TEA PARTY CONVENTION CONTINUES TO UNRAVEL…. A week from Saturday, a right-wing outfit Tea Party Nation will host the first-ever National Tea Party Convention in Nashville, Tenn. It’s becoming less and less clear whether attendees will have any leaders on hand to follow.
Over the last week or so, three far-right co-sponsors of the event — the National Precinct Alliance, the American Liberty Alliance, and American Majority — all pulled out.
Today, the event suffered a more serious blow, losing two right-wing House Republicans from the guest list.
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) has become the latest to pull out of a scheduled speaking gig at the controversial National Tea Party Convention next year.
Like Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) earlier today, Bachmann’s office cited concerns about the event’s financial arrangements. Some Tea Partiers have accused the convention’s organizer, Judson Phillips of Tea Party Nation, of seeking to profit from the confab.
The announcements bring the total of sitting lawmakers speaking at the event to zero.
Former half-term Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) is still scheduled to be the keynote speaker — and pick up a reported $100,000 check — but the confused former V.P. nominee is under pressure to drop out, too.
Of course, with the guest list shrinking, it’s also possible that attendees will decide that the event isn’t worth the trip, making this apparent fiasco that much more embarrassing.
In fairness, I should emphasize that the unraveling of the Tea Party Convention doesn’t necessarily reflect an unraveling of the larger right-wing “movement” — this has more to do with one poorly-planned debacle than the relative strength of the collection of unhinged activists.
Still, the convention was intended to be a key strategizing moment for the upcoming elections, and at this point, it seems to be imploding.
