What started as a conservative protest klatch has evolved into a political force with enough muscle to potentially alter the course of the 2010 mid-term elections.
The “tea party” movement that gained steam shortly after President Obama took office is seeing a surge in popularity with a string of candidates and officials willing to take up its cause and a political infrastructure that’s starting to mirror that of an actual political party.
The tea party activists rallied for smaller government and lower taxes again on Capitol Hill Tuesday afternoon — among the headliners were Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., and former Texas Rep. Dick Armey, whose FreedomWorks group has acted as somewhat of an umbrella organization.
That’s just the latest affirmation of tea party momentum:
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The fact that these parties launched only after Obama came into office (despite long-running financial woes in the white house) and regularly features GOP/Fox personalities at its rallies reveals the Tea parties for exactly what they are – marketing.
It was actually CNBC’s Rick Santelli who first called for a tea party protest while ranting about Obama’s “stimulus” package from the floor of the Chicago stock exchange.
Rick Santelli and the “Rant of the Year”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEZB4taSEoA
Sarah Palin can lead the Tea party movement into the Republican party while at the same time boot the big government types out of the Republican party. And then boot out Obama’s socialists in 2012. And then she’ll put the boots to Government Motors, Government Banks, Government insurance companies – just like she did in Alaska.