"God put it in front of us to do," says Davis, whom I meet along with cochair Angela Pizzo, 72, and member Mena Kramer, 68, at Pizzo's home on Marlkress Road.
As with the Occupy movement, which I wrote about recently, I'm curious to know what makes the tea party tick.
"We offer conservatives and moderates an opportunity to express themselves and to find people of similar beliefs," John Sullivan, the group's spokesman, explains. "We're a magnet for people who want to have an avenue to learn more, express their views, and, yes, vent."
Like other members, Davis, Pizzo and Kramer say they want to restore the patriotic, exceptional, constitutional America they remember.
They believe in God and in hard work. They want immigration laws enforced and English spoken, and they want America to get out of hock.
"It's absolutely horrendous," Pizzo says, "that the country cannot live within budgets."
To them, Barack Obama is a socialist in all but name who presides over a bloated government that spends too much of our money while seeking to micromanage our lives.
Public school curriculums, they say, have swapped out patriotism for pabulum; the media are biased; and radicals from the '60s and '70s are running/ruining America. And as for that Occupy movement, let's not go there.
"It's reprehensible, their hatred of those who have achieved," Kramer says. "Redistribution of wealth is the direction . . . [but] the good news is, it has become so blatant that a lot of people are waking up."
To its members, the tea party offers hope.
"What our forefathers had established for us was fading away," Pizzo says. "I really felt something had to be done. And fortunately, there was the tea party."
Says Kramer: "It was cathartic, connecting with other people . . . but we've moved beyond catharsis. We're into strategizing. We're looking ahead to see how we can effect change."
