Tea party activists say they'll abstain from voting on Election Day By ROBERT J. VICKERS, The Patriot-News
Though Mitt Romney has sewn up the Republican presidential nomination, some tea party activists remain unconvinced of his conservative credentials and plan to abstain in November.
“I have heard from various folks in the tea party that they would rather stay home,” said Ana Puig, the state director of FreedomWorks, a conservative activist training group. “I’m hearing that from people all over the country and on Facebook.”
The Romney rejection stems from the deeply held belief by many conservatives that the former Massachusetts governor is really a moderate wolf in conservative sheep’s clothing.
Many conservatives worry that he would govern as a traditional big-government Republican.
“They think Romney is a RINO,” said Puig, referring to the oft-used and derisive acronym Republican In Name Only.
“You do have the very right-wing folks who are going to stay home, but a no vote is a vote for Barack Obama,” said Puig, who is also the co-chairwoman of Bucks County’s Kitchen Table Patriots tea party group.
Scott Burkholder, an organizer in the York County 912 Patriots, said he also has heard tea party members say they’ll pass on voting for Romney.
“I’ve heard that,” Burkholder said. “I think that’s dangerous.”
It’s not clear how many in the tea party will actually stay away from the polls on Election Day.
Burkholder attributed the sentiment to the momentary frustration of not getting a more conservative candidate, such as Pennsylvania’s former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum.
“The same things were said about [2008 GOP nominee] John McCain,” Burkholder said. “When McCain won the nomination, we were for Romney because he was more conservative than McCain. You can see how far the conservative movement has come now that Romney isn’t conservative enough.”
Much of the dissenting sentiment stems from the vocal libertarian wing of the party.
“The majority of Tea Party members will vote for Mitt Romney, but the majority of Ron Paul folks will not,” Puig said of the Texas congressman who remains a candidate for the GOP nomination. “They’ll stay home, but they don’t represent the grassroots movement.”
Burkholder said he has personally tried to convince libertarian Paul supporters to join the fold.
“Ron Paul people are going to vote for Ron Paul no matter if he gets into the race or not,” Burkholder said. “I’ve had that back-and-forth with a lot of Ron Paul people.”
Romney will undoubtedly campaign more from the middle to woo independent moderates.
Some libertarians — who see no substantive difference between Romney and Obama — believe he could still win over the libertarian wing if he made a genuine effort.
“A lot of us are hoping we can form a coalition in August and move forward,” said Dewayne Delgrande, a registered Camp Hill Republican who votes libertarian.
“But Mitt Romney needs to have something to offer,” Delgrande said. “He hasn’t shown any indication of that, but I hope it will come. He shouldn’t take the faction for granted.”
Poster Comment:
Now why doesn't this surprise me!!
