Previously laughed at and dismissed by liberals, shunned by establishment Republicans, the Tea Party movement has, albeit painfully for many, garnered enough respect to now be considered a formidable political force.
A recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll ranked a generic “Tea Party” as more popular than either Democrats or Republicans. This a movement that has quickly gone from liberal laughingstock to what New York Times columnist David Brooks grudgingly calls “a major force in American politics.”
“Looks like both grand parties will have to court the tea party supporters because many of them are independents from the purple states,” writes Ellie Velinska at RightPundits.
According to the Christian Science Monitor, former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is set to headline another landmark political event: the first-ever Tea Party Convention next month in Nashville, Tenn. That same NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows Palin rivaling the Barak Obama in popularity.
The Nashville convention is taken quite seriously by the entire political spectrum. The event is not about chartering a new political party to represent conservative ideals like low taxes and states’ rights, but more about unifying to take on “Obama, Pelosi and Reid this year,” writes Judson Phillips, head of Tea Party Nation.
The CSM states that the former Alaska governor has already expressed her simpatico feelings for the Tea Party movement, and her high-profile presence and Facebook-touted preferences for the individual over the collective will help guarantee that eyes and ears will focus on Nashville next month.
Agreeing to appear at a major Tea Party event also gives Palin a larger platform to criticize the president and Congress, and it guarantees news coverage, potentially building momentum for a future campaign, the CSM added.
Alan Abramowitz, a political scientist at Emory University, “This is perfect for her, made for her.”
