American Morning
Welcome to the Tea Party: Cruising for a cause
Editor's Note: The Tea Party is not a political party, but the movement is making efforts to organize. There's this weekend's first ever Tea Party Convention in Nashville, the countless rallies and hundreds of Tea Party Web sites. But there's another venue tea partiers are using to get together that you may not have heard of – cruises.
By Jim Acosta, CNN
On board a cruise ship easing into the U.S. Virgin Islands, among the thousands of passengers ready for some fun in the sun, are members of a rising American political movement having a meeting of the minds.
"People are just not ready for this mad charge to the left," says Kevin Collins, a Staten Island, New York Tea Party member.
Led by former Republican presidential candidate Alan Keyes, more than a hundred conservative and Tea Party activists and their families rented out space on this ship for what was billed as a "cruise for liberty."
Cruise organizer Michael O'Fallon markets this seven day voyage as a chance to talk politics in paradise.
"Right now people are wanting to be with other conservatives. Maybe it's because they feel like they're on an island right now,” says O’Fallon, Sovereign Cruise president.
At the pre-cruise kick-off at a Miami hotel, Keyes explained why he believes the Tea Party is gaining steam.
"I think it is quite obvious that this isn't about Republicans and Democrats. It may be about the failure of both parties and the whole party system," says Keyes.
Was missionary Laura Silsby in over her head?
There are new developments today involving the leader of a Baptist missionary group charged with kidnapping 33 Haitian children out of the country.
Laura Silsby didn't have experience running an orphanage, she didn't have papers necessary to cross the border legally, and it appears most of the children she had weren't orphans at all.
Was she in over her head? Our Dan Simon digs deeper.
Related: Dominican official: I warned U.S. church leader about Haitian kids
The Tea Party's five key players
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/02/04/tea.party.march.gi.art.jpg caption="Protesters march to Capitol Hill during the Tea Party Express rally on September 12, 2009 in Washington, DC."]
By John Avlon
From The Daily Beast
It’s Super Bowl weekend, but the big event in politics is the first national Tea Party Convention in Nashville.
As with all pre-game press, there’s plenty of hype that offers more heat than light. There have been last minute injuries and substitutions—wingnut Rep. Michele Bachmann dropped out from her long promised speaking role, while Sarah Palin has stuck with her $100,000 speaking fee and been rewarded with prime-time speech coverage from cable outlets during the Saturday night banquet.
There is plenty of second guessing and insider scandals—the convention’s for-profit status has rubbed many grassroots activists the wrong way. They see themselves as defenders of the American Revolution, and this twist has some asking whether John Hancock would have rented out Independence Hall and tried to make money off the concessions.
But the big game, the “Thrilla in Vanilla,” goes on. If you’re keeping score at home on cable news or via The Daily Beast, here are the top five key Tea Party players to keep an eye out for.
Tebow's anti-abortion ad uproar
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/02/05/tebow.gi.art.jpg caption="Quarterback Tim Tebow of the Florida Gators celebrates after defeating the Cincinnati Bearcats on January 1, 2010 in New Orleans, Louisiana."]
By Carol Costello and Ronni Berke
The most anticipated Super Bowl commercial this weekend won't be selling Doritos or Pepsi, electronics or automobiles. It will simply be, according to a spokesman for its sponsor, "celebrating life."
Even some abortion rights activists are conceding the Focus on the Family ad, featuring college football star Tim Tebow and his family, is a savvy piece of marketing from the advocacy group, a longtime abortion opponent.
Tebow is famous, not just for his Heisman Trophy, but because his mother, Pam, decided to defy a doctor's recommendation that she undergo an abortion after falling ill while pregnant with him.
Tim Tebow, a devout Christian, calls his mother "a very courageous woman, and wouldn't say no in a lot of circumstances. So that's the reason I'm here and I'm very thankful for that."
To those who criticize his decision to appear in the ad: "I do stand up for what I believe. And at least you can respect that."
Focus on the Family will not release the commercial – or even a transcript of it – before Sunday's game. However, the group says that the 30 second commercial is not "anti-anything," according to spokesman Gary Scheeberger. "It's an ad that's very pro-family and it's really about celebrating family and celebrating life."
We Listen – Your comments 02/04/2010
Editor's Note: Jim Acosta’s special series on the Tea Party movement continued to generate heated discussion from Thursday’s American Morning audience. Movement members suggested the values of the Tea Party were not appropriately portrayed by the media, specifically their desire for “fiscal conservatism” and “anti-socialism.” Those opposed to Tea Party values demanded full disclosure of financial backing of the group, accusing them of being “bankrolled” by “corporate America.”
- Charlotte: wow you still dont get it. tea party people want fiscal conservatism the most! charlie Crist is Not . he also wants amnesty. tea partiers Do not! Rubio is our man! i never before was interested in politics. after seeing our country gotoward socialism i am interested now and Rubio is the best man for the job its funny that Crist seems as arrogant as Obama–maybe thats why they shook hands for twenty seven seconds! we are organized- tea partiers have learned from ACORN!!
- Linda S.: where was this tea party movement when the clinton admin. handed bush a trillion $+ balanced budget and within a year after bush stole the white house he & his cronies created a approx. 864 billion $ deficit & it kept growing & growing (mostly because of the tax cuts for the richest 1% and the illegal Iraq invasion/occupation).
- Bill: The Tea Party movement would have us believe that the federal government should have taken no action to counteract the recession. They are poorly informed and dead wrong. The country would be in the midst of a second great depression if the government hadn't taken the steps it did. Were the policies perfect? No, but they are infinitely better than the do-nothing suggestions of the Tea Party.
- Eva: Let's have some balance about the Tea Party. The truth is that it is bankrolled by Koch Industries who are protecting corporate America. So all those folks who are screaming about big government spending are supporting the same greed that gave us the Wall Street debacle. Besides, the tea party folks have revealed themselves to be racist and hateful. I have no respect for that kind of name calling and dirty politics.
How do you feel about the Tea Party movement in the U.S.? Continue the conversation here.
How could the Tea Party change Washington?
As part of our special coverage, "Welcome to the Tea Party," the best political team on television will be tracking the convention in Nashville all this weekend.
What does the Tea Party want to accomplish? Who are its members? And what do they mean for the future of American politics?
Our independent analyst John Avlon joined us on Thursday's American Morning along with our Jim Acosta, who's been covering the Tea Party movement extensively.
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