Last Saturday in Brandon’s Clayton Park, approximately 200 citizens gathered for a TEA Party (Taxed Enough Already) organized by conservative activist Terry Kemple, and featuring a rally-the-troops speech by State Senator Ronda Storms (right).

It was one of what was supposed to be over 1,000 such expressions of outrage at government spending under the Obama administration around the country on Independence Day, and followed a similar outburst of conservative sentiment at the first “Teabag” parties held on Tax Day, April 15th.

That day was also dedicated to federal largesse, though you may recall it more as a media battle between the seeming outright advocacy of the Fox News network, and the derision of it by more liberal commentators, including way too many allusions to what the phrase ‘teabagging’ meant. (This Keith Olbermann bit was just part of that onslaught.)

The growing federal deficit was on the minds of most of the citizenry. Despite the fact that a large part of the current deficit can be laid at the feet of former President George W. Bush (as my previous column, referring NY Times columnist David Leonhardt, can attest to), those in attendance on Saturday were of no mind to hear such specific facts.

Susan O’Connor from Valrico said indignantly, “Now you have to remember the debt that Obama has given us is what? Quadruple what any other president has ever put us in. You can’t even compare that debt. What he’s done in 6 months is how many trillions more than all other Presidents combined.”

Mary Tyer from Brandon identified herself as a “proud American” who said the country couldn’t afford the change Barack Obama is advocating. She grew increasingly more irritated by my questions. “He’s stealing our money every day!” When I politely mentioned that though there would be tax increases in a health care reform package, the only taxes that have gone up so far under his administration have been for people who purchase cigarettes, this senior citizen didn’t want to hear about it.

““Oh yes, this country was in good shape when he came into office. Look at it now! Do you like it?” Her voice grew more agitated, and at this point I think she just didn’t like me anymore.

“You know something, young man, you’re going to have to have to pay it, too!”

“But ma’am…he really hasn’t raised taxes yet,” I interjected. “The deficit grew tremendously under George Bush-”“

“PLEASE DO NOT BRING GEORGE BUSH INTO THIS! OUR COUNTRY WAS SAFE WHEN THAT MAN WAS IN OFFICE. WHERE ARE WE NOW? DO YOU KNOW?” And with that she skulked away.

I then walked around looking at the various signs in the crowd. One depicted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Obama as “The Axis of Evil.”

Another sign, held by Bob Hunter from Sun City Center, included photos of Pelosi, Reid and California Representative Henry Waxman, co-author of the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade legislation that barely passed the House late last month. His sign was captioned “The Three Stooges.”

Hunter is a recent transplant from Pennsylvania. His face grew red after I mentioned the words “Arlen” and “Specter” to him. Commenting on the Senator’s conversion to the Democrats, he wondered how he could have been re-elected so many times. Then the answer came to him.

“If it wouldn’t be for Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Those were the two areas with the greatest population in Pennsylvania, and all the people on welfare, that’s where they live, and they’re not going to kick out the Golden Goose.”

Elected officials and those aspiring to higher office spoke in the park.
Two Congressional candidates vying for the Republican nomination in District 12 (the seat being vacated by Adam Putnam) — Thomas Snider and Polk County Commissioner Randy Wilkinson — gave short speeches. As did District 56 House Representative Rachel Burgin.

But the star of the afternoon was Hillsborough area State Senator Ronda Storms, who touched on a variety of issues in her 10-minute address.

Looking patriotic in her stars-and-stripes blouse, Storms stayed on the main theme of the afternoon: too much dependence on the federal government. And she blasted some of what she called the excesses of Hillsborough County’s indigent health care system, effusively praised recently in the wake of the passing of Phyllis Busansky, who helped craft the program back in 1991.

Storms said that the program paid for a citizen to be flown to New Orleans for, “I kid you not, the medical replacement for Viagra. That’s the kind of program we want to avoid.”

Somewhat stunned by this comment, I asked Storms about that allegation in a follow-up individual interview. She said that she’s been amazed that the local media have not done a comparison between the indigent program and what’s happening in Washington. “We learned that given unlimited amounts of money, it reduces the motivation for efficiency.”

Storms says she does believe the health care system needs to change, and is not a fan of managed care.

Also in her speech, the State Senator remarked that in addition to the federal government taking over banks and car companies, they were also taking over the media. To buttress her point, she cited as her main source for this allegation veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas, generally the butt of tasteless jokes by the Republican right.

In fact last week, Thomas called out Press Secretary Robert Gibbs for controlling the press in a way she said was worse than Richard Nixon.

Storms added, “You know what? You and I know, it’s the truth.”

In our interview, Storms also predicted that Hillsborough County voters will reject the one-cent sales tax for transit that is expected to be on the 2010 ballot.

“It’s going to go down in flames. It’s not going to pass, because people are sick of it. There is an anti-rail system sentiment, and an anti-tax sentiment. It’s being generated by a narrow group of people …and most of those people have something to gain from it. There are a few true believers, but the people don’t want it.”

There has been much blather in the media this year about who speaks for the Republican Party. With over three years before the next presidential election, that may not be the right question to ask (especially in a week that saw the fortunes of Mark Sanford and Sarah Palin diminish). But Democrats emerged from the desolation of John Kerry’s loss in 2004 by having grass-roots groups like MoveOn.Org coalesce around opposition to George Bush. Excessive federal spending on behalf of the Obama administration seems to be the one thing conservative activists are excited about, in what could be the most important year for changing domestic policy in a generation.

The first 100 days of the president’s administration is usually used as a report card to judge its success or gauge where it might be for the rest of its term. However, the closing of President Obama’s honeymoon may not even be the news headline as reports of Arlen Specter switching parties overshadows the president. This completely arbitrary 100th-day-mark might underscore more the status of the Republican Party than anything else.

Watch Arlen Specter’s statement after the jump.

Specter’s decision to switch parties would give the Democrats the 60 potential votes needed to defeat a filibuster. Now, whether the democrats could rely on specter to vote with the party the majority of the time or on the big issues is yet to be seen. His foreign policy views are quite hawkish and may not reflect the views of most democrats but he was in favor of the stimulus which suggests him to be a determining vote in certain domestic policy issues.

However, there is bigger background story going on here. His move to switch parties underscores the bleak status of the Republican Party. The Republican Party was not popular in public opinion polls during the end of the Bush era. In fact, the Bush Administration might be to blame for the dismal state of the GOP. The George W. Bush Administration, especially the Bush Doctrine, was a departure from traditional conservative paradigms. His government spending and international interventionism abandoned core Republican values and left the party bewildered and without focus. The only direction for the Republican Party after Bush was to further differentiate themselves from Democrats. This would ultimately divide the party between the moderates and extremists. Voices like Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh didn’t, and still don’t, speak for every conservative. For months the media has been obsessed with the question of who runs the Republican Party, but no one knows. In the meantime, the RNC has acquired the moniker “Party of No.”

It’s no wonder that more people are moving to the left. Obama’s approval rating is higher than most current presidents after the first 100 days, and most people approve of his job so far. The RNC, on the other hand, is taking harsh measures to form cohesion in its party. RNC Chairman Michael Steele is threatening to withhold RNC funds from Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, two moderates who have sided with the president and backed the stimulus.

Steele playing hardball won’t keep the party together; rather it will probably drive them further apart. Threatening to withhold funds won’t prevent Republican dissenters, but it may give them an incentive to follow Specter’s lead and move to the left.

The Republican Party is in bad shape. It can’t produce any real options for policy to aid in our recession. They’re wandering along without a central figure to provide them with focus. Members are leaving the party and joining the Democrats. This first 100-day mark might be more about the state of the Republican Party than it is Obama.

Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right. Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans.

When I supported the stimulus package, I knew that it would not be popular with the Republican Party. But, I saw the stimulus as necessary to lessen the risk of a far more serious recession than we are now experiencing.

Since then, I have traveled the State, talked to Republican leaders and office-holders and my supporters and I have carefully examined public opinion. It has become clear to me that the stimulus vote caused a schism which makes our differences irreconcilable. On this state of the record, I am unwilling to have my twenty-nine year Senate record judged by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate. I have not represented the Republican Party. I have represented the people of Pennsylvania.

I have decided to run for re-election in 2010 in the Democratic primary.

This announcement, plus the addition of Sen. Al Franken will give the Democrats a fillibuster-proof 60-seat majority in the Senate. Of course, Specter addresses this point as well:

My change in party affiliation does not mean that I will be a party-line voter any more for the Democrats that I have been for the Republicans. Unlike Senator Jeffords’ switch which changed party control, I will not be an automatic 60th vote for cloture. For example, my position on Employees Free Choice (Card Check) will not change.

Which makes you wonder, what’s the point Arlen? You’re leaving the Republican party because you have no hope of re-election there, only to join the Democrats with the announcement that you won’t be much help or get in line on major Dem initiatives like the Employee Fair Choice Act? Why not just go Independent like Lieberman did? In any event, expect major fallout throughout the day on conservative talk radio and Fox News.