By: Ford O’Connell
Last month Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele met with tea party leaders from across the country in an effort to court the conservative leaning grassroots movement.
As The Daily Caller’s Alex Pappas reported last Friday, Chairman Steele’s efforts to woo tea party activists has extended beyond dialogue to now include financial support.
Today, armed with signs paid for by the RNC, throngs of tea partiers took to Capitol Hill in a last ditch effort to protest an impending Congressional vote on health care.
Teresa Somogyi, a local activist from Rockville, Md., was pleased with the signs. “Absolutely, we need the money; we need the support – so I’m appreciative. I think that most people here, at least if they don’t appreciate it they certainly don’t have any objection.”
By linking up with the tea party movement, it is evident that Chairman Steele is intent on keeping tea partiers from supporting third-party candidates in this year’s midterm Congressional elections.
Somogyi believes that the RNC could be headed in the right direction if they will “listen to their conservative base.”
Conservative activist and former New York congressional candidate Doug Hoffman agrees that Republicans and tea partiers must work together if Democratically-controlled Washington is to be unseated in November.
The Wall Street Journal’s Gerald Seib warns that Steele’s approach to working with tea party activists could come at an unintended cost – division within the GOP.
Only time will tell if the Steele’s courtship strategy of the tea party movement is successful.
Adam Dahlgren contributed to this report.
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Geez, everytime I see blogs this good I just want mine to be there already!
Great work.