Mitt Romney may be trying to make new friends with the tea party, but it seems that some tea partiers are not interested in giving him a friendly welcome.
Freedomworks, which has made standing in the way of Romney’s presidential ambitions a goal, will protest Romney’s appearance at a Tea Party Express event in New Hampshire this weekend, according to Politico.
From Ken Vogel’s report:
FreedomWorks, which had been participating in the Tea Party Express’s tour and had helped turn out activists at rallies during prior stops, decided it could no longer be affiliated with the tour, said Brendan Steinhauser, a lead organizer for FreedomWorks.
Instead, it began working with local New Hampshire tea party groups to organize a counter rally set for about the same time in the same park in Concord as Romney’s speech.
“We have to defend our brand against poseurs,” said Steinhauser.
It’s no secret that Romney has tea party problems, stemming mostly from the government health care plan he signed into law while governor of Massachusetts. Now that he’s forced to engage with the group thanks to the surging Rick Perry — whom tea partiers generally like — it’s becoming clearer and clearer that the health care plan Romney tried to put behind him is coming back.