Tea Party Caucus is also falling short of membership expectations

[housewolf]

in both the House and the Senate

GOP freshmen joining RSC
By Alan K. Ota

Tea party groups were given considerable credit for the Republican success in last fall’s elections. But now that they are in Washington, the dozens of newly elected GOP lawmakers appear reluctant to formally identify themselves with the movement.
Tim Scott

The House Tea Party Caucus, which appeared likely to see a dramatic expansion in the 112th Congress, has yet to recruit a new member from among the 87 freshman Republicans.

The new GOP lawmakers are opting instead to work through the older, much larger and not-quite-so-conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC). That group has grown by about 50 percent to 174 members, including 80 freshmen.

... (more about Bachman and other info that I didn't copy in here)


House Republican leaders have omitted from their agenda for this Congress such tea party staples as a flat income tax rate and a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget.

The newly formed Senate Tea Party Caucus is also falling short of membership expectations. The founding members include Republicans Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Mike Lee of Utah, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Jerry Moran of Kansas. But three freshmen with tea party ties — Marco Rubio of Florida, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Patrick J. Toomey of Pennsylvania — elected not to join.

The whole article
http://www.congress.org/news/2011/02/02/gop_freshmen_joining_rsc#src=db

[Dawson Leery]

1. Those Republicans who won in blue districts understand

that any membership with the tea party will guarantee their defeat in 2012.

[The Doctor.]

2. Oh noze! We should help them.

I mean, I'm series! Let's go sign up as regesterrd Repbulplicans so we can infloowence elections to get tea-partiy folks into congerass.

Oh... it's a worthy cause! :evilgrin:

[gratuitous]

3. Use 'em and lose 'em

Gee, who could ever have guessed? I wonder if any tea baggers will "spontaneously" appear at the town hall meetings for the congressmen that betrayed them? Will they get the same wall-to-wall fawning coverage they got when they were bitching at Democrats? Or will their mysterious funding suddenly dry up and their formerly attentive reporters find something (anything) else to cover?

Shocking. Just shocking.