Iowa tea party group reverses itself again, reinstates O'Donnell as speaker
Washington (CNN) – Former Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell will speak at a tea party rally Saturday in Iowa after organizers Tuesday night reversed themselves again and re-invited her, CNN has learned.
Earlier Tuesday, citing internal miscommunication problems, organizers rescinded an invitation to her, saying they realized they did not have enough space in the program for her.
Ken Crow, founder of the Tea Party of America, said the group re-thought its decision because it was not right to cancel after offering her a role. Besides the communication issues, Crow told CNN another factor that led to the cancellation was some negative reaction to O'Donnell being invited to participate.
"We received some nasty e-mails," Crow told CNN. "We didn't do the right thing."
He said after some consideration organizers changed their minds.
"What we've done is to make room for her," Crow said. "It wasn't fair what we did."
O'Donnell received a call Tuesday evening inviting her to speak.
"In ‘Troublemaker’ I talk about 'rising above it,' and have humbly re-accepted the re-invitation to speak in Iowa," O'Donnell said in a statement.
She will speak prior to Sarah Palin, who will deliver the keynote address for the rally.
Crow said he did not hear from Palin or her representatives regarding whether O'Donnell would appear at the event.
Earlier Tuesday, Crow said initially he was "under the assumption we had an open slot" after her supporters had inquired Monday about whether she could speak and he thought there was space for her.
O'Donnell, who is on a national speaking tour for her book, was informed Monday she could speak but was disinvited Tuesday.
Palin's address at the event is drawing interest from around the nation, according to Charlie Gruschow, co-founder of the group, and will probably increase that much more with word of her attending a Tea Party Express event in New Hampshire two days after the Iowa speech.
Organizers of the Iowa rally have said they don't have details on what Palin will discuss at the event.
"She will make a major statement at the event," Gruschow told CNN last week. "Whether it be an announcement to run, not to run or lay a marker in the sand for other candidates."
The rally is meant to help promote the tea party values of limited government, the importance of the Constitution and fiscal responsibility, event organizers have said.
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Instead of the Tea Party, they should be called the Yo-Yo party. On, Off, On. Well they are a bunch of yo-yos anyway.
Iowa baggers are truly 'Idiots Out Walking Around.
Who cares about the tea party. After the debacle in congress the Kochs tea party and all who support them are on their way out.
I hate Democrats almost as much as Republicans.
Republicans are the screaming bullies and Democrats are scared to death of the Republicans. Shame on us, the people.
I'm a Conservative, and even I want O'Donnell to just go away.
I guess that hunting season for loons is back on then. With O'Donnell and Palin being as crazy as they are (as loons as it were). O'Donnell doesn't know enough to be a member of Congress or even dog catcher. They are too far to the right and only ideologues that don't think far enough to be good representatives for their respective states or even the country.
"We received some nasty e-mails," Crow told CNN. "We didn't do the right thing." – – So they were intimidated into doing something they didn't think really was a good idea? Nice.
Hmm... "didn't have enough space for her"? That shouldn't be an issue. She's spacey enough for most everyone!
The old tea bagger double reverse, on again off again on again ploy that makes Iowa republicans look foolish.
She probably cast a spell on the organizer...
Maybe the Iowans will through her in the Mississippi River to see if she floats...
Gov. Rick Perry (Dr. Death) should join 'death panel' Sarah in Iowa for a duel of lying, fear and hate.
Could you find a less relevant speaker than Christine O'Donnell? Will she talk about masturbation? Inquiring minds want to know...
Wow, that's the best you guys can do? The Tea Party is in worse trouble than I thought.
Oh good, Elvira O'Donnell will get to speak, wonder if it will be prior to Snookie Palin?
If you're O'donell, how can you face people after this? They decided she was a joke and then thought twice and said "OK, let's let her speak and then send her on her way".......I doubt she could crawl her way back to Bill Mayer. Maybe she can wake up in a neighbor's bed on Halloween.
Wow!!! Palin and O'Donnell at the same Tea Party event! What a moron-a-thon that's going to be! Loserpalooza is going to be the crown jewel of hee-haw hoe-down carnival freak shows! If only Glenn Beck were there to make the evening perfect . . .
And there are actually people who WANT to be there, who just cannot wait to throw their money at these lie-puking greedy media whores! Like Mencken said, "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public."
My God, the tea baggers are just one big Holy mess!
Do voters really want a crew showing such a poor ability to organize, running this country?
I can hear the GOP now, "We just bombed the Netherlands on Tuesday and it should have been Iran and on Thursday"!
This is newsworthy? A cat up a tree is much more so than anything about this under-educated grifter.
Seems that she and the tea-baggers have delusions of importance and adequacy. But they want to be part of the dismantling of the federal gummint. Poison-pills, all of them.
Who is on first? Who is in charge and what does this action of inviting, uninviting and inviting mean?
Wow, a flip-flop from the Tea Party. My guess is that a coven of witches threatened to place a spell on Iowa's Corn Crop. 🙂
O'Connell must have threatened to put a hex on them...missing dogs and cats on the rise for sacrificial offerings.
She won't be taking any questions, however.
What is this about the GOP/TeaTards? These people want to hear from the lowest common denominator, intellectually speaking. I couldn't sit still for 1 millisecond listening to this vapid woman. But you tell a GOP/Teatard she's speaking, its a festival of bumper sticker slogans, with no ideas anywhere visible.
I am so amazed how myopic and absent of any common sense the GOP/TeaTards have become. I remember at time, not too long ago, when there were actually intelligent people in the party
Well, that's a relief.