Although past protests called attention to what activists describe as big government gone rampant, the rally held at the corner of Mission and Alisal on Sept. 18 was an attempt to mobilize voters to make real waves at the polls.
Invigorated by eight Tea Party-backed Senate nominations in this month’s primary, activists hope to shake up the Republican Party and rid the halls of Congress of progressive Democrats.
“We want principled conservative leaders in office, and then we’ll have to hold their feet to the fire,” said Dianne Howes, co-organizer of Central Coast Freedom Rallies. “We will not go to sleep again.”
Howes said the rally was one way to reach out to voters. The group also makes phone calls, knocks on doors, and uses the Internet to get people involved. The Freedom Rallies is a tight-knit group but has no center and no leader, no organizational structure or message control.
Participants of the rally said they reject characterizations of their movement as an arm of the GOP, but every person who spoke with the Journal said they usually vote Republican.
Howes and many others have rallied around Tom Watson, Republican candidate for the 23rd Congressional District. “We will support every Republican candidate that won in the primaries,” she said. “We’ve got to flip the House and hopefully flip the Senate. And we will repeal the health care bill.”
All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives and 37 of the U.S. Senate’s 100 seats are up for re-election in November.
The nationwide Tea Party movement has been steaming ahead over the past couple years with a three-pronged message of small government, free-market capitalism and fiscal responsibility.
This was the overriding message at the rally in Solvang. But there was some disagreement among protesters over whether the movement is just about smaller government and fiscal austerity.
“It’s more about economic policy, but I’m more about ‘In God I trust,’” said Ballard resident Linda Preston. “I think social issues would work out if we got back to our roots. But I don’t think we have to take stands for or against those things.”
Margo Gould of Santa Ynez agreed. “We’ve got to deal with the economy right now,” she said. “We can’t fight too many battles. We’ve got to get spending down in a country with decent, honorable leaders. This is going to be Europe and all of your money will go to taxes. We don’t want that.”
Jeanne Breaux, who drove from Valley Springs to Solvang to protest with her sister, said God was an indispensable element of what she stands for. “There’s an assault on God,” she lamented. “If God leaves our country, I’m afraid for America.”
Ron Herbig of Solvang said social issues need to be pushed along with the movement’s economic priorities.
“You’ve got to play the whole ball game. You can’t just play first base,” he said. “I’m a Christian and abortion is murder any way you look at it. We’ve got to get back to Christian and basic values, which we steered away from.”
Herbig and many participants said one of the main goals of the movement is a significant reduction of illegal immigration. Some held signs in support of Arizona’s new immigration law.
“It’s a big issue for me because it’s ruining the economy,” Herbig fumed. “Illegal immigrants are taking away all our money, they’re wrecking the welfare system and the school system.
“When we have a 4th of July parade and I see a Mexican flag flying in that parade, where it should have been an American flag,” he continued, ”being a Veteran it makes me want to go to war.”
Diane Mazur, another co-organizer of the event, said her email inbox has been inundated with concerns over the plan to build a community center and mosque near ground zero in lower Manhattan.
“It just seems like Christians and Jewish people are being put on the backburner. And they’re very mean to us on behalf of the Muslims,” Mazur said. “We don’t need another mosque at ground zero.”
Lompoc resident Roy Belluz said social values were inextricably linked with “integrity and honesty,” and the politicians in office, he contended, were not representing these principles.
“This last president has spent more in the two years he’s been in office than all of the presidents previous,” he said. “That’s why we’re supporting regular people over established candidates, because we know they’re (the establishment) supported by special interests and work on their behalf.”
Howes said the Republican primaries proved that the Tea Party is a force to be reckoned with and has real staying power. “The GOP – look at the mess we’ve been in forever. They’re not doing anything,” she said. “We know what our principles are and what we stand for. For them, it’s about who knows who and the good ole boy thing.”