Leaders of the leaderless movement: Who are behind the Tea Parties?

Mark Meckler and Jenny Beth Martin of the Tea Party Patriots

Meckler and Martin oversee the thousands of Tea Party Patriots groups in the country, but insist they are servants to the grassroots activists.

The group — in conjunction with FreedomWorks and others — most recently organized the drafting efforts of “A Contract from America,” a Newt Gingrich-style document of 10 Tea Party specific legislative priorities. The final document will be presented to congressional candidates to sign.

Both Meckler and Martin have been the face of the organization, which boasts more than 1,000 local coordinators of Tea Party Patriots groups. During a press conference at CPAC, Ryan Hecker, who developed the “Contract from America,” called Meckler “one of the central forces” of the movement and said Martin “has been central to building grassroots” across the country.

Martin, at CPAC Thursday, also contested the idea that the movement lacks leadership, saying: “We have 1,500 to 15 million leaders. A lot.”

In an e-mail, she explained, “The people who are most influential in the movement are all the local coordinators around the country who have planned protests, made phone calls, answered questions, kept the grassroots focused on our core values (fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government and free markets), secured permits, and committed their lives, fortunes and sacred honor to this movement and our country.”

While some activists tell The Daily Caller that they find groups like FreedomWorks and Tea Party Patriots reprehensible, others say they provide good ideas and help lay groundwork for rallies — like Glenn Beck’s 912 March on Washington.

Mark Skoda of Ensuring Liberty PAC and the National Tea Party Convention

He took the stage at the National Tea Party Convention like he was running for leader of the movement, firing up the crowd with quips like “Barack Obama was indeed our Pearl Harbor for the conservative movement,” and “What we need now are another 40 Scott Browns.”

Surrounded by nearly 100 national and international members of the media, Skoda announced at the Nashville convention plans to operate Ensuring Liberty PAC, which will not only fund conservative candidates, but also make sure they are running good campaigns.

His 15 minutes of fame may be up, but the PAC has a crowd of ardent Tea Party activists behind the effort including Missouri State Sen. John Loudon of the St. Louis Tea Party, Steve McQueen and Brad Ehmen of the Quincy, Illinois Tea Party, Bill Hennessy of the St Louis Tea Party and Rose Corona, who is involved in California Tea Party groups.

Skoda’s role as leader of the movement is not universally accepted. Many Tea Party groups across the country did not participate in the convention because of the high ticket prices. Some accused Skoda and convention organizer Judson Phillips of trying to use the convention to elevate themselves as leaders of the movement.

“In fact, of the over 100 leaders that I know, not one attended the so-called Tea Party Convention in Nashville,” Stahl said.

Glenn Beck of Fox News

Beck used the airwaves to promote his 912 Project, named for the day after the September 11, 2001 attacks when Americans were united, and sponsor the Taxpayer March on Washington in 2009.

Stahl said Beck is the most influential person to the movement, saying, “There would be a very small movement without him.”

“The most often repeated phrase I hear among rank and file and leaders is, ‘Thank God for Glenn Beck.’ I cannot personally give him enough credit. There are some who decry his tactics, but none can deny the influence.”

Other Tea Party activists argue that other than promoting the 912 Project, Beck hasn’t been involved in other day-to-day efforts of the movement.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin

William Temple, an activist who travels to events across the country dressed in revolutionary garb, said while the movement is leaderless, he thinks someone will eventually take charge.

Without a doubt, he said, the former governor of Alaska could end up the de-facto leader of the movement. Earlier this month in Nashville at the National Tea Party Convention Palin made clear that she’s gunning to be the leader of the movement, even chiding the media in her keynote speech for being fixated on who the movement’s leader is.

But with state elections garnering attention, some activists say that perhaps Palin’s competition as de facto leader is a former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio.

Speaking at CPAC, Rubio sounded the part, riling up the crowd by saying, “The people want leaders who will come here to Washington, D.C., and stand up to the big government agenda, not be co-opted by it. After all, the U.S. Senate already has one Arlen Specter too many.”

Jon Ward contributed to this report