Romneyville protest camp set up at Republican Convention

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Romneyville camp in Tampa, photo TB Times

8/21/12, "Convention cities try to strike security, protest balance," USA Today, Alan Gomez

"David S. Meyer, a sociology professor at the University of California-Irvine, said most protesters aren't challenging the Democratic or Republican parties , but the entire political system.

"We've got busloads of people coming down," said Billy Livsey, a Tampa native who was part of the Occupy movements in New York City and Tampa. "There's a lot of energy being put into this. What we have planned is very creative."

The Tea Party is unlikely to be a presence in the streets, having transformed into a political machine, helping Republicans win back the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010 and concentrating on taking over the Senate.

Sharon Calvert, co-founder of the Tampa Tea Party, said: "The only way to fix our problems was to replace the people that represented us. I don't think being out on the streets is where we're at.""