Tea Party Pounds the Pavement to Bring in the Votes

It may have been cool and somewhat cloudy, but 15 supporters of the Redlands Tea Party Patriots stood ready with packets of information in hand ready for long walks up and down Redlands neighborhoods to earn more votes for conservative causes and candidates.

The supporters gathered at the Redlands' home of Tea Party committee member John Berry on Saturday to begin the fifth neighborhood canvass walk.

The group has been conducting them since December in an effort to reach out to those registered as Republicans, decline to state, American Independent and Libertarians.

“Our whole point is to engage the voters,” Berry said before the walk. “If you knock, you can say here is a packet of causes and candidates that we support.”

One knock is more effective at earning a vote than a simple flier or mailer, he said.

The packet included election materials for Assemblyman Mike Morrell, currently running against Democratic Challenger Russ Warner for the 40th Assembly District seat that serves Redlands and Loma Linda.

Canvassers also carried two petitions that oppose Senate Bill 48 -- which requires any “Native Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, European Americans, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans, and other ethnic and cultural groups” who contributed to the development of the state or the country -- be allowed into school curriculum.

The other petition supported a ballot initiative to make the state legislature part-time by cutting pay, limiting expenses and shortening sessions.

The walks are made even more urgent by the fact that, except for Republicans, the other party associations they were targeting that day could not vote in some of the races.

According to the League of Women’s Voters:

“If you are registered to vote with a political party, you will be given a ballot for that party in a Presidential primary election.

“If you are unaffiliated with any party - sometimes called “no party preference” or "decline to state" - you will be given a nonpartisan ballot, containing only the names of all candidates for nonpartisan offices and any ballot measures to be voted upon at the primary election.

“Or, you may be able to request the ballot of one of the political parties at the polls or on your vote-by-mail ballot request form. Each political party has the option of allowing decline-to-state voters to vote in their Presidential primary.”

Every vote is vitally important, Tea Party members said. These are trying times and the government has made things worse. New leadership is needed to take the country in a new direction, they said.

There are just too many restrictions put on businesses and homeowners it’s almost difficult to make what should make simple decision and it impacts everyone, said Sam and Lung-Ying Wong, of Redlands.

It smacks of communism, the couple said.

“We do it for our kids,” said Lung-Ying Wong. She and her husband’s families have roots in China. “Both our families came here to escape communism. People have no idea. People who think communism is great have never lived under communism.”