Palin, Bachmann to headline Tea Party convention
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/11/25/palinbachmann.jpg caption="Palin, Bachmann to headline Tea Party convention."](CNN) - Sarah Palin will be the main attraction at what's being billed as the "First National Tea Party Convention."
Tea Party Nation announced Wednesday that last year's Republican vice presidential candidate will serve as keynote speaker for the conference, scheduled to take place in Nashville, Tennessee February 4-6. A representative for Palin has confirmed the former Alaska governor's speaking role at the gathering.
The group also announced that Rep. Michele Bachmann will be speaking at the gathering as well. The Minnesota Republican has become a hero among many in the conservative movement. A representative for Bachmann confirms her speaking role.
The event could focus the political spotlight on both women. Bachmann has become a rising star, her ascent fueled in part by major support from Tea Party activists. For Palin - currently taking a brief Thanksgiving break from a national tour for her new book, "Going Rogue: An American Life" - serving as headliner at a tea party convention could increase speculation that she is weighing a run for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination.
Judson Phillips, a spokesman for Tea Party Nation, says the group is talking with other high-profile political leaders about possible convention roles, though he wouldn't name any names.
"(T)he convention is aimed at bringing the Tea Party Movement together from around the nation for the purpose of networking and supporting the movements' multiple organizations (sic) principle goals," according to a statement from the group.
Phillips says the conference will feature workshops, seminars, information centers, and organizational tools for leaders to take back to their respective local tea party organizations. He adds that the Republican Party is not coordinating or organizing with Tea Party Nation in any way.
Phillips says Tea Party Nation was launched in April, just before the first tea parties were held across the country on tax deadline day, and that the group held rallies in Nashville and in other parts of Tennessee on April 15. He added that Tea Party Nation also organized a smaller tea party event in early July, when a second round of events were held around the nation, but did not take part in the two cross-country tea party caravans held the past few months.
A spokesman for the Tea Party Express, which organized those two cross country tea party caravans, says they are not currently involved in the organization of the convention, but that they are supportive of the gathering's goals.
Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn
Updated 7:30 p.m. with confirmation from Palin's representative
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CNN you have got to be kidding.
I hope the Mad Hatter will be there, just to keep things a little sane.
What a bunch of idiots. palin and bachman are a couple of airheads with decent looks. If this is your future repugs then you might as well throw in the towel. A pretty face will get you on the front cover but it won't fix the nation's problems.
OBAMA 2012
This is truly a dream-ticket... for the opposition.
What a waste of time and money, more teabaggers gathering.
can we please please keep the spin and lies to a minimum when there?? and please try to be the good christian woman you keep insisting that you are sarah.
Sounds like a third party in the making ... lead by two empty-headed, deluded, mean-spirited pretty faces who don't know jack about anything.
People following these two nutjobs deserve all the ridicule they most certainly will get.
That's awesome! To Republicans, Conservatives, Right Wingers...whatever you call yourselves these days I gotta news flash for ya. YOU CAN'T WIN WITH 35% OF THE VOTE! Palin's as smart as my sister's 3 years old and Bachmann is absolutely crazy...I really wonder about the people of Minnesota every time I hear her speak about anything.
This is a beautiful thing, I love it dearly........
To have two of the most out of touch with reality personalitys of the Republican party speaking at an event for a segment of our society that is reviled nation wide is great for the Democrats.......
I sure hope they open up with "Joe the Plumber".....
I am a white american, and I must say these people have bought SHAME and Dishonor upon the white race, they are no doubt in the minority of a growing diverse nation, and thank god for that.....!
Their will be a summit between the RNC and Tea Bag Nation after Republican gains in Congress. It will fail to prevent a third party. The GOP is being pulled into an anti-intellectual black hole from which there is no escape.
Note to Tea Baggers: Don't hold your breath that Palin will actually show up. She's got a track record of going with the gig that will give her the most publicity.
If something better comes along for her Feb 4-6, you're toast!
I can sympathize with the basic ideas behind the Tea Parties because as a libertarian/anarchist I definitely believe that the government taxes and spends too much. However, show me 100 tea partiers and I’ll show you 90 people who said nothing about Bush’s $1 trillion and counting folly in Iraq. The simple hard truth that conservatives must accept is that we will never bring down the size of the state until we reign in excessive military and defense spending.
What role models for women – NOT!
Palin = Quitter, liar, mooch
Bachman = Crazy, liar, hateful
They're both mean-spirited, egocentric and self-righteous because they claim to be "Christian," using their faith as an excuse for all their bad behavior.
If I were a Republican parent with daughters, I'd run for the hills!
Yay. So this will split the republican party into moderates and conservatives and the RNC taking funding away from those that don't 100% follow the party line will provide the necessary wedge for the democrats to squeak through the midterm elections. If you are a Republican and you care about your party and USA, then you need to say no to these divisive fringe groups because it shows too many easy targets for the Democrats to exploit.
To call Bachmann a rising star is highly amusing....Go ahead, I would love to see a Palin/Bachmann 2012 bid....it would ensure Obama a landslide victory for re-election. Rising star....I can't stop laughing!!!
Oh, gosh, Sarah & Michelle together on the same stage; the tea-bags will be delirious...orgasmic even. Now, that's a pair I wouldn't draw to.
Oh Boy, A party of two ignoramuses spouting their ideology. Let's hope these two run in 2012. The Dems will win by a land-slide
What in the world kind of tea are they drinking?
Average I.Q.: 30
Two of the most intolerant hate filled people on the planet, period!
The lame leading the blind.
What a fascinating line up so far. What could these two possibly have to say that 1st of all, makes any sense and 2nd-WHO CARES!
Can you imagine what the world thinks of this crew? LOL
Great to see that another radical sub party has become part of the Republican "Purist" party. Now part of the republican party, the hard core fringe elements that has taken over, will subject any candiate to a "Purity" test . A purity test, how scary has the conservative party become to subject any candiate to a purity test. And I wonder who will determine who is and who is not. Seems familiar to another party of long ago that only "Accepted" what they determined to be pure.
Oh goody. Two crazy women in one place. Although, if Meg Stapleton hasn't approved it, Palin will be a no-show again. These two are the most abrasive, self-serving, narcissistic people I have ever seen, and Republicans LIKE them? Because they lie, or because they are both somewhat attractive? It cannot be because either one speaks intelligently of things they have researched.