And now we throw the floor open for softball questions!
Dave Weigel again at the Washington Independent reports that the organizers of the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville, after weeks of deliberation, have decided which media outlets they will grant full access to the event. “Everyone from a small town newspaper in Iowa to Fox News has asked for press credentials,” the write in a press release. “We have had requests from Canada, England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Norway, Croatia and Japan.” In the end, however, they chose only five outlets, all but one unabashed boosters of the Tea Party movement: Fox News, Breitbart.com, Townhall.com, The Wall Street Journal and World Net Daily.
World Net Daily’s Joseph Farah is also speaking at the convention; other reporters may get access to a “press room” if the venue is “willing to provide” one.
In the statement, organizers also finally answer some of the attacks they’ve received from angry Tea Party activists and former sponsors.
Between last February and the present, Tea Party Nation has seen members come and go. We have tried to deal fairly with our present and former relationships, however, not without some criticism. This criticism has been unfortunate and we believe, unwarranted. However, it is the policy of Tea Party Nation not to focus on past challenges, but to stay focused on the task of advancing the conservative cause and defeating liberalism.
With that in mind, we will not be making any comments regarding former members.
This week brought news that the conservative / libertarian-leaning American Liberty Alliance pulled out of the convention. ALA had been a “gold” level co-sponsor. The group’s Eric Odom cited concerns about the “for profit” financing of Tea Party Nation and the convention, writing that the ALA decided the $500 price-tag to register was high and that there was little oversight into who was controlling the money and how it was being spent.
Comments are closed.