Tea Party Patriots Hope to Get Out the Vote
The influence of the Tea Party could be the story of Campaign 2010. Not bad considering it didn't exist two years ago. The movement's been turning voter anger into energy coast to coast as evidenced by a bus tour by one tea party group, the Tea Party Express.
The tour began two weeks ago in Nevada and wrapped up Monday in New Hampshire.
CBS News Chief National Correspondent Byron Pitts reports the tea party is just getting started. With caffeine in their veins and their marching orders in hand, the foot soldiers of the Tea Party Patriots have spent the last few months in search of converts.
Like all tea partiers, they're energized by goals of reduced federal spending, smaller government and free markets. And in the last year, they have taken their message door to door in neighborhoods across the country.
CBSNews.com Special Report: Campaign 2010
A CBS News poll shows one in four Americans considers themselves a supporter of the Tea Party - which is actually not a party at all - rather a movement by people united by outrage over the rising federal debt and spending.
A potent force is the Tea Party Express, which promotes and funds conservative candidates boasting about 400,000 members nationwide. The largest national Tea Party organization is the Tea Party Patriots with more than 2,800 chapters across the country.
While the majority of tea partiers say they share the fiscal responsibility agenda, several Tea Party groups have sparked criticism for using racist slurs and images at marches around the country. Organizers say each group sets its own agenda.
With no traditional top down chain of command in the network, their call to action is simple.
"Do something," said Mark Falzon, N.J. state coordinator of the Tea Party Patriots. "No more couch potatoes in the Tea Party. That's passé. Everyone is up and they're doing something."
Jenny Beth Martin said, "This was something that truly bubbled up and was organic." She's a co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots. She and her husband have filed for bankruptcy after his business failed, and they lost their home.
"There's definitely an element of anger," Martin said. "We're not just angry and throwing stones. We're angry and saying this is what we want, and this is what we stand for as well."
Regardless of who gets elected, Martin says their work has just begun.
"If they're not going to stand up for our core values, then we'll turn around two years later in 2012 and find people who will do it," she said.
They say that sentiment is a Tea Party promise.