Posted on 03/19/2010 7:27:00 AM PDT by rabscuttle385
MANISTEE, Mich./WACO, Texas/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Some Tea Partiers say they can pinpoint the precise moment when they made it clear to the Republican Party they had no intention of being its lapdog.
On a bright, brisk afternoon in mid-February, with snow still thick on the ground from storms that had battered Washington the week before, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele met with more than 50 members of the Tea Party, the Twitter Age conservative movement that is reshaping the U.S. political landscape.
Steele, RNC chairman since January 2009, had invited them to the plush Capitol Hill Club, built as a clubhouse for the party's top brass next door to RNC headquarters.
According to several accounts, not long into the meeting JoAnn Abbott, an activist from Virginia who calls herself the 'Tea Party Grandma,' raised her hand to ask a question.
She asked about a web page on the RNC site where visitors could send their member of Congress a postcard with a tea bag. On the tag at the end of the string were the letters 'RNC.'
"Respectfully, sir, while we do not have a trademark on the tea bag, you are well aware that people associate it with the Tea Party movement," Abbott, 50, recalls saying to Steele. "If you co-opt that image, you damage our brand and weaken our movement."
Lest there was any confusion, she added: "It does not belong to you, it belongs to us as an independent movement."
Abbott said within an hour of the end of the meeting the page (www.teaparty.gop.com) was gone -- and the Grand Old Party was finally aware of conservative frustrations she and others felt with Republican leadership.
"The GOP now knows we're not asleep anymore," Abbott told Reuters. "The giant has been awakened."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
So very true, both of you.
We need new ideas. We need new leaders to step forward. We need a voice, a real voice.
No more re-tread ideas. No more ‘go along, to get along’.
The Tea Party group/s are the best thing to happen to politics in ages. They have a message and it is being heard. LOUDLY across the land!!!!!
It's the thoughts that are the problem. What they need to do is stick with the oath they take, return the Government to its Constitutional role then everything would then fix its self.
Right! And we need to replace these GOP traitors with John Birch Society Members and Ron Paul-type wackjobs!
You speak of reliance.
Well, you can certainly count on the Democrats. “For your benefit” they will gladly cut your throat, then expect you to vote for them in gratitude. On this you can rely. No surprises..no betrayal..no shaking of your head..just a constant burning rage.
Sadly, you can also count on Republicans. They will say one thing, think a second, and vote in a way certain to drive you to hysteria. We need neither.
Cup of tea, anyone?
You are of course wrong.
There was in 1994 a Contract With America that was fresh and new. It was popular enough to gain control of the House
It was so revolutionary that the Dems immediately went about destroying every Republican they could and even garnered the support of self rightous conservatives in the process
“Right! And we need to replace these GOP traitors with John Birch Society Members and Ron Paul-type wackjobs!”
Why? Why go from one extreme to the other? Are you saying there are NO conservatives in the republican party. I can name a few.
Every element of the entire Liberal LameSreamMedia is reading what each other say, picking up on their own internal mantras regarding the TeaParty and parroting each other, over and over again with two themes intended to sow division IN THE PEOPLE (Conservatives) WHO OPPOSE THEM -
division between the TeaParty and the GOP
division among Conservatives in the TeaParty.
Who writes 99.99% of these articles? Liberals.
So warning to ALL CONSERVATIVES and ALL TeaParty people.
Use the printouts of those Liberal articles trying to sow division between you to line your birdcage, your dog house or your trash can, because that’s all they are good for.
You can? Many of them claim to be conservatives, but hardly any have been willing to call Obama out on his violations of the Constitution. Those that have backed down quickly when it looked like the MSM might start mocking them.
No, they're not.
- SuziQ
I don’t think McCain and Specter hate the country as it was founded like the 0bamites do.
- MrB
I disagree. I consider Benedict Arnold more vile than King George.
I consider Judas Iscariot more vile than Caiaphas.
The guy who holds Republicans responsible for every vile, lawless, unconstitutional move the Democrats make?
This guy believes he's influencing the opinions of what he considers a bunch of hicks by attempting to drive a wedge between the GOP and Tea Party adherents...using The Nation and Reuters as primary sources.
This guy's as transparent as a squid eating dough in a polyethylene bag.
“You can? Many of them claim to be conservatives, but hardly any have been willing to call Obama out on his violations of the Constitution. Those that have backed down quickly when it looked like the MSM might start mocking them.”
Unfortunately, you are mostly correct. There is no more than a handful in congress, ones that the MSM would never allown on their ‘news’ shows, and NONE in the GOP leadership.
I also think the 'middle' is more conservative than politicians think it is.
“The guy who holds Republicans responsible for every vile, lawless, unconstitutional move the Democrats make?”
Y O U L I E
“This guy believes he’s influencing the opinions of what he considers a bunch of hicks by attempting to drive a wedge between the GOP and Tea Party adherents...using The Nation and Reuters as primary sources.”
Y O U L I E
“This guy’s as transparent as a squid eating dough in a polyethylene bag. “
And you are one of the transparent GOP Party Hack on FR!
Sooooo....conservatives are “unelectable” Republicans, eh? You ARE the problem!
They are worse because they fowl the republican brand.
Prove the lies or shut your mouth.
Prertty much. Al Reuters busy pushing their normal 0bamabot, anti-Republican agenda. Nothing to see here. Move along.
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