Florida Tea Party Convention Snubbed By Leading Republicans
11/5/11
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The decision by a number of prominent Republicans to skip a major statewide tea party convention has provoked frustration among its organizers and raised questions about the controversial positions advanced by some of the event's participants.
Tea party allies Gov. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), Attorney General Pam Bondi (R-Fla.) and the leading Republican candidates for president have all declined invitations to the 2011 Florida Tea Party Convention. Senate candidates Adam Hasner and George LeMieux and Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) are not attending either.
Planners say it is the first time members of Florida's sizable tea party movement have convened at a conference of their own and believe the event will help galvanize the state's loosely affiliated chapters. Around 1,000 activists are expected to make their way to this balmy seaside resort town for the function, which features keynote addresses and seminars given by right-wing academics, political strategists, businesspeople, theologians and other conservatives.
The absence of marquee GOP officeholders or seekers has irked many high-ranking local tea party officials. Pamela Dahl, the convention's chair and president of Florida's Tri-County Tea Party, said she had hoped a live presidential forum would be one of the highlights of the three-day gathering.
"I'm not happy that they decided that they didn't want to come and they thought evidently that we were not important," she said. "But the way I look at it is maybe it isn't important to them. Either that or maybe they're scared of us."
Richard "Sheriff" Mack, a political advocate and former Graham County, Arizona sheriff who delivered a seminar on policing and firearm regulations at the convention, echoed Dahl.
"Michele Bachmann and Marco Rubio used to be tea party favorites," Mack said. "The tea parties got them elected and now they're not here at the Florida state tea party rally. This is the most important meeting in Florida and Michele Bachmann -- well she doesn't live here -- but Marco Rubio does and he should be here."...
For the full article, go to:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/05/florida-tea-party-rick-scott-marco-rubio-allen-west_n_1077685.html?ref=politics
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