By Jimmy Espy
Correspondent
Members of the conservative Tea Party movement in North Georgia are targeting the U.S. 9th Congressional District seat held by outgoing U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga.
Tea Party activist Jim Groce of Walker County has been busy organizing events throughout the region, but he said a primary goal of the fledgling political group is to help decide who will replace Rep. Deal, who is running for governor.
"We are not going to endorse anybody, but we plan on inviting the candidates to talk to our group and tell us where they stand on the issues that are important to us," he said. "What these people do in Washington affects us. It matters."
Mr. Groce said the Tea Party as an organization may not endorse candidates, but members will be encouraged to contribute to and work for the candidates they believe are most committed to the group's principles.
He said limiting the size and power of government is vital to the United States.
"We need to take our country back," Mr. Groce said.
But not everyone is enamored of the "limited government" espoused by Mr. Groce.
"A lot of what they call 'intrusive government' is just our government protecting us," said Margaret Ball, 9th District Democratic Party chairwoman. "Do you consider speed limits on the highway intrusive? Food safety standards? I don't."
Ms. Ball said she never has been asked to meet with Tea Party members and doesn't know any Democrats who belong to the group.
"They seem to me to be like Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh, always negative about our government," she said.
Mr. Groce said he is a former Republican who is unhappy with what he called the party's failure to stick to its principles. He said anyone who believes in small government is welcome to join the Tea Party, but acknowledges that members are more likely to come from Republican backgrounds.
"We believe very strongly in limited government, and I just don't see many people in that party (Democrats) who agree," he said.
The Tea Party could have an impact on the crowded Republican field in the 9th District, according to Dr. Jack Waskey, a professor of political science at Dalton State College.
"It's certainly within the realm of possibility," he said. "It will depend on how well a candidate runs his campaign. But if they know how to put a campaign together, that support could help."
Dr. Waskey, who has attended a Tea Party meeting in Dalton, said many of the people attracted to the organization are angry at the Obama administration and Congress over spending, the perceived threat to health care and a lack of transparency in Washington, D.C.
"There is widespread frustration," he said. "It's as if the conservatives have become the new radicals. The left has done this kind of thing for generations, but now the conservatives are organizing and they are harkening back to the Revolutionary War traditions."
Mr. Groce said the Tea Party in North Georgia is a very loose-knit group and there isn't really any set membership. He said his Walker County group gets 20 to 30 people at its regular meetings, and a rally in Dalton on Saturday drew more than 200 people.
A lot of these "chapters" are just getting organized, so membership is tricky to gauge, he said.
Dr. Waskey doesn't know if the Tea Party has staying power, but said that there was no shortage of "passion" at the meeting he attended.
"These people are saying to Washington, 'We want to be in charge of our lives,'" he said.
Mr. Groce said the recent victory of Republican Scott Brown in the U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts was energizing.
"Now the Republican Party is trying to take credit for that win, but look at how much money they put into that race. Almost nothing," he said. "When we put out an appeal, we raised a lot of money for him."
Ms. Ball has a different assessment of Sen.-elect Brown's upset victory, citing the large number of unhappy independent voters in Massachusetts. She does not think the Tea Party had a big impact there and doesn't think it will have a big impact in the 9th District of Georgia, where there are fewer independents.
"They should get their own independent candidate," she said.
Jimmy Espy is based in Whitfield County. E-mail him at hoodcsa@aol.com.
9TH DISTRICT CANDIDATES
Republicans:
Clyde Daniel Benton
Chris Cates
John Thomas Graves Jr.
B. Lee Hawkins
Jeremy Edward Jones
Bertil Armin Loftman
William Stephens
Thomas Stephen Tarvin
Democrats:
Mike Freeman
Independents:
Edward "Eugene" Moon
Georgia's 9th District
The district runs from Hall County in the south and east, up to North Carolina and Tennessee and back down to Alabama on the west. Fifteen counties make up the district, including Catoosa, Dade, Fannin, Gilmer, Gordon, Walker and Whitfield.