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Tea Party makes itself official in Florida

The Daily Commercial
Tea Party makes itself official in Florida

DAVID DONALD

Staff Writer

Tea party members in Florida now have a party to call their own.

Florida Secretary of State Kurt Browning certified the Tea Party as an
official minor political party, according to a Tea Party statement released
Friday.

"Over the past year or more, we have seen a growing disenchantment with the
existing two-party system," stated Orlando attorney Frederic O'Neal, Tea
Party Chairman, in a press release. "The current system has become mired in
the sludge of special interest money that seeks to control the leadership of
both parties. It's time for real change.

The Tea Party gained momentum following the 2008 presidential election,
gathering disaffected conservatives angry over federal bail outs and
stimulus bills under presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

The Tea Party joins 31 other minor political parties certified by the state.
Some of those parties include the Reform Party, Green Party, Real Food Party
of the United States of America, Prohibition Party, Veterans Party of
America, The Christian Party and Florida Socialist Workers Party.

The certification allows the Tea Party to recruit its own candidates to run
for state and local office in Florida.

Dan Semenza, a Lake County Republican Party executive committee member, has
attended several tea party rallies. However, he said he wouldn't consider
switching affiliations anytime soon.

"Unless the vast majority of Republicans switched, I wouldn't switch," he
said.

The news, however, is good for the fledgling conservative movement, Semenza
added.

"It does mean that the Tea Party has considerable strength," he said. "It's
interesting."

Mark Esche, vice president of the Leesburg Area Democrats, welcomed the
development.

"They certainly have the right to form a party," Esche said. "It will be
interesting to see what happens and how long it lasts."


Saturday, November 07, 2009 - www.dailycommercial.com/110709tea

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