Tea Party rally promotes voting

The day started out with tornado warnings and thunderstorms. So Spencer Leiter and Doug Parker, the organizers of the Tea Party movement in Bloomington, did not expect a huge crowd.

A little more than 20 people met outside Bloomington City Hall Tuesday to discuss fiscal responsibility and the importance of voting in this election.

“We’re really trying to get people to get out the vote,” Leiter said. “Call them up, give them a ride. Make it hard for them not to vote.”

Candidates showed their support for the rally by sending representatives.

Todd Young, the Republican candidate for the 9th District U.S. House of Representatives seat, sent his father, Bruce Young, to speak on his behalf.

“It is clear that people like yourselves have been an enormous inspiration to him,” Young said, addressing the Tea Party supporters.

Skip Daley, a facilitator for Kevin Suddeth’s campaign, also attended the rally. Suddeth is the Republican candidate for District 61 State Representative.

He thanked those gathered for keeping the Tea Party movement alive in Bloomington, which he said hasn’t been easy.

Daley read to the audience about the original Tea Party movement against the British, when the government tried to deceive Americans about inexplicably high taxes.

“Does this sound familiar?” Daley asked.

He asked the crowd if they felt directly representative by their current elected officials, to which there was an enthusiastic response of “no!”

Daley said everyone must work hard to get out the vote to combat this.

“Today’s protest will be in the battlefield known as the voting booth,” Daley said.

He also urged those present not to vote for one party or another, but to vote for the best possible candidates.

Leiter and Parker said they hosted the first Tea Party rally in Bloomington in 2009 on tax day, promoting fiscal responsibility.

“I believe the government is on an unsustainable path,” Leiter said.

He said current poor government spending decisions are being passed to younger generations, and the government needs to learn to spend within limits.

Parker said the movement started while he and Leiter were pig hunting in Bedford. On the drive home, they grumbled about politics and the economy. From there, they decided to start a movement, and it took off with unexpected success.

He said there are between 500 and 600 people who requested to be on their e-mail list, and about 400 followers on Twitter.

Parker said both Democrats and Republicans have supported poor spending decisions in the past. Parker told the crowd that if a Republican majority is elected, it will be up to Tea Party members to keep government spending in check.

“We’re going to have to be the conscience so they don’t make poor decisions later,”
Parker said.