The best comment came from Midwest Rhino who gave a common sense down to earth analysis of the TP, it’s appeal and it’s fault lines…and if anything proved his/her point it was some of the other comments on the thread about abortion and Ron Paul.
It is interesting to note that, although Sarah Palin is a staunch opponent of abortion she appeared never to have brought that into any speech she made at a TP event – instead the recurring theme was fiscal sanity, small govt and the dangers of crony capitalism…..

More than anything, the decline in numbers shows the power of the left to control the message.
When Santelli first did his rant, the “Tea Party” was a big hit. As the grass roots movement developed, the left saw the threat and aimed their big guns at it to bombard it with rhetoric of racism, ignorance, and hate.
Working from the other side, the hard evangelicals saw it as an opportunity to usurp some vitality and new people (and a threat to their grip on the GOP). They infiltrated with demands on prayer and abortion. This part, I believe, was the more effective “killer” of the young movement.

I’d like to see Rasmussen break down what people think the tea party stands for. It seems many think Akin was Tea Party, just because of his hard and stupid statements on abortion.

Hopefully Cruz will learn to say abortion laws are above his pay grade, or some such thing. He may not believe in ANY abortion, but laws for other beliefs are a decision for judges in high courts. Tea partiers are about a restrained government and fiscal sanity. NOT about religion forcing less “tolerance” on “evil unbelievers”. (though the inhumanity of late term abortions might have some traction)

The Democrats and evangelicals effectively cut the tea party baby in half by dividing it on religion, and tarring everyone as racist and ignorant. Palin (yes, she’s wonderful) was used as the personification of this, and she’s still being attacked by Leno et. al., apparently to continue driving the stake in.

Divide on a contentious issue … it’s an old trick.

There were several inspiring speeches delivered at last night’s Republican National Convention. Talk of “unity” filled the air. Many GOP leaders praised the “grass-roots.” But behind the scenes, the RNC power grab has exacerbated distrust between a diverse group of rank-and-file activists and party bosses.

Interestingly quite a few leading lights in the conservative blogosphere have either ignored this issue or presented it as minor catfight between the leadership and supporters of Ron Paul – possibly in the interests of party unity. But Michelle Malkin will have none of that. She sees no reason why staying silent in the face of a clumsily executed piece of political gerrymandering should be a prerequisite for throwing oneself 150% into the campaign to rid the US of the Obama administration.

But, as is usual with Malkin, there is a sting in the tail…

The bottom line: Get organized, get loud, and stay vigilant. No matter who ends up in the White House in January, no matter what letter follows the names of the people in power in Washington, the grass-roots conservative movement must be prepared to stand its ground. Forewarned is forearmed.

Mark America is less optimistic – he thinks the party’s over….

Of course, if you were to believe the BBC’s ludicrous Jonny Dymond you would think that Walker’s victory was all down to big business and a vocal and often vicious union/left coalition from within and outside Wisconsin simply did not exist…

Governor Walker got a lot of support from GOP heavyweights over the last few weeks but in the early months of 2011 when the fight was fiercest and Walker and his supporters were under siege only one GOP voice braved the mob and went to Wisconsin to rally the tea party….

No prize for guessing who that was…

Santelli is a financial journalist who previously was a trader at the Chicago Mercantile exchange.

But he’s not a politician.

Surely the only sort of person who can unravel the mess that politicians have created is another politician – and anyway Colin Powell has decreed that nobody who identifies with the Tea Party could possibly win because compromise is the name of the game.

Powell’s sentiment has also been bolstered by the threat of the magisterial David Frum that he will leave the GOP if anyone but Romney or Huntsman is nominated

Still Santelli has one major ace in his hand should he actually make a play for 2012.

UK Guardian left wing AGW guru George Monbiot hates him

the most alarming example of cheap demagoguery you are likely to have seen.