Marco Rubio: Tea Party is a Movement Not a Party

Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio has some thoughts about the Tea Party movement:

Marco Rubio, a rising star in conservative Republican circles, said he sees the exploding "tea party" movement as a political energy source to be tapped, not a political party to be led.

Mr. Rubio's underdog race for the Senate against Gov. Charlie Crist in Florida's Republican primary has become a rallying point for conservatives nationwide.

He has been called the potential first "tea party senator," but he's quick to note that the anti-big-government movement is a symbol of mounting voter frustration with the records of both major parties in Washington.

"The tea party is about the anger over Washington's excesses that began under a Republican administration and Congress. Republicans have been guilty of expanding government," Mr. Rubio told The Washington Times in an interview. "But in the last 12 months, government has expanded at an even more alarming pace.

"And that expansion is what propels the massive pushback, which has become known as the tea party movement," said Mr. Rubio, who will give the keynote address Thursday at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), a three-day event at which the tea party phenomenon will be a primary topic.

The issue of relations among the Republican Party, movement conservatives and the tea party groups remains one of the most sensitive facing all sides as the 37th annual CPAC gathering kicks off. Some in the GOP are wary of the anger and fringe elements attached to the tea party movement, while many tea party activists are leery of losing control of their movement and becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of the Republican Party.

Rubio's right. If the Tea Party activists want to have a real impact in the Fall elections their best bet is figuring out how to work with Republicans. I personally don't care if people want to run as a separate party in local elections such as city councils or perhaps even some state offices, but at the federal (house/senate) or executive level (governor) they need to stay away from the third party temptations. Third parties in critical elections tend to dilute the votes of conservatives and elect Democrats. There's no glory in helping elect your political opposition.

Just remember 1992 and 1996 where Ross Perot's candidacy pretty much guaranteed the election of Bill Clinton, who didn't top 50% in either election.