Former Governer Mitt Romney isn't exactly a tea party candidate, and up until this point, the presidential candidate has made it a point to distance himself from the grassroots movement. Now, Romney will make his first big tea party rally debut in New Hampshire over Labor Day weekend:
For the first time, Mitt Romney will headline a major national tea party rally.
On Labor Day the Republican presidential candidate will join the Tea Party Express' "Reclaiming America" bus tour in Manchester, New Hampshire, organizers tell CNN.
The group's fifth national bus tour kicked off last week in California and will end in Tampa ahead of the CNN/Tea Party Express debate on September 12th. Thirty stops are on the bus tour's schedule.
Romney's appearance at the event is significant: he has not headlined any events in the Tea Party Express' previous four bus tours. Meanwhile, leaders of other tea party groups say they cannot recall any major tea party events that Romney has spoken to or attended since the movement began in 2009.
In speaking about Romney's Labor Day appearance, Tea Party Express national spokesman Levi Russell and Chairman Amy Kremer also told CNN that all the Republican presidential candidates were invited to join the group's bus tour.
"The more access [tea party activists] have to these candidates to make an informed decision, the better chance that candidate has to win their support," Russell said.
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It's going to take a lot from Mitt Romney to convince tea partiers he is the best person to be sitting in the White House, and although this is most likely political posturing and may come off as phony, it is good to see the Romney camp finally embrace the power of the tea party with actions, rather than just words.
Allahpundit at HotAir has reported the Romney event will be protested by a different tea party group. Drama.
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