Tea party convention seeks to put power in motion

"I know it's very hard to define the tea party with one message," said Rebecca Wales, spokeswoman for Smart Girl Politics, an online network popular with "tea party" activists and a convention sponsor. "But we're unified in the fact that we . . . mobilize quickly, and it's powerful when we do."

Grass-roots activism -- the door-knocking, phone-banking and online networking that was the hallmark of President Obama's campaign -- will be the focus of the three-day convention, which started Thursday. Wales' group, for instance, will teach attendees how to conduct voter registration drives.

Such activities were key in helping elect Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), and tea party leaders increasingly see them as the cornerstones of their power.

Some workshops will be run by the Leadership Institute, a conservative training group recently in the news for funding a magazine founded by James O'Keefe -- the activist accused of entering the office of Sen. Mary L. Landrieu (D-La.) under false pretenses for felonious purposes.

Born last spring as a response to the Wall Street bailouts, the nation's various tea party groups had until recently been better known for large-scale protests than organization.

And this weekend's meeting, organized by a for-profit social networking site, has been rife with contention.

Some activists criticized the ticket prices of up to $560 as exorbitant and against the spirit of a people-powered revolution the movement espouses. A few sponsors dropped out. The only elected officials signed on to speak -- Reps. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) -- backed out.

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