Tea Party sets sights on White House
A Tea Party rally in the desert outside Searchlight, Nev., on March 27, 2010.(Photo: Isaac Brekken, AP)
The Tea Party movement, a product of opposition to President Obama, is set to be a major force in choosing the president who succeeds him.
Though less organized and visible than in their earlier days, Tea Party-leaning Republicans now see a nominating process chock-full of presidential hopefuls they helped boost to prominence.
"I think the Tea Party is going to decide who the next president of the United States is," says Taylor Budowich, executive director of the Tea Party Express.
USA TODAY
The Road to 2016
The Republican candidates announcing campaigns echo the rhetoric and priorities of the once-fringe faction. But winning the presidency poses challenges: A movement that defined itself as what it opposed must now agree on policy proposals. And in order to cobble together 270 electoral votes to capture the White House, a Tea Party-backed GOP nominee would have to appeal to more than just conservative primary voters.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a presidential contender(Photo: Jae C. Hong, AP)
Many of the declared contenders for the Republican nomination owe their present jobs to Tea Party enthusiasm, including Rand Paul and Marco Rubio, who were elected to the Senate in 2010, and Ted Cruz, elected in 2012. Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon who declared Monday, is also a Tea Party favorite.
Conservative activists started holding "Tea Party" protests in 2009 to vent outrage over federal stimulus spending, the Wall Street bailout and rising national debt. The movement quickly had an electoral impact, culminating in the 2010 midterm elections when the GOP captured the House.
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Tea Party sets sights on White House