Rubio has Tea Party concerns (tells Tea Party to get lost)

CNN ^

[roses of sharon]

Washington (CNN) – When the Senate Tea Party Caucus convenes for the first time Thursday, one of the movement's biggest stars will be noticeably absent.

Alex Burgos, spokesman for Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio confirmed the event is not the senator's schedule, but said he has not made a decision regarding caucus membership.

"Senator Rubio is proud of his relationship with the tea party movement and shares its commitment to tackling debt, defending the free enterprise system and restoring our limited government tradition," Burgos said in an e-mail to CNN. "Ultimately, he hopes Floridians will judge him on his voting record and his commitment to delivering on the promises he made through the campaign."

Burgos added that Rubio will join the Senate Steering Committee, a group chaired by South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint that meets regularly to promote conservative policies and legislation.

Rubio, who received early support from the Tea Party, told the Florida conservative blog "the Shark Tank" that he's "concerned" the Tea Party is abandoning its roots.

"If all of a sudden being in the Tea Party is not something that is happening in Main Street, but rather something that's happening in Washington D.C., the 'Tea Party' all of the sudden becomes some sort of movement run by politicians," Rubio said.

[Padams]

Put your knee back down- it jerked. You might want to read the articles you post. Rubio is saying the tea party is a grassroots movement, not a political group in DC. He’s correct.

[pgkdan]

Good gruief people...read the article and employ some grey matter! He's not abandonning the Tea Party and he's saying that it needs to avoid becoming just another DC political machine and he's right! The Tea Party matters because it's grass roots!

Conservatives have to drop this very unhealthy and ugly habit some have of eating our own every time CNN or some other left wing propoganda arm tells us that our erstwhile ally is not what we thought he was. Sometimes I think that we're the easiest people in the world to manipulate.

[RockinRight]

Enough with the circular firing squad. Read what he said -that it should remain a grassroots organization, not a DC one.

I agree.

Let’s see how the man votes before we crucify him, OK?

[pgkdan]

Spot on! It’s eembarrassing sometimes, it really is.

[Cathy]

I agree, it is a movement not a party.

What am I missing here?

[roses of sharon]

I don’t get it. Seems to me the intent of this grassroots movement was to impact the way things are done in DC and in order to accomplish that it wouldn’t be a bad idea for the TP members to caucus.

You do get it...let us hope others here will too. Rubio does not want to be beholden to the Tea Party platform, so he is pretending that all of a sudden, the TP has no place in DC...patently ridiculous.

[SeeSac]

He may not fully understand the Tea Party movement and is still in the learning phase of his development. Time will tell.

Obviously you don't understand Rubio and like being jerked around by CNN!

[SeeSac]

It seems that most people read the headline and don’t bother to read further.

That is what CNN depends on.

[kevkrom]

I fail to see how joining DeMint’s established group instead of a competing new entity using the “Tea Party” label makes Rubio a RINO.

[carton253]

LOL! You are spot on!

[carton253]

Yes, it is.

[jla]

Rubio is correct if anyone would actually bother to address what his issues are with the tea party, (and by *tea party* I don't mean those wonderful, nameless Americans showing up at events in every state. I mean those under the illusion, or delusion, that they're tea party 'leaders').
And in my opinion Big Amy Kremer is exactly the problem with tea party ‘organizations’. A self-serving opportunist, basking in her newly found position of ‘spokesperson’. Sorry, big girl, you nor anyone else in any tea party will dictate how I vote. So cease with your presumed role of kingmaker.

[ScottinVA]

How about reading further down? Rubio’s concern about the Tea Party is that it could be getting too DC-oriented, and away from Main Street. Do we not share that concern?

[Reeses]

Marco Rubio is Hispanic, a much bigger voting block now than Blacks. Barky cannot defeat Rubio if he runs, which is why CNN has started the nervous misleading mud slinging.

While a rich old Christian white man may be the most qualified in 2012, I question whether they can overcome the affirmative action sympathy voter this round. The Republicans may need to nominate a woman or non-Black minority to ease the pain of the first homosexual President getting a one term smack down. I'd say first Black but Bill Clinton claims that title.

[jla]

To 6 - Exactly.

[SeeSac]

He says thanks, but no thanks. I had concerns about Rubio when he came out against Arizona’s immigration law.

He didn't come out against it. He said he had concerns. The same concerns that AZ had since they amended the law. He supported the law as amended.

[ScottinVA]

This is another case of CNN trying to create a story that isn’t.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

Read the article, observe and learn how you were spun. Repeat.

This is a teachable moment.

[Stars&StripesNE]

We agree.

The Freeper attitude is becoming overbearing.

Reagan is their hero (and is mine as well)was a pro choice Republican, until 1980. That isn't acceptable to Freepers anymore i.e., Romney.

[jla]

"What did you expect? He has ties to the Bushes"

You're a fecking idiot.