Steele appeases Tea Party activists in lengthy meeting - "the beginning of a relationship"

[jefferson_dem]

Steele appeases Tea Party activists in lengthy meeting

Washington (CNN) – An uneasy truce may have been reached between the Tea Party movement and the Republican Party after Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele spent nearly four hours Tuesday trying to calm the fears of Tea Party leaders who worry that the GOP is out to co-opt their grassroots energy ahead of the 2010 midterm elections.

Steele met with about 50 Tea Party leaders from grassroots organizations around the country in a lengthy bull session at the Capitol Hill Club, a cushy Republican meeting-spot located next to RNC headquarters.

The closed-door event, organized several weeks ago, was originally scheduled to last for one hour. But participants said the confab lasted well into the evening after the RNC chairman vowed to answer every question put forth by the activists who made the trip to Washington.

Participants said their primary goal was simply "to be heard" by the party establishment and to make clear to Steele that Tea Party activists want the national party to stay out of local races. Steele, they said, listened graciously throughout the meeting and promised to keep the lines of communication open.

"We believe in this meeting that we were heard," said Karin Hoffman of D.C. Works For Us, a Tea Party organization in South Florida. "It's the beginning of a relationship."

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[Pirate Smile]

1. He told them the GOP wont interfere in primaries. This could be fun.

:D

[AlinPA]

2. Relationship? Teabaggers = republicans from day 1. They were and are one and the same. nt

[Cosmocat]

6. Right ... in other news ...

The Schutzstaffel and Stumabteilung had a meeting ...

[Ganja Ninja]

3. Wow a black man and the klan making peace with each other.

This is truly a great country.

[Jennicut]

4. Trying to fold them into the GOP. Probably will work.

Steele doesn't want to piss them off.

[customerserviceguy]

5. Exactly

Steele's smart enough to know that if they form a true third party, the GOP won't win another election in this country.

[JoePhilly]

7. They were created by the GOP ... but they are too stupid to know that.

Which is why Tea Party folks voted GOP in VA, NJ, and Mass .... in each case electing a STANDARD ISSUE GOPer.

The entire discussion of the Tea Party being something other than a GOP creation, is false.

[LatteLibertine]

8. Well

the Republicans have been strongly supporting the Tea Party effort since day one. They've provided; money, media coverage and propaganda.

[otohara]

9. These Folks Are Republicans...What's The Big Deal

who are they going to vote for?

It won't be the POTUS.