VERO BEACH — Toby Hill, one of the driving forces behind the Indian River Tea Party, said Wednesday the organization has no plans to endorse local candidates for public office or morph into a third political party.Speaking to the Indian River County Taxpayer’s Association, Hill said the grassroots operation intends to stick to its founding principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility and promoting a free market system. “We do not see the Tea Party being a third political party,” he said. “We find that to ultimately be divisive and bring about defeat. There is no success story in being a third party in the history of the United States.”Hill stressed that the Tea Party is not affiliated with either major political party, but did note that given the group’s founding principles it is more aligned with a conservative over liberal philosophy.”Everyone realizes that our basic premise is going to line up more with Republicans than Democrats,” he said. “But there are Republicans that don’t act like Republicans and there are Democrats that have conservative values. We hope that whatever party you are, you are fiscally responsible and that you understand our three tenets are what makes this country great and is the reason for anyone’s personal success.”We don’t care what party you are if you embrace those (tenets) we want to support you.”However, he did say the Indian River County Tea Party may get involved more with candidate forums and debates such as the one it sponsored ahead of the Vero Beach City Council race. The goal, he said, will be to educate the electorate.”We didn’t see anyone putting on a candidate forum, so we decided to do it,” he said. “We wanted the voter to get a good look at the critical issues facing the candidates. We think the hard issues can be discussed and positions exposed. What we want is the truth.”We will not be endorsing candidates, we are not structured to do that.”The Tea Party and its six-member board of directors (along with co-chairman Hill comprised of co-chairman Paul Tanner, Karl Zimmerman, John Marr, Chuck Mechling and Bill Friesell) are planning another tax day rally on April 15, 2010.He said the site is still being worked out. Last year, in the party’s inaugural event, crowds at the County Commission complex swelled into the thousands. Hill said at the time they were expecting from 400 to 800 people.For more information on the Indian River Tea Party visit www.indianriverteaparty.com.
