We CAN NOT lose the Tea Party!

[Rocco]

I'll just leave this here.......

hxxp://www.facebook.com/TheTeaParty.net

[rich34]

Which is why we got Rand. Hopefully he'll be going in soon and sealing the deal. The funny thing is Paul's support is actually not as strong as what you'd think among the tea party, but I do agree if we can use Rand to round those folks up it would sure make winning Iowa much easier!

[muh_roads]

Better late than never I suppose. But we really could have used Rand's help a lot sooner.

[Join The Paul Side]

Tea Party lost us a long time ago. They've favored every ani-teaparty candidate thus far. From I love the Fed Cain to GingrichCare. Fuck the pee party.

[sailingaway]

there are a zillion groups with 'tea party' in their name, many of which are not 'real'. And the others vary in opinions.

[mbburch]

I think it's important to not think of the Tea Party as a single homogeneous blob. It began as a grassroots movement that was tired of the Republican party giving in on spending, TARP, etc. -- a small number of key issues. There is no official Tea Party position on foreign policy, gay marriage, drug war, etc. Some are Limbaugh-type neocons that will never be convinced; others are reasonable and don't really know what to think, now that Obama is pursuing the same disastrous ideas as Bush.

Bottom line: if you want the Tea Party vote, it's all about The People vs The Establishment. Showing that Ron Paul opposed the bailouts, Obamacare, unbalanced budgets while phonies like Gingrich went along with it is the best route. Rand's article did this perfectly.

[nobody's_hero]

I think it's important to not think of the Tea Party as a single homogeneous blob. It began as a grassroots movement that was tired of the Republican party giving in on spending, TARP, etc. -- a small number of key issues. There is no official Tea Party position on foreign policy, gay marriage, drug war, etc. Some are Limbaugh-type neocons that will never be convinced; others are reasonable and don't really know what to think, now that Obama is pursuing the same disastrous ideas as Bush.

Bottom line: if you want the Tea Party vote, it's all about The People vs The Establishment. Showing that Ron Paul opposed the bailouts, Obamacare, unbalanced budgets while phonies like Gingrich went along with it is the best route. Rand's article did this perfectly.

Yeah, my experience as well. No two tea-partiers are exactly the same. Good post.

[Paulitics 2011]

Even though I disagree with him on specific things he's said and done before, my respect for Rand grows by the day. He has been raised well, I see.

[nobody's_hero]

Even though I disagree with him on specific things he's said and done before, my respect for Rand grows by the day. He has been raised well, I see.

I've never been particularly skeptical of Rand. I think he has had to say some things certain ways to get people to at least listen to him (much less vote for him), but I keep wondering if it is not some very carefully thought-out, slowly implemented plan to 'warm' people up to libertarianism. Rand could never have won Kentucky by saying we should close down Gitmo and try terrorists here in civilian courts (just one example). I don't think it's a matter of sacrificing his principles to get votes. I think he just has to be cautious about wearing them on his sleeve, at least until he has built up a good reputation with the people of Kentucky.

In Ron Paul's case, people in TX-14 know the doctor very well, but Rand was a relative newcomer and he was trying to convince an entire state to vote for him at a time when not everyone in the GOP was even the least bit open-minded to what Ron Paul was saying.

I think Ron Paul owes a good bit of his recognition and acceptance by many tea-partiers in this election cycle to his son, Rand, and when Rand goes up to Iowa to help his dad out, we're going to see a fantastic fireworks show.

[vechorik]

The Tea Party is fractured. I just quit my local Tea Party because the local people are so anti-Paul, thus anti-ME!

Education is the key --- stick to INFORMING EVERYONE