It was probably the poll that said that more people would vote for a generic Tea Party candidate than a generic Republican candidate that forced the RNC to make a serious effort to try and reel the ragtag group bank into the fold today. Hosting an event with tea and pizza, RNC Chair Michael Steele invoked the original Boston Tea Party, and promised to “stand in solidarity” with the tea partiers, not just on the issue of health care. “I salute you,” Steele said. If that weren’t enough, official GOP “tea bags” with the phrase “Listen to Me!” stapled on them were handed out, and Steele offered a “mea culpa” to the teabaggers. According to Talking Points Memo, he agreed with them that the party had abandoned its conservative principles. “We are moving back, head first, in that direction,” he said. “Because that’s where we should be.” So, yes. These people are now running the show in the GOP. This will simultaneously please the tea partiers themselves — and also their elitist Democrat foes who think that by hitching their caboose to this crazy train, the Republican Party is steering itself toward doom. We have to say we, too, are delighted. Thinking back to all those boring, fakey hand-painted placards from the Republican National Convention last year, it’s about time the GOP at least got some oomph back into their signage.
Michael Steele Brews A New GOP: The Party Of Tea [TPM DC]
Earlier: It Wasn’t a Lovely Day for a Tea Party
