The NAACP is considering passing a resolution that deems the Tea Party racist, but Anastasia Eurton, a leader of the RI Minority Advancement and Research Council – a non-partisan group that promotes conservatism – isn’t buying it.

Eurton, an African American, told the 20 or so people who attended Monday night’s Cranston Tea Party meeting that the organization must do more to bridge the disconnect with the minority communities.

Eurton was surprised to see so few minorities at her first Tea Party rally in 2009.

“I really didn’t see a lot of people who looked like me and I was surprised because the issues they were speaking about affect all of us, regardless of our skin color,” said Eurton, who hosts a talk show on 1320 WRNI on Tuesday evenings from 6-7 p.m.

Eurton came off as passionate and energetic about the need to get more people, particularly minorities, into the conservative movement. Many African Americans, she said, oppose abortion and gay marriage and, like most people, don’t think high taxes are a good thing.

Yet, the Tea Party is undeniably struggling to attract members of African lineage, she said.

“When you look at the facts you start to wonder where the disconnect here is,” said Eurton.

All things considered, Eurton said that roughly 60 percent of the average person’s income goes to taxes – a statistic she thinks should scare everyone.

“That’s insane. Why do we put up with that?” Eurton wondered.

Cranston Tea Party leader Shoshana Feinstein, who flirted with running for City Council this year, organized the event.

“I’m not a politician. I’m a musician. So this is all news to me,” said Feinstein.

There were several local candidates in the audience – including Deloris Issler, running against Josh Miller in Senate District 28, Jim Quinlan, running for State Representative in District 15, and Mark Collins, running for City Council in Ward 4, almost all of which ended up saying a few words about their own campaigns. Victor Moffit, who is running for governor and will square off against John Robitaille in a primary on Sept. 14, also gave the audience his pitch. Like Eurton, most of the candidates bemoaned what they see as the seemingly unchecked power of organized labor in the public sector.

“I was in the grocery store the other day and I saw a union newspaper – a union newspaper,” said Eurton.

“My dad works for a private union, and let me tell you, there is a huge difference,” Eurton said, explaining that a private company needs to compete and come up with a profit, but the government has a monopoly over everything.

Issler, who admitted she’s in a race that looks a lot like David versus Goliath (Issler has little campaign funding whereas Miller is a well-heeled candidate) said that Rhode Island is in dire need of change.

“The only way we’re going to get it is to send new people to the State House,” said Issler. “People think the legislators are sympathetic to the unions, but the unions actually own those seats, of that I’m sure.”

Campaign finance was an idea that appeared to be weighing heavily on the minds of the Tea Partiers at the meeting.

“We don’t have any money for our Independent candidates, or even our Republican candidates or our conservative Democrat candidates, and the liberal Democrats are just in the pockets of the unions,” said Feinstein.

James Quinlan is also taking on a Herculean task. To win his respective legislative race, he’ll need to unseat current House Majority Leader Nicholas Mattiello. Like Issler, he continued to talk about the need to elect new people.

“If you’re happy with the way the state is going right now, and you’re pleased with your taxes, and you’re pleased with diminishing public services, and you’re pleased with rampant corruption, I’m not you’re guy,” said Quinlan.

Quinlan also took issue with Mattiello’s statement about the state budget. Mattiello called the budget “a responsible budget in difficult economic times.”

“If that’s a responsible budget – pushing everything down to the cities and towns, plugging holes with stimulus money, then we’re all in for a big surprise,” said Quinlan.

Quinlan said he’d work to eliminate the car tax altogether, not just exempt the first $6,000 of a car’s value from taxation, and implement school choice if elected.

Several of the speakers at the meeting called for Rhode Island to become a “right to work state,” which would allow employees to refrain from paying union dues, and thus not join a union.

Gloria Martin, who is running for Council in Ward 2 against Democrats Emilio Navarro and Diana Gordon, said she encounters a lot of apathy when she campaigns.

“People are giving up. They say all politicians are the same and nothing will ever change,” said Martin, who tries to change their minds. “I’m not a politician. I’m an angry mom,” she said.

Martin said she’s a proponent of economic development.

“We’ve got to look at the revenue side as well as the spending. We’ve got to build our economic base up.”

Mark Collins, who will challenge Robert Pelletier and Bobby Bach in Ward 4, said he got involved in the political process after the City Council enacted a rule that prevented Mayor Allan Fung from introducing ordinances and resolutions at meetings. Collins said he’s attempting to bring balance to the council.

Thus far into the campaign, Collins has knocked on over 1,200 doors in an attempt to solicit votes.

Anger at the way the government business is conducted seemed to be the common theme at the Tea Party meeting. Perhaps Eurton summed up the way many of the Tea Partiers feel about the Ocean State best.

“Let me tell you folks something, if you live in Rhode Island, and you’ve lived in Rhode Island your whole life, you’re getting screwed,” said Eurton.

“We know,” replied several audience members.