Tea Party Supporters Pack Convention to Scope Out 2012 Candidates

Feb. 25: Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), left, is greeted by Marcus Huey, right, of Tea Party Patriots of Glendale, Ariz., as Flake arrives to hear keynote speakers on the opening day of the Tea Party's convention. (AP)

PHOENIX -- Tea party supporters packed a Phoenix convention center Saturday to hear from two possible contenders for next year's Republican presidential nomination -- an election the conservative populist movement is determined to shape after helping the Republicans to big gains in the midterm elections.

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty aimed to impress more than 2,000 members of the Tea Party Patriots with a full-throated call to "take back our country."

Texas Rep. Ron Paul, already embraced by tea party members, also spoke. The segment of engaged voters could prove vital to Republican White House hopefuls, but it's an audience that is skeptical of the politicians courting their backing.

"They're good speakers. They know what to say to inspire an audience. But I'm looking for substance I haven't found yet," said retiree Kaye Woodward of Livingston, Texas, who has been a mainstay at tea party events from Washington to the Alamo. "I haven't been gung-ho for a candidate for quite some time. I'm looking for a truth teller and I'm not sure I've found one yet."

Tea party activists are a loose-knit coalition of community groups made up of Americans with conservative and libertarian views. They believe government has grown too large and threatens individual liberties.

Potential candidates are trying to figure out how far they need to go to win over the tea party -- and what spoils that would bring.

Democrats are watching too, eager to portray President Barack Obama's eventual challenger as beholden to the political far-right.

Pawlenty waved a copy of the U.S. Constitution after railing against "the royal triangle of greed: big government, big unions and big bailed out businesses." The former governor also paid homage to a longshot New York gubernatorial candidate who ran last year using the slogan "the rent is too damn high."

"So here's our simple motto: 'The Government's too damn big!"' Pawlenty said.

For Pawlenty, the event is his most overt attempt to reach out to the tea party movement. Most of his fellow 2012 Republican presidential prospects passed on the event citing scheduling conflicts.

Paul, who ran for president in 2008 and is thinking of doing it again, urged tea party members at the conference to keep up the pressure for sweeping change.

"I wish I could say you were the majority, but we are still the minority," the Texas congressman said. "But remember an irate minority can accomplish a whole lot when you're determined to do it."

All of the Republicans considered likely to run for president have said they believe in the core tea party principles of limited government and fiscal restraint, and they play up their own efforts to stymie the agendas of Obama and the Congressional Democrats -- most notably the federal health care overhaul that gave rise to the tea party movement.

But some Republicans would have a head start among tea partiers if they run. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann -- who built a tea party caucus in Congress -- both enjoy star status in the movement for their plainspoken ways and adherence to the movement's core values.