The Tea Party Response

In addition to the customary Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union address, there was another highly publicized response: the response from the Tea Party.

Michelle Bachmann, a Republican member of the House of Representatives from Minnesota, delivered a response to the President's State of the Union address on behalf of the Tea Party, which was televised on CNN. Like President Obama, Bachmann invoked the national spirit and encouraged hope, and like the official Republican response, she pointed to the debt crisis and the failures of the economy. Her tone was more confrontational than that of Paul Ryan, directly attacking the President's policy on many counts with very few concessions.

Bachmann says that she recognizes the legitimacy of Paul Ryan's official Republican response and is not putting her speech forward as a challenge. The Republican Party says the same, that she is simply using the opportunity afforded to all Congress members to respond to the State of the Union address. But the fact remains that the speech was officially endorsed by the Tea Party and is widely being treated as a third party address, and that it was broadcast by a major news network.

What do you think of the speech and its meaning for the politics of the Tea Party? Is the Tea Party now a true third party and a major force in politics? Is this speech going to deepen the Tea Party's divide with the Republican Party? Or is it the sincere response of a conservative congresswoman that has been blown out of proportion?

Conservatives rally together at CPAC in preparation for midterms

Today was the first day of the annual CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference). It's main drive was support for the upcoming November midterm, where Republicans hope to take back many seats in Congress, and make it clear that they are determined to make Obama a one-term president. The conference featured prominent members of the Republican party, lame jokes about Obama, and reminders to stay, well, conservative.

The Republicans are on the upswing now as Obama's approval has been rating dropping, several veteran congressional Democrats have announced they will retire at the end of the year and Brown took a historically liberal seat in Massachusetts. They are certainly embracing their new "underdog" status as it seems to have ignited a fiery opposition and fervor to end up on top. But many of their speeches contained relatively no new information, just reiterations of their classic platform: lowering taxes, no mercy towards terrorism, and small business interests.

However, I think something interesting to note was that of the 10,000 attendees somewhere from 60-80 percent were under 30. I think this should definitely be a wake up call for Democrats. Perhaps the conference was purposefully skewed (likely) in order to seem appealing to younger voters, but the Democrats should definitely fight for the younger crowd. The sign that younger voters might be heading towards the right is rather surprising, but then again, I'm not sure if this conference is very accurate.

Another point of interest was the Republican's response to the Tea Party movement, or the "grassroots" conservatism that sprung out of certain policy issues and gridlock in Washington last year. The party does not associate itself with the Republican party, but followers overwhelmingly vote right. House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, warned against aligning their party with the Tea Party. "The Republican Party should not attempt to co-opt the tea parties," Boehner said. "I think that's the dumbest thing in the world. What we will do, as long as I'm the leader, is respect them, listen to them, and walk amongst them. The other party will never, ever do that." However, Marco Rubio, a challenger for the Florida Senate seat, encouraged Republicans to "embrace" the Tea Party.

On a side note,

"The CPAC conference wraps up Saturday with the much-anticipated straw poll, seen as an indicator of the top GOP contenders for the 2012 presidential election.

The choices on the ballot this year are Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Paul, Pawlenty, Pence, Romney, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, South Dakota Sen. John Thune, and a slot for "Other.""

So what do you think? Are Republicans really on the rise, or just trying to pump up their supporters? Should the Democrats be scared of the under-30 percentage? Should the GOP embrace the Tea Party? What do you think of the top GOP contenders?