Inside the Beltway

TEA BASHERS

Is the press threatened by the “tea party” movement - or is it just blood sport?

The mainstream news media continues to ramp up criticism and foment doubt about the National Tea Party Convention, set to open in Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday.

“I believe they are attacking us because they fear this event. So far, the tea party movement has been a lot of protests, which the left has been willing to ignore or dismiss. Now, we are in an election year. Three Democrats have gone down to defeat, and this convention is about uniting the tea party movement and giving members tools they need to help them be more effective in their local communities,” Judson Phillips, organizer of the sold-out event, tells Inside the Beltway.

The event has 10 sponsors and 18 speakers, Sarah Palin among them.

“I think the left fears this, because when the elections come this fall, they are going to be voted out, excluding of course President Obama, whose term runs until 2012,” Mr. Phillips says.

Among the headlines in the last 48 hours: “Tension brews at tea party convention” (National Public Radio), “Tea party convention raises questions about movement’s future” (The Tennessean, USA Today), “Weak tea (party)” (Newsweek).

But wait. More than 100 national and international news organizations have now applied for press credentials for the event, according to press liaison Mark Skoda. Some journalists have asked for free lodging as well.

“Instead of the prior template about tea party groups being a bunch of irrelevant, quarreling right-wing, racist white wackos doing the bidding of people like Dick Armey, the attacks are becoming more vicious, because the political threat to their power is now perceived as more real than when it was just a bunch of big protest rallies last year,” Bruce Donnelly tells the Beltway.

He is president of Surgeusa, an Illinois-based grass-roots group with the motto “Change Congress.”

Mr. Donnelly adds, “Bottom line: There are a lot of really smart Americans outside the Beltway, and hundreds will meet in Nashville to get even more organized and prepare for their primaries and November 2.”

MOUNT GIPPER

Fourteen presidents have mountains named after them. Former President Ronald Reagan could be next on the rarefied roster: Two efforts are under way to place a “Mount Reagan” on the map before Feb 6, 2011 — what would have been Mr. Reagan’s 100th birthday.

Citizen Outreach Foundation is determined that peak be in Nevada, and kicks off their “naming project” Saturday in Las Vegas, featuring local Reagan historian Craig Shirley as keynote sepaker.

“President Reagan’s many achievements, especially victory in the Cold War, warrants this type of honor,” says Mr. Shirley.

Story Continues →