Despite overwhelming evidence from polls that conservative Americans who comprise the Tea Party movement are social conservatives (predominantly Christian), the "establishment Tea Party" is joining pro-homosexual GOProud in urging the GOP to ignore abortion and homosexuality issues.
UPDATE 11/20/10: Competing Tea Party petition denounces GOProud maneuver
UPDATE 11/17/10: Citizens Exit Tea Parties that Ignore Social Issues
UPDATE 11/16/10: Politico article here - - Read the letter & signatories
UPDATE 11/15/10: Pro-family/pro-life CWA strikes back at homosexualist/'Establishment Tea Party' coalition
UPDATE 11/15/10 Opinion: The Needless Division Between Social Cons and Fiscal Cons
-- From "GOP is urged to avoid social issues" By Ben Smith & Byron Tau, Politico 11/14/10
In a letter to be released Monday, the group GOProud and leaders from groups like the Tea Party Patriots and the New American Patriots, will urge Republicans in the House and Senate to keep their focus on shrinking the government.
"On behalf of limited-government conservatives everywhere, we write to urge you and your colleagues in Washington to put forward a legislative agenda in the next Congress that reflects the principles of the Tea Party movement," they write to presumptive House Speaker John Boehner and Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell in an advance copy provided to POLITICO. "This election was not a mandate for the Republican Party, nor was it a mandate to act on any social issue."
The letter's signatories range from GOProud's co-founder and Chairman Christopher Barron — a member of a group encouraging Dick Cheney to run for president — to Tea Party leaders with no particular interest in the gay rights movement.
As of Sunday evening, the letter had 17 signatories. They include tea party organizers, conservative activists and media personalities from across the country, including radio host Tammy Bruce, bloggers Bruce Carroll, Dan Blatt and Doug Welch, and various local coordinators for the Tea Party Patriots and other tea party groups.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Tea party groups push GOP to quit culture wars, focus on deficit" by Patrik Jonsson, staff writer, Christian Science Monitor 11/15/10
The letter, signed by 16 tea party groups and a conservative gay organization, points to an emerging rift between the tea party movement and the GOP, which still counts social conservatives seeking "moral government" as a key constituency.
The signatories, ranging from conservative commentator Tammy Bruce to local tea party group leaders, say the key lesson the GOP should draw from the election is that Americans are concerned chiefly about taxes and the size of government, not their neighbors' lifestyle choices or personal decisions.
But the push to quit the culture wars is already meeting resistance from mainstream Republicans, who worry about a rebellion from social conservatives if the party refrains from taking stands on moral issues.
Yet social issues have cropped up among some tea party stalwarts. Sen. Jim DeMint, considered a tea party kingmaker for his support of candidates across the US, had before the election urged a ban on gay teachers. What stance to take on the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy that prevents gays from serving openly in the military remains a source of conflict within the movement. And a tea party-inspired GOP platform in Texas urged stronger sentencing for those caught with small amounts of marijuana.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
