National Tea Party Convention

Vegas Hotel: The Tea Party Convention Is Canceled

Evan McMorris-Santoro | September 20, 2010, 1:44PM

The Mirage Hotel

According to the Las Vegas hotel that was supposed to play host to the second national tea party convention, the much-hyped event has been canceled. Organizers of the convention haven't returned my calls, but grassroots tea party leaders I talked to today said that they haven't heard a word about the convention in awhile -- and Nevada leaders told me that if the event is canceled, good riddance.

If the convention really is off, the loss of the event will stand as the third high-profile tea party organizing fail in a month. With the election rapidly approaching, the failure of the LibertyXPO in DC this month, the second DC 9/12 rally and now the second convention suggest those that hope to leverage the movement for big, nationally-covered productions may have tapped out the tea party grassroots.

The evidence is certainly mounting that the convention -- which was moved from its original July date to October 14 earlier this year -- is officially not happening. First, Tea Party Nation, the controversial group that many tea partiers reject as a fake, has removed all reference to the event from its website (see a cached version of the page here to get a look at the convention's former prominence on the site.) When I called the Mirage, the hotel where the convention was supposed to take place, the sales office told me the event was canceled last week.

Judson Phillips, Tea Party Nation spokesperson and the organizer of the event, didn't answer his cell phone when I called. Mark Scuda, the Memphis, Tennessee tea party leader who helped organize the first convention in Nashville, told me he's not involved in organizing the Vegas convention and didn't know if it was happening or not.

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Tea Party Nation

Tea Party Nation Announces New Dates For Tea Party Unity Convention

Evan McMorris-Santoro | July 26, 2010, 6:32PM

The Mirage Hotel, Las Vegas.

After failing to pull it off the first time, tea partiers say they're finally ready to party. The Tea Party Nation says this year's National Tea Party Unity Convention -- delayed from its originally-scheduled July 15-17 dates in Las Vegas due to the "heat," according to organizers at the time -- is back on, and back in Vegas.

The convention will be held Oct. 14-16 at the Mirage hotel and casino on the Vegas strip. Other than the giant volcano out front, the hotel is an interesting choice for another reason -- as Christina reported over the weekend, the massive Venetian hotel was selected by conservatives gathering for RightOnline because it's the only non-union hotel on the strip. The employees of the Mirage, like the rest of the hotels around it, are represented by the city's powerful hospitality unions.

In announcing the new dates today, tea party organizers seemed excited to have a new home for their second national convention, regardless of who may be staffing it.

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Tea Party Nation Convention

Tea Party Nation Defends Canceled Convention With Photo Of Overheated Dog: It's Sooo Hot In Vegas

Christina Bellantoni | July 12, 2010, 11:09AM

Don't you dare call the tea partiers weather weenies. Tea Party Nation officials are defending the cancellation of their Las Vegas convention this month with evidence that it really is that hot.

As we reported, the Tea Party Nation "unity" convention had been set to go off at the end of this week with Senate hopeful Sharron Angle (R-NV) at the top of the bill. But they announced at the last minute that it would be pushed to the fall -- i.e., closer to the midterm elections that would help the movement's "momentum."

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2010 elections

Tea Party Convention Postponed -- Vegas In July Is Too Hot!

Christina Bellantoni | June 28, 2010, 8:30AM

A planned "unity" convention for tea partiers is being pushed to the fall, with organizers scrapping a major gathering with just 19 days before it was scheduled to go off. They cited heat and not being professional event planners, but the abrupt change in plans without a new date firmed up doesn't bode well for the fledgling group.

Tea Party Nation announced in an email to members this weekend that their "unity" convention, planned for July 15-17 in Las Vegas, would be delayed. Organizers didn't give a new date, but said in an email obtained by TPM they think holding it closer to the midterm elections would help the movement's "momentum." It's not clear yet if keynote speaker Senate nominee Sharron Angle (R-NV) will still be attending or if anyone who already booked rooms at the ritzy Palazzo where the convention was to be held or who paid the $399 registration fee will get refunds.

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NV-SEN

Sharron Angle To Headline Tea Party Nation 'Unity' Convention

Christina Bellantoni | June 17, 2010, 1:54PM

Sharron Angle, Republican candidate for Nevada US Senate seat

Tea party hero and newly elected Senate nominee Sharron Angle (R-NV) will be a featured speaker at the Tea Party Nation's Unity Convention in Las Vegas this summer, the group announced.

Angle was boosted in the June 8 primary above other contenders in part thanks to support from tea party groups, and Tea Party Nation asked members in an email this afternoon to donate to the Angle campaign to unseat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV).

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Tea Party Nation

Tennessee Dems Plan Happy Hour To Counter Palin At Tea Party Convention

Christina Bellantoni | February 3, 2010, 11:13AM

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin

The tea partiers are coming to Nashville tomorrow for their first official convention, and the state Democratic Party is holding a counter happy hour where they'll serve "anything but tea."

As we've been reporting, former Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) is the keynote speaker at tomorrow's Tea Party Nation convention at Opryland. The Tennessee Democratic Party is trying to get Democrats to show up at the Cabana Restaurant in Nashville. (See the actual invite here.)

"This event is about bringing people together to celebrate our hope for the future," the Dems wrote in an email. The "Anything but tea!" happy hour is free (compared with a $549 banquet ticket for the convention).

IL-SEN

Tea Party Uses (Republican) Scott Brown's Victory To Target (Republican) Mark Kirk

Christina Bellantoni | January 20, 2010, 5:35PM

Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL)

Tea Party Nation members spent less than an hour celebrating Republican Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts before they got to work to end another Republican's Senate candidacy.

Organizers of the Tea Party Nation, which has banned "liberal trolls" from its Web site in advance of next month's convention in Nashville, last night told members the "next battle" is in Illinois to make sure Rep. Mark Kirk does not win the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate.

The primary is Feb. 2 and the Tea Party Nation warns that if Kirk (R-IL) wins, "this fall Illinois will have a choice between two liberals for the Illinois Senate seat." They call Kirk a "RINO," which stands for Republican In Name Only, with a "consistently liberal" record compared to Pat Hughes, who they called a "solid Conservative."

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Tea Party Nation

Tea Party Nation: Liberals Have Attacked And Are Uploading Porn To Our Site

Christina Bellantoni | January 11, 2010, 9:01AM

A Tea Party protester in Washington.

It was a rough week for Tea Party Nation.

The group first accused MSNBC's Rachel Maddow of joining as a sort of liberal spy, and after TPMDC's coverage of the issue (and Maddow denial) the site seems to have gotten a flood of liberals engaged in apparently suspicious activity.

Organizers with Tea Party Nation, planning a convention in Nashville next month starring Sarah Palin, sent out an email blast late Friday detailing what they have seen, and noted they will "correct these problems."

"They have joined en masse, coming on the site to offend, disrupt and interfere as much as they can," organizers wrote. "They have uploaded inappropriate content, sent us obscene messages and even uploaded pornographic images."

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Tea Party Nation Convention

Tea Party Email Warns Members: Beware Liberal Trolls Like Rachel Maddow

Christina Bellantoni | January 7, 2010, 10:37AM

Tea partiers beware: "You can and will be banned for being a liberal."

Organizers behind the upcoming Tea Party Nation convention we wrote about this morning told members today that MSNBC's Rachel Maddow tried to join the group and "we banned her 7 minutes after she joined."

TPMDC, which also has signed up for the TPN mailing list, received an email to all members warning them that as the convention nears "we will in all likelihood be invaded by liberal trolls looking to disrupt the site." The subject line was "Liberal Troll Alert!"

"Tea Party Nation reserves the right to ban anyone for any reason we feel necessary to ensure the well being of the site and our members," the group writes in the email, which you can read in full after the jump and view here.

Late Update: Maddow responds.

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