Blackburn Will Not Attend Opryland Tea Party Convention
Posted on January 28, 2010 at 10:10 amFrom Blackburn spokesman Claude Chafin:
After consulting with the Committee on Standards, Congressman Blackburn has decided not to participate in the Tea Party Nation Convention next week. Standards advised Congressman Blackburn not to participate in the event due to uncertainty about how any proceeds from the event may be used. Convention organizers have not been clear about how those funds will be put to use. We have every indication that any profit could be put to work to advance grass roots causes and some of those uses could make the Congressman’s participation improper after the fact.
From Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn herself:
“I spoke to Judson Phillips this morning and let him know that I could not participate in the convention. I told him frankly that Tea Party Nation’s for-profit status has put many of his speakers in an awkward position. I remain encouraged by the outpouring of energy from constitutionally minded grassroots organizations in Tennessee and around America. These groups are not made up of Republicans or Democrats but everyday Americans who are concerned about their freedom. They know that out-of-control spending and the expansion of government ultimately limits that freedom. I share their concerns and look forward to working with them in the future.”
The Tea Party Convention and its sponsor organization, Tea Party Nation, have been under fire as of late by former members of the group. Many have accused founder Judson Phillips of being a profiteer and exploiter of volunteer labor. Former Tea Party Nation webmaster Kevin Smith has been leading the effort.
No less than three sponsors of the convention have pulled out of the event in recent weeks and there are several reports that the outlandish prices have led to an undersale of tickets which could cause financial problems for Phillips. It was recently reported that Phillips has defaulted on a loan payment to a benefactor who fronted Sarah Palin’s speaking fee.
The third major speaker at the event after Blackburn and Palin, Rep. Michelle Bachmann has also been has also dropped out. Palin is still scheduled to speak.
PREVIOUSLY:
Tea Party Convention Loses Sponsor Following ‘Whistleblower’ Blog Post
Tea Party Convention Organizer Misses Deadline On Palin Loan
Former Webmaster Challenges Founder To Prove Him A Liar
More Former Tea Party Nation Members Come Out Against Founder
Tea Party Convention Organizer Won’t Address Accusations
Embattled Tea Party Nation Chief Commenst On Charges Of Ex-Webmaster
Tea Party Convention Organizer Faces More Questions About His Finances
Tea Party Convention Approves Passes For Only Five News Orgs
Posted on January 13, 2010 at 11:19 pmTea Party Nation has released an update on the status of their upcoming convention at the Opryland Hotel which includes the names of five organizations they have granted media access for the entire event three-day event.
Organizers had initially announced the event would be closed, but today Sarah Palin made known her request that her speech be open to media.
The five approved outlets are: Fox News, Breitbart.com, Townhall.com, World Net Daily and The Wall Street Journal. All five are widely considered to be Right-leaning organizations.
The press release explains that the requests for credentials have been overwhelming and that to preserve the nature of the event they are limiting press availability.
“[A]s we have set expectations that this is a working convention, we have tried not to make it a media event,” convention organizers stated in a press release. “We have been hard pressed to accommodate all of these requests and do not have the space or resources to support the entirety of the press corp.”
Organizer Judson Phillips clarified in an email that only the credentialed organizations will have access to the entire event but the media at large will be allowed to cover the Palin speech as requested and possibly other portions of the event as well.
“We may open some of the events to the media. We are asking speakers about that…Gov. Palin has asked that the media be given access to her speech and we are going to do that.”
The National Tea Party Convention will be held Feb. 4-6 at the Opryland Hotel. In addition to Palin, scheduled speakers include Rep. Marsha Blackburn and Rep. Michelle Bachmann.
Correcting The Record
Posted on July 29, 2008 at 6:43 amVandy grad and Fox News Reporter Molly Henneberg gets called out by Media Matters:
Discussing Sen. John McCain’s criticism of Sen. Barack Obama for not visiting wounded soldiers in Germany, Fox News’ Molly Henneberg asserted that the “Obama campaign originally said the candidate thought it would be, quote, ‘inappropriate’ to visit wounded troops as part of a campaign-funded trip, but later they said that the Pentagon said they couldn’t go without media cameras.” In fact, the Obama campaign did not say that Obama decided not to visit because the Pentagon barred media from accompanying him.
Davis’ Big Payback Probably Not What He Was Expecting
Posted on June 18, 2008 at 11:16 amJeff Woods points out the one important point we have learned from the whole Democratic State Executive Committeeman’s “I heard on Fox News that Barack Obama may have terrorist connections” flap — Rep. Lincoln Davis and Harold Ford, Jr. aren’t as big a fans of each other as they used to be:
If we needed proof, this whole episode confirms that Davis and Harold Ford Jr. are really pissed at each other. The rub is that Junior is refusing to help anoint Davis as the 2010 gubernatorial nominee. As Davis said this week, “God bless Harold Ford Jr. Bless his little heart.”
Indeed. From a political perspective, one can almost say Junior is in the wrong here. Lincoln Davis, of the extremely rural conservative Fourth District, did a fair bit of vouching for Harold Ford, Jr. during the 2006 Senate race.
To be sure, Ford played the populist to a tee and went the places he needed to go to secure his good ole boy chops and assuage the fears of white Democrats and independents that he wasn’t like those “other Fords out of Memphis.”
But having a silver haired good ole Southern yellow dog Democrat standing next to him while he visited Confederate flag emblazoned diners and talked the Southern Populist palaver probably didn’t hurt ‘em any.
While in the days of old, the “I’ll scratch your back, if you scratch mine” quid pro quo was more explicit, to say that Lincoln Davis didn’t think he was banking a bit of love with Ford for giving him credibility with yellow dog dems would be naive.
Davis expect a return on investment. What did Davis get for his troubles? Not much it seems. While Lincoln vouched for Ford with rural whites going so far as loaning out his Chief of Staff to serve as campaign manager, when the wormed turned and Davis and his staff found themselves in a racial beef, not only did Ford not help Davis out, he threw his man to the wolves.
Now, one can say that this was just business. Ford was implicitly, but not explicitly behind Hillary Clinton in the most recent primaries, and this episode probably seemed like a good way to get in good with the new king of the Democratic Party.
But Ford’s statement does strike one as a bit of overkill. After all, despite the chronology implications in some articles Lincoln Davis’s Chief of Staff’s disavowal of the views attributed to him in the City Paper occurred before the Ford statement throwing him under the bus.
So considering what Lincoln Davis did for the almost successful Senate campaign of Harold Ford, Jr. it is understandable that Davis is a bit perturbed that Ford has not taken steps to return the favor, instead taking action that one could reasonably interpret as outright sabotage.
SEE ALSO: Braisted points out that this subterranean Ford/Davis feud is not new and recounts the acrimony between the two camps when various Ford operatives were talking up a Ford Gubernatorial run last Fall.
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