By Bill McMorris

They are noisy; they are controversial, at once derided and celebrated by pundits and pols; but does anyone really know why so many thousands attended Tea Party protests?

One group, which sponsored tax-day protests across the country last year, set out to answer that question.

The Sam Adams Alliance, a Chicago-based non-profit group advancing free-market principles, conducted interviews with dozens of leaders in the grassroots movement to see what inspired their participation.

The group surveyed 49 individuals who had organized protests in their communities and conducted in-depth interviews with 10 of them at a conservative leadership training seminar in Dallas in January.

The results surprised even Anne Sorock, who was with the group when it began sponsoring protests last year.

“We found that most of the (leaders) were inactive in politics before the Tea Parties,” she said. “For many, there was a breaking point which led them to get behind this cause.”

Nearly half of those surveyed said they had rarely participated in politics before coming to the Tea Party last year. Only 16 percent identified themselves as “very involved” in politics at the start of the movement.

Sorock said the findings stood in contrast to the idea that the protests are composed of full-time rabble rousers and the perpetually disgruntled. The leaders were, for the most part, ordinary citizens who felt compelled to act.

“Empowerment came up a lot in our interviews,” Sorock said. “They felt like they were losing their country and had to do something or they would regret it.”

Financial issues are the main focus of the group, according to the survey. No surprise there for a movement consisting of a sea of “Taxed Enough Already” pickets. But defense issues also inspired nearly 20 percent of leaders to get involved.

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“We were really surprised that defense issues attracted so much support,” she said. “But that is in line with many of their concerns that America is being weakened.”

Sorock emphasized the surveys did not address policy stances, only what issues mattered to the protesters.

While the surveys confirm activists are dedicated to the issues, the question remains are they grounded in reality?

Sorock thinks so.

“No one is thinking we should form a 3^rd party, most are trying to advance their cause within the Republican Party,” she said.

More than 60 percent of the group identified themselves as Republicans, with nearly 30 percent Independent and 10 percent embracing the Tea Party label. Sorock said that 10 percent is telling; leaders will bring the Tea Party brand into the coalition of ideologies that make up the base of Republican politics.

But the report describes the relationship between the Tea Party and the GOP as delicate, and with good reason. No one surveyed said social issues were a concern of the movement. The Republican Party, meanwhile, is composed of a coalition of the fiscally and socially conservative.

Doubts remain about the group’s ability to turn grassroots protesting into political reality. Raven Brooks should know, he has helped to do that for the Democratic Party’s progressive base.

“I feel like (the Tea Party) is an expression of emotion — it is not people fundamentally interested in organizing, they are just going along for the ride,” he said. “If they were interested in organizing then I think we would see them innovating in spaces online and winning some local races.”

Brooks is the Executive Director of Netroots Nation, a group which brought together progressive activists from Daily Kos, an online political powerhouse for Democrats, and other grassroots organizers to take activism to the next level.

The group’s annual conference has attracted mainstream acceptance from Democratic leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and even President Barack Obama.

The Tea Party, meanwhile, has experienced some setbacks among mainstream Republicans. Party leaders have most recently denounced a group of protesters for reportedly hurling racial epithets at black members of congress before the healthcare vote on Sunday.

Brooks said race has been a part of the group.

“The Tea Party thing definitely has tinges of racism in it along with anti-government thought,” he said.

But Sorock said race and fringe movements are the last thing the movement is about. It is more important to look at leadership and the general movement, rather than a tiny faction of extremists who happen to attend the rallies.

Sorock and her group analyzed 80 business cards that were exchanged at a Dallas gathering of Tea Party leaders, which, Sorock said, demonstrate the protesters’ commitment to shared values, rather than opposition to the government or administration.

“These groups convey positive messages — they say they are organized ‘for’ something, ‘for America,’ ‘for responsible government’ — they are not negative or extreme,” she said.

In looking at the Tea Party movement, one thing becomes clear: Ideology may always define how people understand the group. Netroots sees anti-government fringe. Sam Adams pictures common values of limited government and personal freedom. Progressives see disorganized rabble-rousers. Conservatives see a new coalition that can drive the party.

But at least everyone can agree they are noisy, which makes them impossible to ignore.

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