By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
The Republican Presidential Primary season appears to be winding down. After former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum suspended his campaign and since neither Newt Gingrich nor Ron Paul have enough money to continue active campaigning, it seems almost certain that former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney will be the Republican nominee for President of the United States.
Gov. Romney has a very tough road ahead if he is to actually defeat President Barack H. Obama. According to the numbers at Realclearpolictics.com, Alabama is safely in the Romney camp. Alabama is among 17 states that appear locked into Gov. Mitt Romney at this point. Montana, Georgia, South Carolina, and Indiana are also leaning toward likely voting for Romney. If the election were today it appears that Romney would have 175 electoral votes and President Obama would have 227 of the 270 electoral votes needed to secure his reelection. The battleground is in the states that are too close to call at this point. Iowa, Arizona, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Nevada, Virginia, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Florida all look like they could swing either way at this point. The various groups that make up the Alabama Tea Party movement are aware of this and are eager to make a difference in this election.
Since Alabama appears safely a Romney state, Florida is the focus of the Tea Parties in Alabama. On Thursday Ann Eubank addressed 61 members of the Rainy Day Patriots gathered at the Hoover Tactical Firearms facility about the Tea Party’s “Paint Florida Red” initiative.
Ms. Eubank said, “The main stream media has tried to paint us as “right wing radicals.”” Eubank said that there are millions of Americans who believe in the same things but they have not been vocal enough. “We have to become radicals,” she said. Eubank said that Florida was going to be a huge battleground state that it would likely decide the presidential election. Ms. Eubank had already traveled to Florida where she had met with leaders from 175 Florida Tea Party Groups, FreedomWorks, and Americans For Prosperity at a meeting in Florida where the conservative groups discussed how they can work to defeat President Obama in November. She said that Tea Party groups from Florida were sending representatives to meet with leaders of Alabama’s various Tea Party groups at a meeting here in Alabama on Saturday April 28th.
The “Paint Florida Red” plan is to form different teams of Alabama citizens to act on behalf of and in concert with the Republican Party and the Mitt Romney campaign. Zan Green the President of the Rainy Day Patriots said that they have already been assigned to the Destin area. Eubanks said that it was important for the Tea Parties to organize their efforts in such a way so that they don’t duplicate services. They intend to form a travel team to actually go door to door with their Florida Tea Party and Florida United for Freedom colleagues. The travel teams will have i-phones giving them their door knock lists, driving directions, talking points, schedules, and policy position videos to assist in impromptu discussions with voters. The Alabama Tea Party groups including the Rainy Day Patriots also intend to form teams of campaigners here in Alabama to call voters in Florida and internet teams to campaign on behalf of Romney on internet sites. The Rainy Day Patriots had signup sheets for the Florida travel, phone, and internet teams that night.
Zan Green is President of the Rainy Day Patriots.
For more information about the Rainy Day Patriots or to volunteer your services for the “Paint Florida Red” campaign contact:
