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Kentucky's Tea Party is a Force to be Reckoned With

Kentucky voter Eric Wilson is concerned about his children’s future.

"I have to do now what is right, to give them the lifestyle that they need," Wilson said.

He is so passionate¹ that he leads the Kentucky 9/12 Project, a loosely affiliated² group of voters who want to re-capture the predominant mood of Americans in the wake of the September 11th terror attacks.

"It’s the day after September 11th, when we weren’t red states or blue states, we were the United States," he explained.

Kentucky red

But despite the non-partisan mantra, Wilson’s home state of Kentucky is a so-called red state, which currently favors conservative Republican candidates for public office. Groups like Wilson's are among the most conservative. Their popularity is partly a result of the growing strength of the Tea Party movement. They share the same values and concerns.

“I like the fact that the Tea party is kind of this nebulous thing that’s a little hard to define, but essentially³ when it comes down to it, smaller government, balanced budgets, less debt, a simpler tax code, and dismantling⁴ this political class," said Tea Party activist⁵ David Adams. Those were key points, he said, that helped elect Tea party favorite Rand Paul to the U.S. Senate.

Adams was Rand Paul’s campaign manager and says the Tea Party is a force to reckon with. "It has really shaken up the Republican Party in my view," he said.

Democrats⁶

Democratic voter Liz Cook, who lives in Danville, Kentucky -- site of the vice⁷ presidential debate -- is concerned about the rise of groups like 9/12. She also worries about the Tea Party's desire to slash⁸ government programs. 

"It’s a little scary because I view them as an extreme part of the Republican Party. And I think that any extremist groups make it a challenge for other more moderate reasonable discussions to surface," she said.

Extremism

But 9/12 Director Eric Wilson says groups affiliated with the Tea Party are not extremist. 

“The Tea Party is really the sentiment of the people," he said. The sentiment of the people is still of frustration⁹, still wanting their power, wanting their liberties back, still shouting at their TV, still shouting at their elected officials saying “hey, give me a voice.'”

It's no secret that Mitt¹⁰ Romney will most likely win Kentucky in November. Beyond that, Tea Party activists¹¹ aim to elect candidates to Kentucky's legislature who will support the conservative agenda: a rollback of abortion¹² rights, support of the coal industry and cuts to medical care for the poor. To achieve that, Republicans will have to control the state's House of Representatives, something that has eluded¹³ them for almost a century.