Tea Party | featured news

While loud and raucous rallies are still a part of the tea party toolbox, the movement, which came to life over dissatisfaction with big government and anger over government bailouts and President Barack Obama's health care reform, is evolving.

... But the once formidable strength of the Tea Party movement looks to be on the decline as the national conversation surrounding the role of government in American life has become less beholden to anti-establishment sentiment.

Stein posted comments on both his personal Facebook page and on The Armed Forces Tea Party Facebook page he created, mocking the president. On those pages he referred to President Obama as a "domestic enemy," a coward, and even superimposed President Obama's face on the poster for the movie "Jackass."

It was a Sarah Palin crowd. At a conference of conservative activists last week, there were stacks of Sarah Palin books and Sarah Palin posters. A special screening of a film about Palin was planned. And after skipping the gathering for four years, Palin herself had agreed at last to give the keynote address.

Newt Gingrich emerged the winner in a Sunday night straw poll of tea party voters after he and three other Republican presidential candidates courted more than 23,000 activists during a tele forum sponsored by the Tea Party Patriots coalition.

Just a year ago, tea party activists came roaring out of the congressional elections eager to shape the looming race for the White House.

Republican political figure and tea-party favorite Christine O'Donnell says she's backing Mitt Romney's presidential bid....

A day after Herman Cain shuttered his Republican candidacy for president, struggling GOP hopefuls looked to pick up the fallen candidate's tea party following and upset a primary dynamic that has pushed Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich to the forefront....

The Richmond Tea Party has found an unlikely ally in its fight against a City Hall tax audit: the Occupy movement. Despite any ideological differences, Occupy Richmond has come out in support of the local chapter of the conservative Tea Party movement, which has accused city officials of a double standard in its dealings with the two movements.

Bill Clinton’s new book, “Back to Work,” is really several books in one slender volume. It’s a lucid one-man rebuttal of the Tea Party’s anti-government agenda. A series of shrewd talking points for Democrats trying to hold on to the White House and battling for control of Congress in the midst of a sour economy and growing voter discontent. A self-serving reminder of the prosperity the country enjoyed during Mr. Clinton’s tenure in the White House, meant to burnish his legacy. And a practical set of proposals — some borrowed and some new, some innovative and some highly sketchy — for restoring economic growth and creating jobs.