October 28, 2008 - Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images North America
Representatives Michele Bachmann and Marsha Blackburn have reportedly backed out of next week’s “Tea Party Convention” in Nashville citing concerns over the “for-profit” status of the event as the reasons for their respective decisions to not attend. There is some good news to report however; Sarah Palin is still in and will gladly make the appearance and claim her $100,000 check for doing so. Apparently she has no problem with the souring cost of the event.
In fairness, she is not a public official anymore so she doesn’t have to concern herself with adhering to ethical standards or avoiding potential conflicts of interest – at least on a formal level.
The development has left many asking the question of where did this great idea go so terribly wrong? Was it poor planning? Was it a bad idea in the first place? Did it stray too far from the Tea Party movement’s original intentions? After much deliberation, I do believe that it was all of the above, but I think the most glaring problem with this little Tea Party Convention idea is the fact that it is simply too expensive for any real Tea Partiers to attend. But how could that happen you ask? How does a grassroots movement become too costly too attend?
I bet if we think really – I mean really really – hard about why it costs $550 / ticket, we can figure it out. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that I bet this grassroots take-to-the streets movement suddenly has such a high price tag for admission because it now pays keynote speakers $100,ooo and they take it. Look, I am all for people making money. I think its great that Sarah Palin is now famous enough to be able to demand such a king’s ransom for an hour of her time and a recitation of two dozen or so of her favorite bumber stickers. I think it is if nothing else, it is capitalism at its finest. There is a demand for her time, so the price is high. Unfortunately for the Tea Partiers however, Sarah Palin may have cost them their convention.
Here’s what I had to say about the First National Tea Party Convention when it was announced earlier this month…
That leads me to my second, less visceral, reason for being unsure about this convention. While organizers and the lead sponsor, Tea Party Nation, have emphatically denied that the “movement” or the convention are in any way an attempt to create a third party, I am inclined to believe that it is precisely what is at play here (at least with the convention). When a movement such as this progresses to the point where it begins to want to hold conventions, it appears to be grasping at legitimacy. On the surface, such an ambition is admittedly harmless or at least reasonable and natural given attempts from the Left and the mainstream media to discredit it from day one. For that narrow purpose I see no ill effect from such efforts, but as a conservative who would like to see the Republican Party returned to greatness, the Tea Party convention of this magnitude rather than a rally at the foot of the Lincoln monument or other similar display may simply be a step too far for my own comfort level.
For me, the idea of a “third option” in our political system must be last option. Taking that path prematurely only leads to Democratic victories and two inadequate “conservative” parties battling for leftovers at the liberal table. However, if the threat of a third party, or simply the gathering of passionate and principled Americans unified behind conservative values, can help to bring the Republican Party back to the Right, then I say march on Tea Partiers and best wishes on the convention. If that’s the way this convention continues to develop and those objectives remain clearly defined, then I will see you there.
Having now seen how this convention has “come together” I would say unequivocally that is an absolute disaster in the making. I don’t see how any good can come from it at this point. Being too cost-prohibitive for the common Tea Partier to attend, turnout will be meager giving the Left ample opportunity to declare the Tea Party movement dying if not already dead. If she pulls out, then they will crucify her for abandoning the Tea Partiers when they needed her most. While I am not a Sarah Palin fan, I do not envy her position here. She must be ready to dropkick Blackburn and Bachmann right about now because unlike those two, she cannot bow out graciously and hide behind potential conflicts of interest or restraints from public service. The whole not being comfortable with the “for-profit” status thing won’t cut it for her as she signed up knowing she would make some serious loot for her appearance.
With the event just days away, I don’t know what the sensible solution is here. I don’t buy for a minute Bachmann or Blackburn’s excuse for not attending. They saw this thing turning into something nobody wanted and they cut their losses and got off the train before it went off the track – or at least before news of the tragedy was fully reported. I feel for Sarah Palin being stuck in this mess but I have no sympathy for her whatsoever as no one forced her to take their money. I fear the convention will be an abysmal failure and will only succeed in serving as another testament to the poor judgment of Gov Palin.
Reps. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., both prominent backers of the tea party movement, announced Thursday they won’t attend the Feb. 4-6 event in Nashville, Tenn. Their offices released statements Tuesday citing concerns about how funds raised by the convention might be used.
Many tea party activists across the country are boycotting the convention because of its $550-a-person ticket price and the $100,000 speaking fee it is paying to Sarah Palin, the former Republican vice presidential nominee.
The convention is being run by a for-profit Tennessee corporation registered to Tennessee lawyer Judson Phillips, who has said he hopes to make money on the convention.
Dave Dziok, a spokesman for Bachmann, said in a statement to FoxNews.com that the congresswoman dropped out after receiving “conflicting advice” on whether her participation would be in line with the Committee on Standards.
“There is uncertainty about how any proceeds from the event may be used, and we must err on the side of caution,” he said. “Some will want to portray her withdrawal as repudiation of the tea party movement, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.”
Blackburn said in her statement that she told Phillips on Thursday that his company’s for-profit status “has put many of his speakers in an awkward position.”
“I remain encouraged by the outpouring of energy from constitutionally minded grassroots organizations in Tennessee and around America,” she added.
Ed Morrissey at Hot Air has been keeping tabs on the developments as they roll in. Take a look here…
Mother Jones had this to add…
If you want to read more about the mismanagement and misguided direction of this convention, you can read more here and here.
Melissa Clouthier and Right Wings News shed some light on the man behind the convention – Judson Phillips.
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Did you miss the statement Sarah made on Greta’s show couple of nights ago that she plans to donate the fee back to the Tea Party effort?
I dont know if I saw the show to which you are specifically referring but yes I have heard her on three separate occasions say that she planned to use this money (and all the other money she receives for appearances) to help support conservative candidates.
T: “I fear the convention will be an abysmal failure and will only succeed in serving as another testament to the poor judgment of Gov Palin.”
Cosidering that Blachmann and Blackburn also agree to speak is it also a testment to “poor judgement” by these other two women as well? Or if it just Palin who screwed up?
Or are you letting them off because they happened to have a convenient reason to dropout?
As noted above Sarah is planning to return her fee…
Now as to Palin “weaking the Tea Party convention”.
Are you implying that since she had DEMANDED $100K for the appearence that the organizers had to ramp up the registration fees to $550? Do you know that to be true?
Or did they OFFER her the big fee at the git-go to intice her to come down? I would think that point out to be known before you decide who “wreaked” the convention?
If they offered it to her in the first place maybe instead of blaming Palin the “…for-profit Tennessee corporation registered to Tennessee lawyer Judson Phillips…” ought to take the hit for wreaking the convention? Sounds like very poor planning it in the first place?
I think Palin gets better treatment in Newsweek then on this page.
Am I letting Bachmann and Blackburn off the hook? NO and I said so in the post. I don’t for a minute buy their stated excuses. That was the point of the post – that this thing turned into a shitshow of epic proportions. It became an event rather than a gathering of Tea Party protesters. An event which was very poorly managed and extremely disorganized from day one. I cannot speak to the availability of the Nashville Convention Center for that weekend, but anyone who has ever lived in Nashville or been to Nashville can tell you that a convention at the Opryland Hotel is anything but the grassroots choice of venues.
As to the better treatment Palin gets at Newsweek I really couldnt give a damn. I’m not in the business of sugar coating things around here. Bachmann, Blackburn, and Palin all fell a notch with this fiasco in my book. Phillips indeed deserves the lion’s share of the blame for this but the reality is this – no one knew who the hell Judson Phillips was before this and they wont’ two weeks from now. The other three players here played a slightly different role in pulling this event together. Had they not decided to attend, there would be no story because there would be no convention.
As to your chicken or the egg scenario over who offered what to whom and when. Does it really matter if they came to her with a price or if they came to her with her usual rate or if she said hey I’ll come but only for this? Either way there was a speaking fee involved with a Tea Party event. The only thing I was clear about when I heard this story was that I thought it was taking the movement in the wrong direction because it just felt dirty – it felt commercialized.
As to her “donating” the money. I should explain that I am not one so blind to realize that even the Sarah Palin’s of the world have expenses. It does in fact cost money to get places and do things. Even a charitable contribution of her time costs money, so in that regard she does deserve to be taken care of. Also, if she intends to make a career of the whole speaking/appearance thing then I say more power to her. There simply must eventually be a point where she is seen in that light rather than this girl next door woman of the people. Back to the donating thing…
I received a message at my RR Facebook fan page the other day in response to the article on Palin stumping for McCain where another conservative was enraged because he thought donating to SarahPAC was the surest best to making sure his money went to conservative candidates. He too was wishing he would have spent his money more wisely.
The short of it is this. You hear Sarah Palin and your ears go up – just like 99% of the Right. You hear someone say anything even remotely disparaging about her and you go into your liberal fighting posture and miss the whole point. You ignored the fact that I did not give the other two a pass and you ignored the links I posted that took you to alternative points of view to give you a different perspective – two of which blamed the whole thing on Phillips. Its ok for a conservative to make a mistake B Daniel. And when they do it doesn’t mean that their entire message is lost. B, B, and P screwed up on this one. They are front running glory hogs who love to bandwagon with the “populist” crowd and they happened to hop on board with a clunker this time. They will live to fight another day and I have no doubt to annoy me once more.
You have to remember the “conservative” community is like a big ole family. We all love each other bc we’re cut from the same cloth, but that doesn’t mean we have to like each other and it certainly doesn’t mean that we can’t tell one another they screwed up – when in fact they screw up. Just bc I am willing to tell it like it is about my own doesnt mean that I’d prefer someone to their Left. It just means I wish they would work to cast the family in a little different light.
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