Are Independent SC Tea Partiers Missing Opportunity?

The list of electoral victories the Tea Party has scored is lengthy, with some of its biggest triumphs coming right here in South Carolina.

All received strong Tea Party backing in 2010, as did Gov. Nikki Haley.

Not to mention who is nationally recognized as the Tea Party’s patriarch.

This weekend the state . Not coincidentally, the GOP has also descended on the state in advance of the Jan. 21 primary.

As Katon Dawson, Gov. Rick Perry’s chair in South Carolina, said: “Everybody wants the Tea Party vote.”

Dawson knows something about getting that vote.

He was the state GOP leader when the Tea Party rose to prominence two years ago. South Carolina was for the Tea Party, with its inclination toward small government and individual rights. Dawson pointed out that South Carolina went Republican in the presidential race, unlike the two other early voting states: Iowa and New Hampshire.

Indeed, the .

And when it came time to rally around a single candidate in a local, regional or statewide race, the many Tea Party groups from the Upstate to the Lowcountry were able to do so without much trouble.

But things are different at the national level, when there are four and five conservative candidates to choose from.

It is at the national level where the Tea Party’s penchant for individuality actually works against them. Because they can’t agree on whom to support, it has the effect of empowering the most moderate candidate.

And, in 2012, that candidate is Mitt Romney.

The struggle to convert a primarily grassroots movement to a coherent national group doesn’t come as a surprise to Taft Matney, a consultant from Mauldin.

“The farther out you go geographically, the more individual agendas will come in to play,” Matney said. “With so many voices saying so many things, it simply becomes difficult for audiences to cut through the noise and hear the substantive messaging on a national level.”

Javan Browder, who was Rep. Michele Bachmann’s state Tea Party co-director and has since moved to support former Sen. Rick Santorum, thinks the Tea Party in South Carolina may have missed an opportunity.

“If we wanted to elect a president, we needed to coalesce behind a single candidate much earlier,” he said. “I’m hoping and praying we don’t get stuck with Romney.”

who was the real Tea Party leader, with both candidates touting support. , and .

Given the latest poll numbers, it would seem that if the Tea Party could unite behind one candidate and endorse him, that candidate would instantly become the frontrunner over Romney, even with Rep. Ron Paul at his present numbers.

A vocal Spartanburg activist, Karen Martin, thinks the time may have passed also.

“There was no endorsement from an elder statesman, like someone of Jim DeMint’s caliber.” Martin said.

DeMint for president, insisting that Senate and House races are more important and more winnable for the Tea Party.

Kerry Wood, another active Tea Party member from Spartanburg, is quite aware of the conundrum his group is in.

“The lack of organization is both our strength and our weakness," he said.

Still, Wood believes going down the endorsement path is a slippery slope.

He referenced the Minutemen, a 1990s-era group committed to independence that frayed once it began endorsing candidates.

“Endorsements are the quickest way to end a grass-roots political group,” Wood said.

Wood relayed a story about the Laurens County Tea Party, which endorsed former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in December against the objections of most of its members and led to a heated argument where some threatened to leave. The story illustrates how deeply individual members prize their independence.*

Previous Tea Party favorites should also be wary about who they endorse.

Wood pointed to the blowback that State Treasurer Curtis Loftis and Haley received after they endorsed Romney, with Haley’s being especially vehement.

“The only person she did that for was herself,” Wood said. “It’s not like the people who supported her are going to vote for Romney.”

Wood said Tea Partiers will not forget that when Haley is up for re-election. He predicted she would not survive the GOP primary.

“She’s burned too many bridges,” he said.

For all the talk about its influence it is important to remember the Tea Party is less than three years old and is still finding its way.

“The Tea Party here in South Carolina is learning a lot about themselves and the people they elected in 2010,” Wood said.

Martin agreed.

She said that the group, which some estimate has over 100 chapters in the state, is on a learning curve.

“Hopefully the conservatives will reflect on this primary season for the future and we will train ourselves to be pragmatists instead of emotionally driven,” she said.

But about the only thing the Tea Party in South Carolina can agree on at the moment is that they don’t like Romney.

Browder believes that should it come down to a vote for Romney or Barack Obama, his colleagues will ultimately pull the lever for Romney.

But he added: “We won’t be out campaigning for him and we won’t be giving him any money.”

That’s a thought that ought to give GOP leaders pause, especially considering the race against Obama will almost certainly be tight and the president is expected to have a war chest of over $1 billion.

*EDITOR'S  NOTE - Dianne Belsom, President of the Laurens County Tea Party, took issue with Kerry Wood's ststements about her group. Her remarks can be viewed below in the comments section.