Tea Party Movement

Herman Cain won a presidential straw poll at a "tea-party" event in Phoenix over the weekend which brings up an obvious follow-up question: Who in blazes is Herman Cain? Other than one of the few Republicans to actually have declared outright his interest in his party's presidential nomination, Cain, 65, is the former chief executive officer of Godfather's Pizza, and he worked as a conservative radio host in Atlanta for years. The "Hermanator" has become a tea-party favorite through his advocacy of, among other things, the so-called Fair Tax, which would eliminate the federal tax code in favor of a national consumption tax on retail sales.

Whatever happened to Occupy Wall Street? Are you folks still out there? Yes, the economy seems to be improving and thus the power of your message has been slightly blunted. But as a political force that could rally the nation on behalf of the 99%, who tend not to contribute huge sums to campaigns and so have less influence than their numbers deserve, you're still badly needed. In Los Angeles and nationwide, there are still sputtering signs that the Occupy movement hasn't disappeared.

A justice's wife Re "Challenging a judicial norm," March 14 I find it unseemly for Virginia Thomas to align herself with the "tea party" movement. She is not an "ordinary citizen" -- she is the wife of a Supreme Court justice with all the rights, privileges and responsibilities of that position. Norma Wilkinson Long Beach Any corporation that might have a financial interest in a decision to be made by the Supreme Court that does not contribute at least a couple hundred thousand dollars to Virginia Thomas' "tea party"-linked nonprofit should expect to be sued by its stockholders for malfeasance.

Marco Rubio, it appears, has rediscovered his inner tea partier. Branded a GOP comer, the first-term senator from Florida has kept a low profile nationally since his election five months ago. That has changed in a hurry. Along with penning an Op-Ed article in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal in which he said he would not vote to raise the U.S. debt limit unless Congress begins to dramatically reshape the federal budgetary footprint, Rubio also gave interviews to Fox News' Sean Hannity and ABC News.

A high-spirited crowd numbering in the tens of thousands swamped the National Mall on Saturday, overwhelming the city's public transportation system as people flocked to what organizers billed as a "comedic call for calm. " Much of the "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear," put on by "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart and his Comedy Central colleague Stephen Colbert, resembled a large-scale variety show, with humorous sketches and surprise musical guests such as Kid Rock, Tony Bennett and Yusuf Islam, the former Cat Stevens.

Endorsements. One of those evergreen political gimmicks that can consume almost as much time in a political campaign as shredding documents. Campaign staffers collect these things as if they were scalps in a 19th century war. From other politicians. From celebrities. From newspaper boards, as if anyone follows editorial page endorsements anymore. These endorsements are then trotted out one by one in staged events designed to elicit free media attention on the assumption that some voters might possibly be swayed positively.

Four years ago, Barack Obama was an upstart in the midst of becoming a phenomenon. Now, he's an established juggernaut with the power of the presidency at his back. But his reelection bid, formally announced Monday, seeks to re-create the grassroots effort -- the armies of volunteers, the flood of small donations, the spillover rallies -- that marked his first campaign. Few things are more laden with cynicism than modern American politics, but in the video released Monday by Obama's reelection campaign, the president clearly is asking the band to get back together for one more show -- perhaps a little less starry-eyed but, ideally, as dedicated.

If's there's one thing the British people can't complain about now that the outcome of the May 6 general election has finally been decided, it's that they didn't get a good deal. After all, they demanded a new prime minister, and got exactly what they wanted — plus another one thrown in for free! You half expect the speaker of the House of Commons to begin the next session of Parliament by declaring, "But wait … !" before announcing that the electorate has also qualified for a bonus "Cam 'n' Clegg" flashlight keychain (just pay shipping and handling )

Fresh from a tough reelection battle, Sen. Harry Reid on Wednesday offered an olive branch and a warning as Democrats prepared to deal with the new era of divided government in Washington. In a prepared statement issued in the early-morning hours, Reid said he was looking forward to working with the new Senate, where Republicans would have at least six more members and the GOP caucus a decidedly more conservative tilt because of the effect of lawmakers backed by the "tea party" movement.

The day after Jesse Kelly won the Republican primary in Arizona's 8th Congressional District, Democratic incumbent Gabrielle Giffords went on the air with a lacerating attack . Noting that Kelly said he ultimately wanted to eliminate Social Security, Giffords' television ad warned that Kelly "is a risk we can't afford. " Kelly, a construction manager with no political experience, had made the mistake of venturing into the mine-strewn politics of Social Security. No matter that he said he would preserve benefits for current retirees.