Republican National Committee recognizes they don't own TEA PARTY

[PHILIP SCHNEIDER]

The Republican National Committee has pulled off the Web a site that
some tea party leaders saw as evidence the GOP is trying to "hijack"
the grass-roots conservative movement.

The decision to pull TeaParty.Gop.com off the Web apparently stems from
a meeting Tuesday between RNC Chairman Michael Steele and 50
conservative activists.

Karin Hoffman, founder of the DCWorksForUs group who coordinated the
RNC confab, said Steele appeared unaware of the site's existence when a
conservative activist complained the site was co-opting the independent
movement.

"Chairman Steele did not know of this … he's not the one who actually
edits the Web site," Hoffman told Newsmax. "He said, 'We'll address
that right away, we're going to make sure that's taking down.'"

The site apparently removed late Tuesday night or early Wednesday.

The move may indicate Republican recognition that tea party leaders
will not tolerate efforts to absorb it into the GOP. Tea party leaders
have to be very careful to avoid any appearance of an alliance with the
GOP, because their ranks include many independents and former Democrats
who would strongly object.

By taking down the site, Steele may have averted a major confrontation
with national tea party leaders. On Tuesday, one tea party organization
launched SaveOurMovement.com, a site protesting RNC policies that it
said are threatening to "take over" the movement.

Everett Wilkinson, coordinator of the Florida chapter of the Tea Party
Patriots and a member of the organization's national leadership
council, was guardedly positive in his reaction to Steele's decision to
nix the GOP site.

"I am pleased that the GOP has done the right thing by taking down a
'tea party' Web site, and look forward to them in the near future
ceasing current and planned attempts to 'hijack' the tea party,"
Wilkinson told Newsmax.

Tea party leaders from several organizations also objected that
Tuesday's meeting was billed as involving tea party movement leaders.
Several major tea party groups chose not to attend.

Michael Patrick Leahy, author of Rules for Conservative Radicals and
leader of the Nationwide Tea Party Coalition, told Newsmax he sides
with those national tea party leaders who stayed away.

"I don't think it's really appropriate for the chairman of the RNC, who
is trying to understand the concerns of the tea party movement, to
summon 50 tea party activists to a meeting at the RNC headquarters in
Washington, D.C., where he holds court," Leahy said. "I think if he
really wants to demonstrate a genuine interest in the concerns of the
tea party movement, he ought to come with humility and ask for the
opportunity to speak to the tea-party groups around the country in
their locations."

Hoffman told Newsmax she is not at liberty to release the names of the
groups whose representatives attended the meeting with Steele. But she
said she is working to get approval from those groups to provide the
names.

The Tuesday session with Steele was initially expected to last for one
hour, but it stretched to four hours as both sides aired their issues.
Afterward, Steele released the following statement:

“For over a year, I have made it a priority to have conversations with
different grassroots activists who are concerned with the direction of
our country and today’s meeting was an excellent opportunity to
continue this conversation," he said. "I thank members of the tea-party
movement and other concerned citizens for putting together this meeting
and taking the time to speak with me.

"We share a common purpose in stopping President Obama’s agenda and
standing up for principles such as smaller government, lower taxes,
free enterprise, and the Constitution. Moving into the midterm
elections this fall, I look forward to continuing to build on this
discussion and to work to elect officials who will fight to protect the
principles which they and a majority of Americans support.”