Tea Party Support for Mitt Romney about 1" Deep

"Mitt Romney today announced the support of Tea Party leaders in Michigan..." starts off a widely circulated press-release put out by the Romney campaign yesterday. You would think that Mitt Romney's backing of Romneycare, his flip-flopping on abortion, his support of bail-outs would be an anathema to everything the Tea Party stands for. You would think that Rick Santorum's Constitutional Conservatism would be a natural fit.  So, it was a little surprising to see that "Tea Party" leaders would endorse the Republican establishment-approved candidate.

So I decided to take a closer look at Mitt Romney's Tea Party support, and sure enough this thing unravels like a cheap sweater. There are four Tea Party groups and six leaders mentioned in the press release.

The first group called Rattle With Us was co-founded by Maribeth Schmidt who is endorsing Romney. But if you look at this article: Why is Rick Santorum leading in Michigan on Rattle With Us' web site, you will clearly see that this group is anything but in support of Romney.

These questions and assessments of Romney are why Rick Santorum is going to win Michigan because he is not a self professed conservative but a practiced conservative with conservative ideologies.

It is also interesting to note that  Marco Lollio, Owner Of Marlo Trucking, is listed as a Tea Party leader in support of Romney. Well if you read this article in the Detriot News, Lollio and his wife Sharon, she is a co-founder of the Rattle With Us Teaparty, are interviewed at a Romney speech. Sharon was part of the "anybody but Mitt crowd" but still undecided because though she likes Santorum she doesn't think he can win (this wrong belief should be dead by now but I digress). Marco went over to the Romney side, while Sharon is not listed among Mitt's six Tea Party supporters.  So it might be more accurate for this press release to say, "The Husband of a Tea Party Leader Supports Romney" rather than "Tea Party Leaders Support Romney."

Next mentioned is "Dennis Moore, Founder/Former Director Willow Run Tea Party Caucus." Dennis is described as a former director because his decision to back Romney and not Santorum was so unpopular that he was forced to resign!!! Moore's "pragmatic" reason for endorsing Romney was that he is more "electable."  (Again when will this wrong-headed notion die?)

Next we come to Leisa Audette And Patty McMurray, Red Heels On The Ground. I don't doubt that these ladies are political activists, but when you lead an ACTIVE Tea Party group, you tend to leave a trail behind you that any search engine could find. The only group called Red Heels On The Ground that I can easily find is a facebook group with 36 members!

Lastly we come to Rose Drouillard, board member of the Brighton Tea Party. Even this group admits in a blog on their site that Romneycare could be a problem for Mitt since it so closely resembles Obamacare. Obama and the media will have a field day with this and that definitely gives Romney his own electibility issue.

Romney is trying to give the impression that he is making great in-roads into Tea Party voters, but nothing could be further from the truth. So don't be fooled by a slick politician.  We'll let these Tea Partiers sum it up best:

Dave Parker, a Santorum supporter from the Willow Run Tea Party, said Santorum, he believes, is a consistent conservative who is electable. Plus, Santorum's values align with his as an evangelical Christian.

Sharon Lollio co-founder of the Rattle With Us Tea Party says of Santorum "he has the "fire in belly" and "you feel he's one of us."

CREW Calls Santorum Corrupt

“The group that called me corrupt was CREW,” Santorum said at the recent GOP presidential debate. “If you haven’t been sued by CREW you’re not conservative. CREW is a left wing organization that puts out a list every election of the top Republicans in tough races and calls them all corrupt because they take contributions from PACs.”

In 2010, CREW published a "Crooked Candidates" list that included . . . Marco Rubio (R-FL - elected) . . . and Allen West (R-FL - elected)!  

Gay Marriage

Santorum's Openly Homosexual Aide of 10 Years Defends Rick

Too Conservative To Win?

Too conservative to win? What has been interesting to watch is how he interacts with people about his so-called ultra conservativism, and by the time he's done, the people end up agreeing with him.

There's no doubt that Rick is a true conviction conservative with a record of results to back it up.  But his conservative vision actually unites Democrats, Independents and Republicans because his vision for America is rooted in common sense.  The Made In America Plan, the Manufacturing Plan, the Balanced Budget Amendment, the economic plan, are undoubtedly rooted in conservatism and common sense -- and that's what we need.

Big Government & Taxes

Several videos and opinions have come out calling Santorum a big-government candidate.  Here is an excellent article proving otherwise.
http://www.redstate.com/wosg/2012/01/06/rick-santorum-yes-he-is-a-true-conservative/

And one of the very best counters to those claims is this article by Rush Limbaugh himself!
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2012/01/04/mantra_santorum_is_a_big_government_conservative


Rick Santorum has a long history of cutting taxes, reducing spending and fighting for a balanced budget amendment.  He even took on leaders of his own party in that fight.  He has never voted for a tax increase, and one year introduced more original bills cutting spending than anyone else.  

Sarah Palin said Rick Santorum's "been consistent in saying we need to slash the federal income tax."

Santorum is a member of the "Gang of Seven" that exposed taxpayer scandals at Congressional bank and Congressional post office.  This is one of the reasons the Washington Post praised Santorum as "a tea-party kinda guy before the tea party even existed."

Rick Santorum has called for significant tax rate cuts for middle class Americans and will cut wasteful spending to take the growing deficit off the backs of our children.