A grassroots movement has been turned into a money-making political brand...
On Wednesday, I had the pleasure of joining the lovely Abby Huntsman on HuffPost Live to discuss Sen. Rand Paul's Tea Party response to the State of the Union address. While the discussion was lively and touched on several issues, Abby's questions generally focused on a common theme: Why the hell did the Tea Party feel the need to give an address separate from the GOP response, which was delivered by Sen. Marco Rubio? I wondered the same thing when I read a transcript of Paul's remarks — then I actually saw footage of Paul giving the speech, and the answer was staring me right in the face. Literally.
Obama spoke in front of Joe Biden, Speaker John Boehner, and an American flag. Rubio chose a window in the speaker's conference room as the backdrop for his speech. Paul could have chosen from a wide variety of settings. How about the Jefferson Memorial? Or the desk in his Senate office building, flanked by two American flags? Instead, Paul delivered his address in front of a giant advertisement: "Restore Liberty — Honor the Constitution….WWW.TEAPARTYEXPRESS.ORG." If Paul managed the Boston Red Sox and was giving a postgame press conference, the backdrop advertisement would not have gotten my attention. But Paul, in theory, was supposed to be giving a policy speech to the entire country, not raising money for a PAC.
Which brings us back to the original question: Why did Paul even speak on Tuesday night? ...
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