Hey, come on Freedom Works. I'm your guy right? You pinched my butt. Hehehe ....
Posted on 08/31/2011 8:15:56 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
A top tea party organizing group, FreedomWorks, is planning to protest Mitt Romney’s appearance this weekend at a New Hampshire stop of a bus tour intended to encourage tea party sympathizers to participate in the Republican presidential nominating process.
Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, is among the leading candidates for the GOP presidential nomination, but is viewed warily by tea party activists, who believe him to be insufficiently conservative and particularly blame him for Massachusetts state healthcare overhaul he signed into law.
And Romney, for his part, hasn’t focused much energy on appealing to the movement. So it attracted considerable attention – both within the tea party and among the GOP operative class – when it was announced Tuesday that he intended to speak at a Sunday evening rally being staged by the Tea Party Express in Concord, N.H., as part of a cross country bus tour set to culminate in Tampa, Fla., ahead of a Sept. 12 GOP presidential debate co-sponsored by the Tea Party Express and CNN.
FreedomWorks, which had been participating in the Tea Party Express’s tour and had helped turn out activists at rallies during prior stops, decided it could no longer be affiliated with the tour, said Brendan Steinhauser, a lead organizer for FreedomWorks.
Instead, it began working with local New Hampshire tea party groups to organize a counter rally set for about the same time in the same park in Concord as Romney’s speech.
“We have to defend our brand against poseurs,” said Steinhauser.
FreedomWorks had voiced quiet displeasure with the Tea Party Express’s decision to grant speaking time at a rally in Utah earlier this summer to Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who has been targeted by FreedomWorks. But when Romney’s participation was announced, Steinhauser said that represented “a major line we would not cross.
“If we can’t make any distinction between any of the candidates, if we’re just going to provide cover for the establishment candidates, then what is the point of having the tea party?” Steinhauser said. “We’ve got to have a brand, and we can’t water down our brand.”
At least one prominent New Hampshire tea party group – the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire – is planning to participate in the protest, and its organizer, Andrew Hemingway, predicted at least five more groups would join in.
“The tea party stands for a few pretty core principles – limited government, individual responsibility – and Mitt Romney does not represent those,” said Hemingway. “Beyond that, Mitt Romney has made no effort – none – to reach out to the tea party to be a part of the tea party.”
Romney’s campaign has contended that his business background and fiscal management record in Massachusetts make him a good fit for the tea party, which began in 2009 in protest of what its activists saw as unchecked spending by the Obama administration and the Democratic Congress.
But the split over Romney’s speech is a warning sign for the tea party, whose organizers recognize that its impact on the presidential race could be limited by the sometimes bitter factionalism that has plagued it. Tea Party Express chairwoman Amy Kremer, for example, has been criticized by the Tea Party Patriots, a rival group, for predicting “the entire tea party movement” would support the eventual GOP nominee, even if it’s Romney.
The protest over Romney’s speech is also potentially significant for the Republican Party, whose leaders have struggled to keep tea party activists happy without alienating independent and swing voters, and for Romney. He is working to appeal to tea party activists in the face of pressure on his right flank from Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who appears to have wide support in tea party circles and has leap-frogged over Romney to the top of polls after only weeks in the GOP presidential race.
In addition to the Concord rally, Romney is planning to speak on Monday at a Labor Day forum hosted by South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, a tea party hero.
And Romney recently told Foster’s Daily Democrat, a New Hampshire newspaper, that he thinks he can make inroads in the tea party.
The tea party “is within mainstream Republican thought,” Romney said in an interview with the newspaper’s editorial board that ran last week. “And I want to appeal to the Tea Party voters. I don’t know what folks here in New Hampshire would say, but my guess is most Tea Partiers, or a lot of them, would support my candidacy.”
They are trying for an early TKO of Mitt..and they could succeed. Personally, I wish they’d held off for a week or so, until we see what Palin’s going to do...
“The tea party stands for a few pretty core principles – limited government, individual responsibility – and Mitt Romney does not represent those,” said HemingwaySeems pretty self-evident to me.
The tea party “is within mainstream Republican thought,” Romney said in an interview with the newspaper’s editorial board that ran last week. “And I want to appeal to the Tea Party voters. I don’t know what folks here in New Hampshire would say, but my guess is most Tea Partiers, or a lot of them, would support my candidacy.”
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Oh there is so much that is wrong about those words...
It’s kind of funny that the Tea Party group that is considered or alledged to be a front for the Republican establishment is the one protesting the establishment candidates like Orrin and Romney whereas the other group which was supposed to be more grassroots based is embracing them.
I was hoping by posting this to get some insight on all of this.
Then again, nothing is ever just black and white and it’s not always so easy to run things.
Sort of like HOAs.
....>>>The Tea Party Express announced Tuesday night that Sarah Palin will be speaking at their Labor Day rally in Manchester, N.H. on Monday.
“We are always thrilled to have Sarah Palin join one of our rallies,” Tea Party Express chairwoman Amy Kremer said in a statement. “She is an electrifying figure in conservative politics and a hero to the tea party movement.”
SarahPAC confirmed the Tea Party Express announcement of Palin’s New Hampshire appearance.<<....
but what will she SAY.......??
???
So before Freedom Works goes after Mitt ( and I have no problem with them doing so.I agree with it) why not let Palin have center stage,,Either way..whatever she does...Mitt's pretty much done...
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 31, 2011 Statement from Tea Party Express: FreedomWorks has made the decision to protest the Tea Party Express rally in Concord, NH on Sunday evening due to an appearance by Governor Mitt Romney. We’ve been very clear that this presidential tour is open to presidential candidates who want to speak to the tea party, and many candidates have confirmed they will attend. This is their chance to make their case to the tea party audience about why they deserve support from the tea party movement. Mitt Romney is one speaker out of many that include Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, Herman Cain, Thaddeus McCotter, Gary Johnson, and Buddy Roemer. It’s just silly to protest a tea party where Governor Romney is speaking. It would be just as ridiculous to protest Senator DeMint’s gathering on Monday, to which Romney has also been invited. Narrow mindedness is not the way to strengthen the tea party movement. The Tea Party Express has a reputation for being inclusive during its rallies. Even when we have endorsed a candidate, we have still allowed their political opponents to speak. That’s because the Tea Party Express trusts the ability of tea party members to evaluate candidates and issues, and make up their own minds. We don’t think it is right to tell the tea party who they can and can’t listen to. A top-down isolationist approach isn’t constructive to the political process. We view this move by FreedomWorks at best as a misguided press stunt, and are disappointed at the disingenuous approach taken after we have made every effort to be inclusive and accommodating on our national bus tour.
For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact Levi Russell at 509-979-6615 or Levi@FrontlineStrat.com |
Adding my thoughts on this “protest”
They should protest Romney trying to convince tea party people that they support him.
Absurd to protest TPX because they are giving Romney a chance to see what tea partiers think of his strange take on what they would support.
Not a chance in hell, Ms. Kremer...
Thanks very much, Syncro!
TEA PARTY EXPRESS ROCKS!
Dick Armey’s Freedom Works SUX big time, IMHO of course.
It’s all about him and his so-called *army*.
Wow.
Thanks for the information.
New Hampshire Freeper Ping. Hope NH Freepers will join the Tea Party Express in their support of allowing ALL the candidates to speak if they were invited to do so.
Also hope Freepers who are members of Freedom Works will let the leadership of that group know that you will not take part in the protest of the Tea Party Express Tour stop in New Hampshire.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 4TH: Details at link.
Concord, NH – 6:00PM
http://www.teapartyexpress.org/tour-schedule-5/concord-nh-3/
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5TH: Details at links.
Manchester, NH – 12:00PM
http://www.teapartyexpress.org/tour-schedule-5/manchester-nh/
Nashua, NH – 5:00PM
http://www.teapartyexpress.org/tour-schedule-5/nashua-nh/
Big mistake on their part.
I think maybe they planned this from the beginning, knowing that they would have to pull their embedded source (Tabitha) from the TPX tour bus.
She wrote a pretty good report which I posted on a thread the other day.
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