The Republican National Committee is
paying for signs and political buttons used by Tea Party groups despite
widespread disagreement among the conservative, grassroots activists on whether
the movement should work to elect candidates within the Republican Party or
steer clear from it.
The campaign items, paid for by the RNC, were on full display at a
Friday press conference of tea-bagger activists who were in Washington D.C. for
the “Take the Town Halls to Washington” project. Red-white-and-blue buttons and signs
emblazoned with the words “Listen to Me!” were passed out to attendees. At the
bottom of the signs read: “Paid for by the Republican National Committee.”
Michael Patrick Leahy, a “Take the Town
Halls to Washington” project organizer who is bringing tea-baggers to the
capital to lobby Democrats on their proposed health-care bill, admitted that
the RNC did provide the signs and buttons, but said he didn’t know the details
of the arrangement with Republicans and couldn’t explain how the signs got
there. “They just showed up,” he said.
An RNC official, who spoke on the
condition of anonymity, said the signs were given to the group at its request.
The buttons and signs were visible both
at the press conference and inside “the war room,” a small area inside the
hotel where the “Take the Town Halls to Washington” project is headquartered.
RNC chairman Michael Steele met with tea-bagger
activists in Washington several weeks ago in an attempt to keep them from supporting
third-party candidates. Recent polling shows that Republicans will not fare
well in November the tea-baggers support third-party candidates.
See photos
of the signs:
http://images.huffingtonpost.com/gen/149314/TPS-AFTER.jpg
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