And he leads Crist in the primary by 12 points meaning most Republicans will be happier with Rubio as the candidate, hence more likely to turn out in November.

imo it's a real stretch to turn that into anything but good news for those who want to shake up the Republican Party establishment yet win general elections

http://bit.ly/b9Qfc3

Did anyone catch any footage of the Tea Party Convention? I checked C-SPAN several times (albeit, not during the 9PM – 10PM hour) and didn't see anything. I've also checked over at FoxNews, but aside from some brief stories that were short on details, I didn't catch any footage.

The Los Angeles Times and the Seattle Times offered a few quotes spoken by Sarah Palin, but there wasn't a whole lot revealed. There were a few lines criticizing Obama's fiscal policies as “wasteful” and his foreign policy as “too conciliatory”, which basically backs up my earlier prediction that conservatives in the Tea Party movement are steering the movement to a smaller government direction in term of fiscal policy and a bigger government position in terms of foreign policy (unless you want to make the argument that the more aggressive foreign policy that Palin is advocating is somehow consistent with smaller government).

Not enough information yet, however, to give a full assessment. Perhaps a transcript of Palin's speech (as well as the speeches made by some of the organizers) will eventually be posted somewhere on the internet.

I see very little “a pox on both their houses” sentiment either in the convention speakers or the convention attendees. I expect there is much more of that in those party members that were opposed to the convention.

This isn't limited to the “Tea Party” crowd! What about — ahem — the GOP and Congre-GOP?

modern day conservatives are solidly pro-state

Which is exactly why I'm working with my local tea party. If they get steered toward the conservative agenda of “small government, except when we want it big”, they'll end up right back where we are now.

DaMav's FOX link depicts the tea party folks as pretty much disgruntled republicans who want a party with the following principles:

1. Fiscal Responsibility
2. Lower Taxes
3. Less Government
4. States’ Rights
5. National Security

As I've complained before, these are all generic stands made purposely vague in order to garner the most amount of support. I would suspect that a majority of Americans would support each of these “principles” (I mean, c'mon! Who would be against national security). But to the borrow the phrase–the devil's in the details. What does it mean exactly to support fiscal responsibility or national security?

Also, it shouldn't take too much in depth thinking to realize how some of these principles (in practice) conflict with one another. Consider national security (principle #5 on the Tea party's list), for instance. Being strong on national security, for most modern day conservatives means supporting military interventions against nations whose governments our government does not like, supporting sanctions against nations whose governments our government does not like, supporting having hundreds of military bases around the world, and increasing the federal budget for military programs. Clearly, this contradicts the idea of smaller government (principle #3 on the Tea Party movement's list).

Conservatives can rant and rave all they want about smaller government, but the fact of the matter is that when it comes to foreign policy, modern day conservatives (as opposed to the Robert Taft and Russell Kirk conservatives of the past) support bigger government. As Randolph Bourne argued during World War I, “War Is the Health of the State.” And to that end, modern day conservatives are solidly pro-state (i.e. pro big government).

1. Fiscal Responsibility
2. Lower Taxes
3. Less Government
4. States’ Rights
5. National Security

Look at numbers 1 and 2. They aren't going to work very well in concert since they are pretty much opposites in our current state. Nothing particularly “responsible” about that. 3 and 4 are old axes that have been ground over, and over again. Nothing new there – certainly nothing that offers any solution to the problems we face today. Number 5? We all care about national security, but it means different things to different people. To some it's meant war, torture, fewer civil liberties, etc. Color me unimpressed so far. I can see why this might hold some appeal to libertarians and the same republicans who have always beat those drums, but I don't see anything new there, mostly a celebration of mediocre standards and ideas from what I see. Oh don't worry, I'll keep an eye out and if it turns out they are something more than what we've already seen plenty of (minus the tea party label) then I'll be willing to revise my impression, but until then…

Thanks for the information. This ought to be a great oppportunity for bloggers (both on the left and the right) to see what the Tea Party movement really stands for rather than making blanket generalizations (both for and against) regarding the entire movement.

Since Governor Palin is not the official leader of the movement, it would be unfair to judge the entire movement based upon the comments she makes tonight (and I have no doubt that some of her comments will be controversial). However, I'm expecting some of the organizers to speak as well.

In other words, this will be a great opportunity for the organizers of the Tea Party movement to really define what the movement stands for and to convey its underlying political philosophy. Their views will be out in the open for all to see, and everyone (both inside and outside the movement) will be able to make an honest assessment as to whether the Tea Party movement truly represents their political philosophy.

It will also be an opportunity for the Tea Party movement to put it cards on the table (so to speak) with regards to its claims of being pro-liberty and pro-smaller government. Has it all been just a bunch of rhetoric from a bunch of partisan Republicans whose critique of “big government” has come only after their guy was no longer in the White House? Or is the pro-liberty and pro-smaller government language part of a genuine message meant to challenge both the traditional talking points offered by the Democrats and Republicans?

Hopefully, after tonight, we'll be one step closer to having that question answered.

As with the Republicans, as SD is fond of pointing out, demographics don't favor the viability of anything that has no appeal to blacks, hispanics, asians and the young. I don't think you need a scientific poll to figure out the demographic problem. There are 3.7 million photos you can peruse:
http://images.google.com/images?q=tea+party+crowd

Fox News will have a Special 2-Hour Show tonight starting at 9 p.m. ET that will include Governor Palin’s keynote at the National Tea Party Convention. Andrew Breitbart will introduce Sarah Palin tonight at the convention.

Fox Nation also has a blog: Live at The National Tea Party Convention:

http://onthescene.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/02/05/…

If you want to watch live stream now, be sure to check out the following:

C-SPAN Live Stream Coverage of the Convention:

http://www.c-span.org/Watch/C-SPAN.aspx

PJTV Live Streaming Now: 2010 Tea party Convention:

http://www.pjtv.com/ (must register)

ALSO, Governor Palin will be on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace at 6 p.m. ET as a Sunday show first. Be sure to tune in as they discuss the Tea Party movement and the President’s first year in office.

Have a GREAT evening!

But Joe speaking of another Tea. . . . tried the Good Earth Caffeine Free Original tea you suggested, OMG! It is wonderful, after the first cup i gave up all caffeine, it has replaced the one cup of morning coffee and the one evening soft drink. . . It is great tea both hot and cold. I have now ordered a couple of the Superfruit teas from the same company. . .

Thanks never thought i would be able to get off caffeine. . .