Tea Party Nation

Tea Party Nation Speaks Out: 'We Never Did This To Be Rich And Famous'

Christina Bellantoni | January 30, 2010, 5:49PM

At a tea party in Washington, D.C. in 2009

Tea Party Nation organizers today issued a long defense of their unraveling convention, lambasting former members they say are trying to harm the movement and outlining for the first time in great detail their event's sponsorships and problems.

We've been following the travails of the upcoming Tea Party Nation convention for weeks, with key speakers withdrawing and the Tea Party Express group backing out as well thanks to feuds over the cost and expected profits of the convention.

Sherry Phillips wrote a long email to members of the Tea Party Nation mailing list titled "Setting The Record Straight."

Phillips said organizers were encouraged to speak out against the "intense media scrutiny and attacks by former members" but she stayed silent so as not to further divisions "that are already hurting this movement."

"We will stay silent no longer," she wrote.

Read more »

Sarah Palin

Palin Still Psyched For Tea Party Convention Despite Growing Exodus

Zachary Roth | January 29, 2010, 10:03AM

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin

It looks like Sarah Palin may be left holding the bag at a Tea Party event that almost no one else in the movement wants anything to do with.

The former Alaska governor still plans to speak at the much-maligned National Tea Party Convention next month in Nashville. "You betcha I'm going to be there," she told Fox News last night.

Read more »

Michele Bachmann

Bachmann Is Latest To Pull Out Of Tea Party Convention

Zachary Roth | January 28, 2010, 12:47PM

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)

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.

Read more »