Tea party: The next generation?

By Ambreen Ali

Despite the tea parties' efforts to recruit the next generation, many young conservatives are steering clear. The grassroots conservative movement is too radical for some, and not enough so for others. But the main divide appears to be on tactics: Young people at the Conservative Political Action Conference in D.C. this week said they prefer volunteering on campaigns to holding protest signs. "Going to protests and trying to get on the news, that's not really for me," Adam Paul, a senior at Western Michigan University, said. "They represent most of the same things that I do, but I'm more focused on trying to get people elected." Even the leaders of high school and college tea-party chapters say they focus more on volunteering and positivity than the larger movement. Students standing in the CPAC registration line with Paul shared his skepticism. "I think a lot of the people who go [to tea-party events] are more radical than I am," Kelsey Shawl, a senior at Agnes Scott College in Atlanta, said. Justin Doherty, 21, and Shane Alan, 22, students at Massachusetts' Northern Essex Community College said they share the tea parties' concerns about government bailouts, but they prefer their college group. Across the hall, Kevin DeAnna offered a different reason for not being a tea partyer. Though he has attended rallies, the 27-year-old founder of the anti-immigration Youth for Western Civilization said the tea parties should take tougher stances. "As far as whether the tea party is too right wing, if only," he said. Such sentiments among CPAC's young participants contrasted with last year's conference, when tea partyers seemed to be the stars of the show. In 2010, tea partyers used the event as a platform to launch their fiscally minded Contract From America. Colonial outfits and "Don't Tread on Me" flags announced their presence. This time around, tea partyers were less visible at the 11,000-person event. The conservative lollapalooza, which draws young conservative leaders from across the nation, was a mishmash of groups instead, some with conflicting ideals. It was the sort of place where a man with a "No mosques" T-shirt could walk by a Muslims for America booth, where activists proudly wore anti-war stickers and pot legalization shirts while mingling with more mainstream Republicans. Some celebrated the diversity. Blayne Bennett, a recent Arizona State University graduate, said she wasn't concerned that tea partyers and students have not joined forces. "It might be okay to have each separate demographic doing their own thing," Bennett, a communications manager for Students for Liberty, said. She speculated that college students might not be joining tea parties because their campuses already have thriving conservative groups that better address their concerns. "Student groups are so effective because they are where the students are," she said. But she credited the tea parties with making students more aware of the nation's fiscal standing. Brandon Greife, national director of the College Republicans National Committee, agreed, saying that his group's members share the tea parties' concerns—just not their anger. "Young conservatives are growing up at a time when conservatism is on the rise versus a lot of tea-party members who feel the need to fight back in the space," he argued. So, younger activists prefer to make phone calls and knock on doors during elections, where "they see tangible results." The leaders of student tea-party groups also differentiate what they do from the larger movement. "While we believe in the same values, we have different life experiences and we have different needs," said Douglas Smith, president of the Conservative Society of America's Next Generation in New York. The group of 400 bills itself as the nation's first youth tea-party organization. "We bring a different vibe," Smith said, saying his group focused on voter registration drives during the elections. "We try to reach out to people our age." Across the country, a high school student has the same goal. Tessa Wade, 16, started The Founding Children Tea Party in Mesa, Ariz., last month. Inspired by her grandmother's involvement in the movement, Wade said she wanted to create a space for learning where anyone can come – even her liberal friends who back President Obama's health care overhaul. "I'd like it to be about principle, not parties," she said.

About two-dozen teenagers gathered at Wade's meeting last week, where they played games designed to teach them about the Constitution. They might hold a rally in the future, Wade said, but she wants to avoid protests. "I am just trying to get them to love their country," she said.

Back at CPAC, at least one group expressed gratefulness for the tea parties. Jeff Frazee of Young Americans for Liberty — which supports Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) and is part of the tea-party movement — said he remembers the cool reception his concerns about limited government received at CPAC several years ago. "During the Bush years, I felt very much alone," he said, crediting the tea parties for changing the conservative movement's priorities. "The difference is light and day."