Sarah Palin Tea Party Appearance May Alienate Base

I like Sarah Palin but not every story one blogs on is necessarily one you like. There are what might be troubling questions reverberating through elements of the grassroots over Sarah Palin's decision to make her Tea Party debut at what's being billed as a Nashville Tea Party convention.

Politico recently claimed that the event is a profit-based event for organizers. That would seem to be the case. By itself, that may be all well and good. America is a capitalist nation. But with over a $550 registration fee and the need to pay travel and hotel expenses, it might not be the type of grassroots event one would imagine Palin embracing right now. The scheduling, such as it is, makes it even worse.

The tea party brand has proved to be a potent source of revenue for new for-profit companies funding — among other things — an upcoming convention keynoted by Sarah Palin, for established national non-profit groups soliciting small donations and for political action committees and long-shot candidates raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to try to overcome sometimes long electoral odds.

The schedule mentions break-out and discussion sessions with no topics, no list of moderators, etc. It's unclear what anyone will be doing in Nashville for three days other than waiting for Sarah Palin. On top of that, the planning looks to be very poorly done.

The conference sessions, whatever they may be, end at 12:30 PM Saturday afternoon. There's nothing happening again until the banquet at 6 PM that night. In most cases, all that will achieve is driving up participation costs due to the need for another night in a hotel. Attendees traveling any distance to the event would be all but forced to travel home on a Sunday. That may be fine if one is looking to maximize revenue for the area and some hotels. But it doesn't seem to take Tea Party goers interests in mind at all.

And then there's the question, are Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachman receiving fees for their speeches? Palin has made previous comments suggesting that wouldn't be the case. Is this different, or is her name being exploited for profit while she's going unpaid? Also, on what is it they plan to speak? Some folks might like to  know before dropping what could amount to a couple thousand dollars to attend the event.

Taken as a whole, the event strikes some, including me, frankly, as so contrary to what many of us thought the Tea Parties were all about, it might be helpful if someone were to inform people what was actually taking place. If nothing else, putting a title on a break-out, or discussion session or three and listing panelists, or moderators would be a good start. And that doesn't seem like too much to ask.

Comments

[Sissy Willis]

My sister cuts to the chase: "The Republicans are the panty-waist Beaver Cleaver to the RATS' Eddie Haskell. June Cleaver had it right when she said to her husband, '"Ward, I'm worried about the Beaver.'"

[Sherri]

Good questions but misleading title. Question the organizers not Sarah Palin. She is not responsible for TPN, she is only a speaker there just as Michele Bachmann is only a speaker. This is the second misleading article you have posted today. This causes me to question your motives.

[Calypso Jones]

alienate her base?? HELL>>>THEY ARE HER BASE.

[montee]

Personally I believe the tea party movement should not be aligning itself with any parties or politicians whomever they may be. The second that happens the easier it will be for the media and the left to demonize and dismiss them and it will also splinter the movement into factions. It is not worth the risk.

[Dan Riehl]

Sherri - If Palin agrees to put her name on an event, it's her responsiblity to understand the event. Stop worrying about appropriate questions being asked of people you like. I like her, too. That doesn't make anything misleading. I said for all I knew she may be being exploited. But it's her job to police her brand, not mine, nor anyone elses.

[Crimefyter]

I don't see a real problem with this at all. We have primaries that will allow us to choose our leader. Right now she seems the front runner.

[Huey]

Her job is to get her message out. This will be a venue where such is possible.

[unseen]

Palin is simply trying to get the Tea partiers on her side. She is not planning nor hosting the event. It is billed as a national event and I would assume and the price tag seems to indicate that the people that plan to attend are the die hard people. so basically It would appear at first blush that someone is trying to flesh out the real players in the movement that want to take an active leadership role/interest in the movement.

[Sara]

I'm with Sherri. And this is why right-leaning libertarians like me distrust conservatives so much. You never know when they'll turn on you for some perceived violation of purity and drive the shiv into your back. I was of the impression that this is a convention to bring organizers together to plan for the future. Sarah is all about reaching people and getting the word out.

Didn't we learn the lesson in 2006 that listening to purist pushers the likes of Malkin and Kristol will lose elections. The goal should be to at least regain enough seats in Congress to have a voice instead of more years of standing outside locked doors. Which side will they vote with? That is what matters. Did the purity wing, of which Dan seems to be part, really help with their "we have to teach them a lesson," rhetoric? No, it cost us not only 2006, but the total disaster of 2008. So, what is the next step? Oh, let's start bringing down those who have dared to rise to the top. Let's make sure we highlight every negative and promote negatives born in their own minds. Afterall, if they were really pure, no one would like them so much, no one would want them to be the keynote speaker, she would skip a genuine effort to organize because it isn't pure enough. Gag! It strikes me as envy.

[gary gulrud]

"alienate [her]'the base'?? HELL>>>THEY ARE HER BASE."

I agree, how Beezarre.

[Dan Riehl]

Sara, you're clueless. Your criticism is not only unwarranted, it makes no sense. Try reading things with at least a thimble full of intellect and far less emotion. If you can't, you're simply a ranting buffoon.

[Dan Riehl]

It really seems lost on some of you that simply because someone puts Tea Party on their business card, it doesn't mean they are representing that actual thing as most understand it with everything they do. The TP movement is a large number of small groups. They are mostly independent. To my knowledge, no one ever agreed to be led by whomever is putting on this show.

[ol_dirty_/b/tard]

Quit hatin' on Dan everybody. He's been a huge Palin supporter from the word go. He should be allowed to dissent without everybody piling on, especially when the criticism is constructive, as is the case here.

[LB]

I am confused and concerned about this too. I am on this mailing list via SP and the Tea Party groups. When this was first floated, the date was midDec of THIS year. I was astonished at the date AND the price. It was then refloated with the 02/2010 date. It is still being held at one of the priciest hotels in Nashville (Gaylord Opryland Hotel).
As far as something that I might consider attending,there is not much "there" there so far. I agree with Dan that this event sounds shaky on all levels. One would think for a "national meeting", there would be more information and depth. Mostly this is "give us $550 to come hang out and hear SP". Um, no.
I might reconsider and attend this or some of it IF there was some reasonable pricing or further event information but as of now, I am a FIRM No on going and this is 15 minutes from me.

[Sara]

Thank you Dan. One, if one was a nasty piece of ____, say to look in the mirror. But as one of your first readers and one who reads you every day, I won't include you. But, again thank you. Obviously you don't hold your readers in much regard. But then I'm speaking from 25 years of political polling and public relations experience and Washington inside experience, so what the hell do I know. Your article reads very much as "Sarah Palin getting too big for her britches."

Take a hard look at where you've been going lately. Generating one controversy after another, finding one target after another, getting in fights with other bloggers, one after another. For what purpose? Seems it is to generate traffic, but maybe your motives are more pure. But don't blame readers who have been around for a long long time for noticing the downward movement, I won't call it a spiral just yet.

[Dan Riehl]

"getting in fights with other bloggers, one after another."

WTF are you talking about? Looks to me as though you are seeing thsi event through the lense of someone inside the Beltway and I am coming from the outside. And you're suggesting I have the problem? As well as making silly, unsupported allegations? What, because I'm not a Beck fan and asking questions over a Palin event I'm looking for trouble?

You're welcome here, Sara. But try leaving the stoopid in your head.

[Ozwitch]

Reading through the blurb on the convention site, my take is that this convention is to try and bring all the different tea party organisations across the country into a coordinated movement with a single set of goals policies and agenda. Fair enough. It's a working party. The movement needs it.

Not sure how either Bachmann or Palin is to be used during this process. If they're just there as guest speakers, it seems a little aimless at this stage. Surely you invite ladies of this stature AFTER you have defined and established your movement, not during so they become part of the internal process. I for one would rather they were left outside of the internal workings rather than become tied to them.

There may be other internal literature we are not privy to but I agree the public info about the convention doesn't contain a great deal of substance, considering the import of inviting speakers such as Palin and Bachmann.

[SDN]

My first question is has Sarah Palin confirmed this? She's had a couple of incidents already where a group issued an invitation and claimed she'd accepted only to have it turn out not to be true.

[Darth Venomous]

In the first place, I take anything Politico says with the obligatory grain of salt. If Politico tells me the sky is blue, I'm going outside to double-check.

That all said, I'm willing to give Sarah the benefit of the doubt here. Policing her brand or no, if she sees this event as an opportunity to reach and/or continue bonding with a potential constituency/political base, I'm willing to let it go. And if funds need to be raised, I'm prepared not to care, as radio talker Mark Davis might say.

Of course, I'll continue to keep an eye on her, as should everyone. There's plenty of time before the next presidential election cycle, so no rush on anything.

[Dan Riehl]

"has Sarah Palin confirmed this?"

Yes, she has. I'm not assuming Palin knows all the ins and outs of the TP movement. Why would she? She's been busy on other things. This may be a good move or, it may not. I'm not even aware of who is putting it on. And I'm not a part of any formal or informal TP organization. There is no arguing that the convention site, as is, doesn't pass muster. It's the most amateurish one I've ever seen. Asking people toput up at least a grand w/hotal and travel, without telling them what thehell they are signing up for? That's just stupid.

It doesn't mean Palin is. It isn't her event. To the extent any questions get raised, I don't see that as a bad thing. Were I her, I'd want them answered now and not well into January.

I suspect they will be and all will be fine. But the price point does suggest more of a professional level event, than a grassroots one. As long as she knows what she's signed on for, it's her call. But nothing tells me, yet, that the people with this conference have been chosen leaders of any movement. If that isn't the case, I doubt she'd want to confer that on them with her presence. But who knows right now?

We'll find out. Questions will be answered and we'll all move on. In some ways, people are making too much of it. At the same time, some legitimate questions do deserve to be addressed. There is nothing wrong with that, folks.

[NH]

Real tea parties do not collect money. Astroturf groups do. Beware.

[unseen]

Posted by: Dan Riehl | Saturday, November 28, 2009 at 08:46 PM

agreed

[syn]

The dilemma for the Tea Party movement is there are too many people who've crowned themselves the leader-Ron Paulites believe they're the leader; Pajama Media-Prof Reynolds believe they are the leader, Dick Armey and Freedom Works believe they're the leader, some woman in Chicago believes she the leader and the list goes on.

The only group which brought in massive crowds (at least 5 hundred thousand up to 1 million) was the event organized by Dick Armey and Freedom Works; this event, by the way, had several politicians on the stage speaking. On the other hand, only about ten thousand showed up for PJ Media-Reynolds gathering.

Since Reynolds and PJ Media both have a confined following, for the good of the Nation they might want to join with Conservatives by giving up their Conservative 2.0 'Independent' approach since their Conservatism 2.0 is simply Moderates trying to make a meaningful movement; the "Army of Davids" does not have the influence to alter or re-make the Conservative movement into a 2.0 movement.

[Rich Casebolt]

The underlying concern here is that the professional-political class, through such "organizing" as this, will hijack the movement and reduce its potency by imposing their conventional wisdom upon it ... and/or use it to simply return the GOP to power, without changing the Washington status quo of wheeling, dealing, and politics-as-usual that was so soundly rejected in 2006 (wisely or not).

A move to higher-dollar events like this -- even in the name of a "stronger" movement -- is one of the first signs that a grassroots organization is moving (or being moved) to become an institution ... and institutions inevitably gravitate towards making self-service and their own care-and-feeding the highest priorities, as we have seen with BOTH political parties.

We don't need another steenkin' institution ... I share Dan's concerns.

[ThomasD]

"They are mostly independent. To my knowledge, no one ever agreed to be led by whomever is putting on this show."

"The underlying concern here is that the professional-political class, through such "organizing" as this, will hijack the movement and reduce its potency by imposing their conventional wisdom upon it ..."

All true, hopefully the participants will actually be appointed representatives or otherwise bona fide leaders of their respective groups, not merely sycophants or political junkies on a glamour vacation.

Lets also hope that any true representatives hold to the interests of their respective groups while also networking and establishing (at a minimum) a framework for national organization. If presented with the opportunity they should decline any attempts at being 'led' or being used as props in someone else's power play.

Ultimately, if these people are ever to succeed, they will have to do this anyway. Sooner is usually better than later.

I doubt the Founding Fathers were brought together by a for-profit event, but does it really matter the underlying nature so long as the persons present are legitimate, dedicated, and successful? if they fail, kit wont be due to the nature of the event.

In this day and age political organizing is a vast, complicated and expensive endeavor, perhaps the event organizers are just people with the knowledge, skills, and financing necessary to create, promote, and execute these type of events and are looking to piggyback onto a political movement as a business venture. If so, that is a perfectly acceptable for of symbiosis in a capitalistic society.

Politico is wedded to the political establishment, it is in their interests to put a negative spin on this or any other similar event. Is Politico so quick to remind us that left leaning groups and organizations have no real need revenue streams precisely because they are in the pocket of various and sundry billionares? No, that non-trivial aspect of their 'grassroots' nature never seems to come up.

Yes I would like to know more specifics about the event organizers, and their relationship to the event sponsors (Ideally IMO they should be nothing more than hired guns) but even in the absence of such information so long as these organizations and events remain beholden on the grass roots as their primary revenue source then we are at least a step above the Soros owned crowd on the left.

(Apologies for the length)

[Pasadena Phil]

I agree on Dan on this one. This highlights a problem the TP movement has and that is it can be easily hijacked. Our strength is that we are a true grassroots movement without a defacto leader. This makes us susceptible to usurpers like Newsance "Newt" GinGrinch who will front-run any movement for personal enrichment and ego. We really must be alert and suspicious. This event doesn't seem to qualify to label itself as a Tea Party event. Too organized and my bet is that the organizers are highly-experienced partisan political organizers on someone's payroll.

I'd like to see Sarah get involved with TP but not for "swoop in and talk" fund raisers posing as open-ended strategy sessions. This one is about money and money only.

[Bruce Donnelly]

Cut the organizers some slack. They are working hard on the rest of the program details, but with only 2 months to go until showtime, it's a lot of work to pull together a program like this. Nobody is going to get rich off this event - that's for certain.

The rest of the program will be filled in soon. They just had to make a choice as to whether to already start promoting it, or wait and have less time to reach everybody. Most folks also need to be able to plan ahead for their schedules, so it needed to be announced sooner rather than later, even if that meant gaps in the details.

[hrh40]

Sarah is not currently an elected politician. Judging from many of her comments to supporters on the book tour, she's now encouraging everyday Americans to get involved. What better place to continue to encourage the Tea Parties full of ordinary Americans getting involved than at the first convention?