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Low Registration Sinks Tea Party Convention
By Ambreen Ali
July 13, 2011
Organizers of the Freedom Jamboree announced Wednesday that they have canceled the tea party convention planned for this fall, citing low registration.
They had hoped the event would serve as a stage for Republican presidential candidates to court the conservative movement, and two — Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.) and former Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.) — had already confirmed they would attend.
The weekend of reflection and strategizing was scheduled for Sept. 28 to Oct. 2 in Kansas City, Kan., and included a straw poll. Twenty-one local tea party groups started it with the intent to reclaim the movement from national umbrella groups and offer an alternative to the annual fall tea party rally on the National Mall.
“We were doing it because we were fed up with the infighting that these umbrella groups have done in 2010,” William Temple, a lead organizer who lives in Georgia, told Roll Call.
He cited low registration in an email Wednesday informing activists about the cancellation. He said that finances weren’t an issue, but a June financial report posted on the organization’s website showed that only about $10,000 had been raised for an event that was supposed to attract hundreds of tea party groups from across the nation.
Only 62 tea party groups had committed to attending, well under the 350 that Temple estimated would be needed to break even.
The $10,000 was raised through sponsorships, donations, registration and vendor fees, and Temple’s email said it all would be returned...
For the full article, go to:
http://www.rollcall.com/news/low_registration_sinks_tea_party_convention-207282-1.html?ET=rollcall:e10583:80105291a:&;st=email&pos=epol
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