawaka, Ind. on Oct. 14, 2010.
Hizer is running for the township board in Penn Township of St. Joseph County.
Faces of the Tea Party - A regular guy, a long shot candidate
Kent Hizer is a salesman for steel products and a volunteer policeman. He’s running for a seat on the board of Penn County Township - population 64,000. It’s a modest office, but the odds of beating a long-serving Democrat are slim, and Hizer is the first to say so.
“I probably will not be elected,” he tells a Tea Party meeting at the VFW hall in nearby Mishawaka.
But Hizer is not here to campaign -- there are only three people in this crowd of 50 who could vote for him. But he sees hope, and finds solace, in the Tea Party because they seem to be on the same track as he is.
“I’m on a mission to hold elected officials accountable -- local officials, and all the way up the food chain,” says Hizer. “I want to get people engaged no matter what party they are.”
Hizer says he has uncovered a concrete example of malfeasance on the part of a current Penn Township board member. Hizer used a Freedom of Information Act query to uncover a scandal involving the township trustee, who reportedly used township funds for unauthorized personal expenses and failed to document official work performed by his girlfriend.
This feeling that public officials are running amok, he insists, is not a partisan issue.
Hizer, a conservative who was raised Democrat, says it has become uncomfortable to identify himself with the party because the Republicans have “lost their way.”
Even then, he doesn’t align with every conservative stance. After witnessing someone close to him die of a debilitating disease, he now believes in the right to choose a dignified death.
“This is not in the conservative playbook,” he says.
But Hizer is most animated about getting people to step up, politically.
“I wanted to tell people to stay engaged,” he says after his Tea Party presentation. “If we hold them accountable maybe they will start looking after our interests instead of looking after their own.”
“I probably will not be elected,” he tells a Tea Party meeting at the VFW hall in nearby Mishawaka.
But Hizer is not here to campaign -- there are only three people in this crowd of 50 who could vote for him. But he sees hope, and finds solace, in the Tea Party because they seem to be on the same track as he is.
“I’m on a mission to hold elected officials accountable -- local officials, and all the way up the food chain,” says Hizer. “I want to get people engaged no matter what party they are.”
Hizer says he has uncovered a concrete example of malfeasance on the part of a current Penn Township board member. Hizer used a Freedom of Information Act query to uncover a scandal involving the township trustee, who reportedly used township funds for unauthorized personal expenses and failed to document official work performed by his girlfriend.
This feeling that public officials are running amok, he insists, is not a partisan issue.
Hizer, a conservative who was raised Democrat, says it has become uncomfortable to identify himself with the party because the Republicans have “lost their way.”
Even then, he doesn’t align with every conservative stance. After witnessing someone close to him die of a debilitating disease, he now believes in the right to choose a dignified death.
“This is not in the conservative playbook,” he says.
But Hizer is most animated about getting people to step up, politically.
“I wanted to tell people to stay engaged,” he says after his Tea Party presentation. “If we hold them accountable maybe they will start looking after our interests instead of looking after their own.”
James Cheng / msnbc.com
Anna Kroyman and Jack Van Vulkenburg at a diner in Monticello, Ind. on Friday,
Oct. 15, 2010. Anna and Jack are founding members of the White County Tea Party Patriots.
Oct. 15, 2010. Anna and Jack are founding members of the White County Tea Party Patriots.
Faces of the Tea Party - From apathy to activism
For most of her life, Anna Kroyman ignored politics - it was just too boring.
"I never voted, I never paid attention, I never cared," says Kroyman. But all that has changed. This year Kroyman, 60, organized a Tea Party group in her town of Monticello, Ind., establishing a group that now has more than 200 members.
The event that awakened her political awareness - and she remembers it clearly because it came as a shock - was the Senate impeachment hearings of former President Bill Clinton. She heard two words emanate from the living room -- oral sex -- dropped the dishes in the sink and went into the living room where her boyfriend, Jack Van Vulkenburg, 65, was watching TV.
"It was like, are you kidding me? This is what's happening in our White House... (Bill Clinton) was like Ferris Bueller in the White House.... I thought it was hysterical," says Kroyman, who runs a telephone sales business out of her home.
She became a political junkie, following the hearings, watching the news, watching C-SPAN and memorizing the legislators' names. For the first time in her life, at age 50, she voted and exercised her conservative leanings.
After the last election she decided to step it up a notch, because she believes the country is "going down a dangerous path."
"We're heading into a socialistic system here," says Kroyman. "What we are experiencing now is the fall of democracy."
She says the catalyst that led her to found the Tea Party group was the rant by CNBC's Rick Santelli in February 2009 expressing outrage over an Obama administration policy to help distressed homeowners, even if they had bought more house than they could actually afford. The rant went viral on the Internet, where it was embraced by conservatives and derided by liberals as political theater.
At Van Valkenburg's suggestion Kroyman started a Website named "C-Corn.com"( http://c-corn.com/) -- as in ACORN for conservatives - not anticipating how fervently she would pursue the idea.
"I hike the ball, and she runs with it," says Van Valkenburg, a retired Chicago policeman who describes himself as a lifelong "anti-liberal."
She convened the first meeting of White County Tea Party Patriots at the local USA Family Restaurant in January with just eight people. Now the group has 232 members, Kroyman says.
The group regularly hosts political candidates to quiz them on their positions. They don't endorse candidates - like many other Tea Party groups the group is registered as a 527 educational nonprofits and thus prohibited from doing so. They do press for core values - limited government, fiscal responsibility and free markets - that she believes have been undermined by Congress and the president.
At a White County Tea Party event on Friday, held in a meeting room at the local utility company, Kroyman and Van Valkenburg passed the microphone among the 100 or so people who came to question Dan Coats, the Republican candidate for Senate. He fielded questions on immigration, value-added-tax and the health care package while his wife gave what was billed as an "impromptu" talk about her family's conservative values.
The group has hosted many of the candidates who will be on the ballot here, including Rep. Brad Ellsworth, a Democrat. Kroyman says she has repeatedly invited Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly, but he hasn't accepted.
"Donnelly is telling us who he is by not coming," she says angrily.
Kroyman did not have time to attend a statewide anti-"Obamacare" rally held in Indianapolis over the weekend because she had other local Tea Party events to run in coming days before elections.
"Now I realize the seriousness of the matter," says Kroyman. "Now I'm looking for (candidates) who want to preserve the Constitution, who love this country, and save it from people who don't."
"I never voted, I never paid attention, I never cared," says Kroyman. But all that has changed. This year Kroyman, 60, organized a Tea Party group in her town of Monticello, Ind., establishing a group that now has more than 200 members.
The event that awakened her political awareness - and she remembers it clearly because it came as a shock - was the Senate impeachment hearings of former President Bill Clinton. She heard two words emanate from the living room -- oral sex -- dropped the dishes in the sink and went into the living room where her boyfriend, Jack Van Vulkenburg, 65, was watching TV.
"It was like, are you kidding me? This is what's happening in our White House... (Bill Clinton) was like Ferris Bueller in the White House.... I thought it was hysterical," says Kroyman, who runs a telephone sales business out of her home.
She became a political junkie, following the hearings, watching the news, watching C-SPAN and memorizing the legislators' names. For the first time in her life, at age 50, she voted and exercised her conservative leanings.
After the last election she decided to step it up a notch, because she believes the country is "going down a dangerous path."
"We're heading into a socialistic system here," says Kroyman. "What we are experiencing now is the fall of democracy."
She says the catalyst that led her to found the Tea Party group was the rant by CNBC's Rick Santelli in February 2009 expressing outrage over an Obama administration policy to help distressed homeowners, even if they had bought more house than they could actually afford. The rant went viral on the Internet, where it was embraced by conservatives and derided by liberals as political theater.
At Van Valkenburg's suggestion Kroyman started a Website named "C-Corn.com"( http://c-corn.com/) -- as in ACORN for conservatives - not anticipating how fervently she would pursue the idea.
"I hike the ball, and she runs with it," says Van Valkenburg, a retired Chicago policeman who describes himself as a lifelong "anti-liberal."
She convened the first meeting of White County Tea Party Patriots at the local USA Family Restaurant in January with just eight people. Now the group has 232 members, Kroyman says.
The group regularly hosts political candidates to quiz them on their positions. They don't endorse candidates - like many other Tea Party groups the group is registered as a 527 educational nonprofits and thus prohibited from doing so. They do press for core values - limited government, fiscal responsibility and free markets - that she believes have been undermined by Congress and the president.
At a White County Tea Party event on Friday, held in a meeting room at the local utility company, Kroyman and Van Valkenburg passed the microphone among the 100 or so people who came to question Dan Coats, the Republican candidate for Senate. He fielded questions on immigration, value-added-tax and the health care package while his wife gave what was billed as an "impromptu" talk about her family's conservative values.
The group has hosted many of the candidates who will be on the ballot here, including Rep. Brad Ellsworth, a Democrat. Kroyman says she has repeatedly invited Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly, but he hasn't accepted.
"Donnelly is telling us who he is by not coming," she says angrily.
Kroyman did not have time to attend a statewide anti-"Obamacare" rally held in Indianapolis over the weekend because she had other local Tea Party events to run in coming days before elections.
"Now I realize the seriousness of the matter," says Kroyman. "Now I'm looking for (candidates) who want to preserve the Constitution, who love this country, and save it from people who don't."
James Cheng / msnbc.com
Emily Daniels canvassing door to door on Sunday, Oct. 17, 2010 in South Bend, Ind.
Daniels is canvassing for Duane Beals-a Republican trying to oust incumbent Pat Bauer,
a Democrat who has served 40 years as a state representative.
Daniels is canvassing for Duane Beals-a Republican trying to oust incumbent Pat Bauer,
a Democrat who has served 40 years as a state representative.
Faces of the Tea Party - A freshman
It is the kind of Midwestern autumn day when many college students would go out and throw a Frisbee or try to study under a tree (and then nap). It is Sunday, hot in the sun and cool in the shade of trees that are now turning unlikely shades of red and orange.
But Emily Daniels, a freshman at nearby Bethany College, has a bigger agenda. She is straight from church when we meet her in a leafy neighborhood of South Bend. She is canvassing for Duane Beals, a Republican trying to oust incumbent Pat Bauer, a Democrat who has served 40 years as a state representative.
“I make time for things that are important,” says the 18-year old, who is launching into a heavy load of classes, from economics to chemistry.
Daniels says she hopes to work managing political campaigns in the future, and in getting people involved in the political process. She is organizing college students in South Bend, though it is a struggle, she admits, because most are apathetic about politics. But as she approaches residents in this neighborhood, there’s nothing to suggest that she isn’t a veteran political activist.
Daniels, who was raised in a Republican home and attends a Christian college, said she witnessed her parents becoming disillusioned with many GOP politicians who they felt had betrayed them in office, and hadn’t voted the way they said they would. So she identifies herself as a Republican but also as Tea Party member because she likes the way the movement seems to evaluate Republican candidates as well as Democrats.
“The Tea Party is people who actually care and want to be involved in the Republican Party... and want to make sure they keep promises and really represent the people.”
But Emily Daniels, a freshman at nearby Bethany College, has a bigger agenda. She is straight from church when we meet her in a leafy neighborhood of South Bend. She is canvassing for Duane Beals, a Republican trying to oust incumbent Pat Bauer, a Democrat who has served 40 years as a state representative.
“I make time for things that are important,” says the 18-year old, who is launching into a heavy load of classes, from economics to chemistry.
Daniels says she hopes to work managing political campaigns in the future, and in getting people involved in the political process. She is organizing college students in South Bend, though it is a struggle, she admits, because most are apathetic about politics. But as she approaches residents in this neighborhood, there’s nothing to suggest that she isn’t a veteran political activist.
Daniels, who was raised in a Republican home and attends a Christian college, said she witnessed her parents becoming disillusioned with many GOP politicians who they felt had betrayed them in office, and hadn’t voted the way they said they would. So she identifies herself as a Republican but also as Tea Party member because she likes the way the movement seems to evaluate Republican candidates as well as Democrats.
“The Tea Party is people who actually care and want to be involved in the Republican Party... and want to make sure they keep promises and really represent the people.”
17
Oct
2010
9:42am, EDT
James Cheng / msnbc.com
Hursel and Ebony Williams pose for a portrait at the "Stand Up Indiiana - Stop Obamacare" rally in
Indianapolis, Ind., Saturday, Oct. 16.
Indianapolis, Ind., Saturday, Oct. 16.
Faces of the Tea Party - Tea Party potential…
It's true, at least from what we have seen in Indiana, that the Tea Party is mostly made up of white folks. But there are people of color involved -- and some, like Emery McClendon, are in central organizational roles. (We'll come back to him in a future post). Other non-white people are attending, exploring, hovering around the edges to compare what is being said to what they believe.
"Exploring" would describe Ebony and Hursel Williams, who were seated near the back of the small crowd at a rally on Saturday in Indianapolis where Tea Party and related groups were protesting the health care package. The Indianapolis high-tech couple is questioning the beliefs they long held true. They have come, says Ebony, out of a sense that it is their Christian duty to explore and stand up for what is right.
"We've often been hoodwinked," says Hursel. "Things are often not as we were raised to believe," he adds, without being specific.
The Williams clap and nod as the speakers at the event emphasize the Christian foundations of the United States, and the speakers' interpretation of the Constitution.
"Constitutionalists stand for the little man and for what Christ stands for -- to be treated fairly, equally," says Hursel.
And about the charges of racism that surround the Tea Party movement, this is what he had to say:
"I had a preconceived notion (that they were racist)," says Hursel. "I have felt nothing but love and talk about Christ." He adds: "I would bring my children to this."
To be clear, Ebony and Hursel did not become card-carrying members of the Tea Party on Saturday. But they see possibilities.
"I would like to see it cause an awakening for people ... that people will seek truth," says Hursel.
"Exploring" would describe Ebony and Hursel Williams, who were seated near the back of the small crowd at a rally on Saturday in Indianapolis where Tea Party and related groups were protesting the health care package. The Indianapolis high-tech couple is questioning the beliefs they long held true. They have come, says Ebony, out of a sense that it is their Christian duty to explore and stand up for what is right.
"We've often been hoodwinked," says Hursel. "Things are often not as we were raised to believe," he adds, without being specific.
The Williams clap and nod as the speakers at the event emphasize the Christian foundations of the United States, and the speakers' interpretation of the Constitution.
"Constitutionalists stand for the little man and for what Christ stands for -- to be treated fairly, equally," says Hursel.
And about the charges of racism that surround the Tea Party movement, this is what he had to say:
"I had a preconceived notion (that they were racist)," says Hursel. "I have felt nothing but love and talk about Christ." He adds: "I would bring my children to this."
To be clear, Ebony and Hursel did not become card-carrying members of the Tea Party on Saturday. But they see possibilities.
"I would like to see it cause an awakening for people ... that people will seek truth," says Hursel.
16
Oct
2010
11:33am, EDT
James Cheng / msnbc.com
Christine Murdoch poses for a portrait in front of her home, Oct. 14, 2010, in South Bend, Ind.
Faces of the Tea Party - Bringing political street smarts
Tea Party organizers always stress that their groups are nonpartisan - which is to say that elected officials in both parties have earned loads of abuse - even if the majority of their members do align with conservative Republican ideology.
But 86-year-old Christine Murdoch, a key player in the St. Joe County Tea Party Patriots, does nothing to conceal her individual preference.
"I’m both Republican and Tea Party," she says. "I don’t know any Democrats."
Nor does she intend to. Murdoch’s lawn, under a canopy of old oak and maple trees not far from Notre Dame University, is peppered with signs supporting local and federal level candidates - all from the GOP. In this town, which has long been run by Democrats, her property is a small island of staunch Republicanism.
Murdoch worked many years in the local Republican Party and she hopes that the Tea Party will infuse energy into an effort that has at times seemed a lost cause.
"We have been beaten down so many times by the Democrats in South Bend," she says. "Our Republican people are older, tired, and they have done this so much. The Tea Party people are so passionate. They will really get out and go door to door."
Despite her refined demeanor, Murdoch is a woman who clearly thrives on action and excitement. The octogenarian, a former physical education teacher, is still an avid scuba diver, teaches ballroom dance and until a few years ago was piloting small planes in cross-country races.
But the valuable thing she brings to the Tea Party is political street smarts. In decades of work in the Republican Party, Murdoch says she has helped prepare candidates for the process and the public; she’s taught them how to raise money, what to expect from the media, even how to select yard signs.
Now she is helping neophyte activists better understand the political structure and translate their enthusiasm into strategy.
In one example of disarray, Tea Partiers in Indiana supported four little-known candidates in the primary election in an effort to seize the Republican nomination for Senate from longtime GOP candidate Dan Coats. The Tea Party-supported candidates split the votes, so none had a prayer of beating the well-recognized politician.
"They didn’t win and they were expecting to," says Murdoch. "They needed to realize what it’s all about and they can’t be naïve and too idealistic." But, she adds, "They are going to learn and they have learned."
For her, the best outcome would be for the Tea Party to shed the whole notion that it is non-aligned.
"Ideally," she muses, "If (the Tea Party) could kind of merge with Republicans we would get more action and passion in both groups."
But 86-year-old Christine Murdoch, a key player in the St. Joe County Tea Party Patriots, does nothing to conceal her individual preference.
"I’m both Republican and Tea Party," she says. "I don’t know any Democrats."
Nor does she intend to. Murdoch’s lawn, under a canopy of old oak and maple trees not far from Notre Dame University, is peppered with signs supporting local and federal level candidates - all from the GOP. In this town, which has long been run by Democrats, her property is a small island of staunch Republicanism.
Murdoch worked many years in the local Republican Party and she hopes that the Tea Party will infuse energy into an effort that has at times seemed a lost cause.
"We have been beaten down so many times by the Democrats in South Bend," she says. "Our Republican people are older, tired, and they have done this so much. The Tea Party people are so passionate. They will really get out and go door to door."
Despite her refined demeanor, Murdoch is a woman who clearly thrives on action and excitement. The octogenarian, a former physical education teacher, is still an avid scuba diver, teaches ballroom dance and until a few years ago was piloting small planes in cross-country races.
But the valuable thing she brings to the Tea Party is political street smarts. In decades of work in the Republican Party, Murdoch says she has helped prepare candidates for the process and the public; she’s taught them how to raise money, what to expect from the media, even how to select yard signs.
Now she is helping neophyte activists better understand the political structure and translate their enthusiasm into strategy.
In one example of disarray, Tea Partiers in Indiana supported four little-known candidates in the primary election in an effort to seize the Republican nomination for Senate from longtime GOP candidate Dan Coats. The Tea Party-supported candidates split the votes, so none had a prayer of beating the well-recognized politician.
"They didn’t win and they were expecting to," says Murdoch. "They needed to realize what it’s all about and they can’t be naïve and too idealistic." But, she adds, "They are going to learn and they have learned."
For her, the best outcome would be for the Tea Party to shed the whole notion that it is non-aligned.
"Ideally," she muses, "If (the Tea Party) could kind of merge with Republicans we would get more action and passion in both groups."
15
Oct
2010
11:41am, EDT
James Cheng / msnbc.com
Dick Mechling at his home in Lakeville, Ind., Oct. 13, 2010.
Faces of the Tea Party - Unretired into activism
Dick Mechling could have gone on enjoying retirement with his wife, Mickey, in their cozy ranch-style home in St. Joseph County, Ind. Like a ride on their horses — Ebby and Motion, the Tennessee Walkers they raise on their 10 acres south of South Bend — that would have been the smoothest option.
But when we met Dick, he was emerging from a training session for poll workers in South Bend. He is getting ready to be a judge at the voting place in the Nov. 2 elections — a first for him, at 68. In another first, he and Mickey have been working the phone banks in the run-up to the election, helping to get the vote out for some of the local conservative candidates.
Their activism is fueled, supported and guided by membership in the local Tea Party organization, St. Joe County Tea Party Patriots. But what first prompted their renewed interest in politics was Sarah Palin’s appearance on the scene in the last election.
“That got a lot of people’s attention” Dick says. In policy terms, Dick and Mickey liked Palin’s message about small, efficient government, he says. Beyond that was something deeper that just struck a chord: “Here is somebody who thinks more like we do than some of the people who have been in office,” he says. “She just seems like plain folks ... regular people.”
Dick and Mickey, who met in college and married soon after, worked hard and raised two daughters and horses at their home of 35 years. He worked for many years as a buyer for local pharmaceutical companies, and she was a teacher.
With the kids grown up and Palin’s appearance the scene, something shifted: “We got more interested in politics, thinking: ‘You know, maybe there is hope. ... Maybe there is someone out there who can make a difference.'”
After the McCain-Palin ticket failed to take the White House in 2008, Dick and Mickey were a bit depressed — they felt that Palin had taken a beating.
“The thing that has us energized again is Jackie Walorski’s bid for Congress,” Dick says.
They met the conservative Republican at a gun-rights gathering in southern Indiana. Walorski was holding them around the state after the 2008 election of Barack Obama.
Walorski is strongly backed by the Tea Party in a fierce battle for the congressional seat of Democrat Joe Donnelly. Donnelly, once supported by conservatives, is now reviled by them because of his vote in favor of health care legislation pushed by Obama — a betrayal of earlier promises, they say.
Dick and Mickey are heading out for a week in the hilly south of Indiana, where they will camp and ride their horses. But once they get back home, they will return to their other retirement plan — political activism.
“I see the Tea Party as an educational thing,” says Dick. “I think we have lost sight of what the government’s role, according to the Constitution, in our lives should be. ... If people are informed, I think people will rise to the occasion.”
But when we met Dick, he was emerging from a training session for poll workers in South Bend. He is getting ready to be a judge at the voting place in the Nov. 2 elections — a first for him, at 68. In another first, he and Mickey have been working the phone banks in the run-up to the election, helping to get the vote out for some of the local conservative candidates.
Their activism is fueled, supported and guided by membership in the local Tea Party organization, St. Joe County Tea Party Patriots. But what first prompted their renewed interest in politics was Sarah Palin’s appearance on the scene in the last election.
“That got a lot of people’s attention” Dick says. In policy terms, Dick and Mickey liked Palin’s message about small, efficient government, he says. Beyond that was something deeper that just struck a chord: “Here is somebody who thinks more like we do than some of the people who have been in office,” he says. “She just seems like plain folks ... regular people.”
Dick and Mickey, who met in college and married soon after, worked hard and raised two daughters and horses at their home of 35 years. He worked for many years as a buyer for local pharmaceutical companies, and she was a teacher.
With the kids grown up and Palin’s appearance the scene, something shifted: “We got more interested in politics, thinking: ‘You know, maybe there is hope. ... Maybe there is someone out there who can make a difference.'”
After the McCain-Palin ticket failed to take the White House in 2008, Dick and Mickey were a bit depressed — they felt that Palin had taken a beating.
“The thing that has us energized again is Jackie Walorski’s bid for Congress,” Dick says.
They met the conservative Republican at a gun-rights gathering in southern Indiana. Walorski was holding them around the state after the 2008 election of Barack Obama.
Walorski is strongly backed by the Tea Party in a fierce battle for the congressional seat of Democrat Joe Donnelly. Donnelly, once supported by conservatives, is now reviled by them because of his vote in favor of health care legislation pushed by Obama — a betrayal of earlier promises, they say.
Dick and Mickey are heading out for a week in the hilly south of Indiana, where they will camp and ride their horses. But once they get back home, they will return to their other retirement plan — political activism.
“I see the Tea Party as an educational thing,” says Dick. “I think we have lost sight of what the government’s role, according to the Constitution, in our lives should be. ... If people are informed, I think people will rise to the occasion.”
15
Oct
2010
7:25am, EDT
James Cheng/msnbc.com
Faith Jones, who enjoys recreational trap shooting, poses near her
home in Valparaiso, Ind., Oct. 14, 2010.
Faces of the Tea Party - Faith on fire
Faith Jones had been getting fed up for several election cycles, she says. But one day, it was as if some swaggering cowboy had been foolish enough to challenge the compact redhead to a trap shooting contest.
“I got up off my couch in March of 2009,” says Jones, 58. “I just got tired of e-mailing my elected officials, and I got tired of yelling at the TV.”
In her view, government spending — and overreaching — had reached an intolerable level. She railed at the stimulus packages and the bank rescue and health care reform.
“And who gave them permission to bail out the auto industry?” asks Jones, who raised her daughter on her own while working a variety of public affairs jobs. “I happen to know failure,” she says. “I have failed many times in my life. I think failure is a good thing. … Failure builds character.”
As for health care reform, she shares the common Tea Party view that it violates the Constitution.
“It’s the arrogance of these people, the unlawfulness,” she says. “They have lost faith in the people.”
Starting with no experience in political organizing but a background in public relations and sales, Jones and her fiancé, Vietnam veteran Randy Taylor, organized the first rally of the Northwest Indiana Patriots in Valparaiso on April 15.
“At that first rally, we hoped we would get 50 people,” says Jones. “And then, about 1,000 people showed up — they just kept streaming over the top of this hill.”
As the main speaker, she was shocked and then inspired.
“Patriots!” she began, shouting into the microphone.
The NWIP now has about 1,800 members, and Jones is getting invitations to speak at larger Tea Party events, which she does without a script — bringing her own blend of rugged individualism and charm.
“You just have to speak from your heart. I don’t mind telling people I’ve never done this before … so you can do it,” says Jones. “I hope to be an inspiration, even if they stand on the other side of the aisle.”
She also tries to get people in her audiences to take practical action on issues, learning how politics works as she goes along.
“President Obama is not on the ballot on this election November 2,” she will point out to gatherings. “I say: Please, pay attention to how important the sheriff is. Understand the power of one school board member. Stay focused in your local community, because we will correct this community by community.”
Jones says she is in politics for as long as it takes to make officials accountable to voters and to observe constitutional limits.
“I think it has taken about 40 years for our government to lose the principles of our founding fathers,” she says. “It will take time to correct.”
Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images file
A man, who refused to give his name, displays a picture of George Washington
in his shirt pocket at the base of the Lincoln Memorial during the "Restoring Honor"
rally on Aug. 28, 2010 in Washington, DC. Tea party favorite and conservative
broadcaster Glenn Beck hosted the event, which drew thousands of people from
around the country and filled the National Mall between the Lincoln Memorial
and the World War II Memorial.
in his shirt pocket at the base of the Lincoln Memorial during the "Restoring Honor"
rally on Aug. 28, 2010 in Washington, DC. Tea party favorite and conservative
broadcaster Glenn Beck hosted the event, which drew thousands of people from
around the country and filled the National Mall between the Lincoln Memorial
and the World War II Memorial.
Faces of the Tea Party
Writer Kari Huus says: Volumes have been written and hours of television time have been spent arguing about the Tea Party movement, covering its celebrities and filming its rallies. But every movement is made up of individuals who come with specific concerns and fears, motivation and baggage.
Over the next week, msnbc.com will meet the rank-and-file members on a road trip through Indiana to get a close-up view of what makes these activists tick.
Not everyone we contacted in advance agreed to be involved, citing their perception that the Tea Party has been unfairly portrayed in the mainstream media.
“The chance of getting fair coverage from (your company) is less than zero percent,” one Tea Party activist said. “I don’t mean any disrespect.”
Nor do we. In this project, the goal is simply to put a human face on the wave of activism that has washed over the political landscape and become hard for Washington to ignore. In the coming week on PhotoBlog, we will be publishing portraits of some of the Tea Party activists who agreed to take part in the project, along with short profiles detailing their thinking, history and political actions.
We will also get a ground-level look at the Tea Party network — and perhaps a sense of its future — while they hold local meetings, attend rallies and actively campaign for candidates.
Stay tuned.
Update: Click here to read the Photoblog posts about the Tea Party members we met during our trip.
Over the next week, msnbc.com will meet the rank-and-file members on a road trip through Indiana to get a close-up view of what makes these activists tick.
Not everyone we contacted in advance agreed to be involved, citing their perception that the Tea Party has been unfairly portrayed in the mainstream media.
“The chance of getting fair coverage from (your company) is less than zero percent,” one Tea Party activist said. “I don’t mean any disrespect.”
Nor do we. In this project, the goal is simply to put a human face on the wave of activism that has washed over the political landscape and become hard for Washington to ignore. In the coming week on PhotoBlog, we will be publishing portraits of some of the Tea Party activists who agreed to take part in the project, along with short profiles detailing their thinking, history and political actions.
We will also get a ground-level look at the Tea Party network — and perhaps a sense of its future — while they hold local meetings, attend rallies and actively campaign for candidates.
Stay tuned.
Update: Click here to read the Photoblog posts about the Tea Party members we met during our trip.
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