GOP strategist Mark McKinnon, on the politicians who are best channeling the tea party movement.
• Sarah Palin: the reigning queen of the disenfranchised. The former Alaska governor has been invited to be the keynote speaker at a national Tea Party symposium in San Antonio, Texas, January 24. Think this event will generate any press?
• Michele Bachmann: the reigning Tea Party princess. The Minnesota House Republican with the sharp tongue has been leading the charge at Washington rallies and is one of only two elected officials to be asked to speak at the February national convention.
• Jim DeMint: the junior senator from South Carolina, currently holding up a crucial TSA appointment. DeMint spoke at a Tea Party march in Washington Sept.12, and Dec. 2 at a Tea Party gathering for the screening of a movie about the movement.
• Rick Perry: The Texas governor held a Texas “Tea Party” rally on April 15, which garnered national attention and Palin’s endorsement. He always speaks highly of the tea partiers—who had to love Perry’s call for Texas to secede from the Union.
Others, like Congressmen Mike Pence (R-IN), Eric Cantor (R-VA), Joe Wilson (R-SC), and John Culberson (R-TX), are vying for a seat at the table. And you can bet many more will be clamoring for scraps in the months ahead.
Perry is severely underestimated as a 2012 prospect. If he gets by Hutchison, he'll have the resume Palin doesn't (2.5 terms as governor), unquestioned ambition ("fire in the belly" might be the thing to say here), and the same populism Palin preaches, but with better grammar and an intimate familiarity with the issues.
If national party bigs decide they need to embrace a tea party candidate, Perry is probably their best bet.
[Hat tip: @allahpundit]
