What the Tea Party Means in Texas Politics
Rep. Ron Paul of Texas will headline a rally in Austin on Sunday. Photo by Matt Largey/KUT NewsAudio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
The Tea Party Express makes a stop in Austin Sunday. Presidential candidate and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul with his son, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, will be there. Since it began, just about every GOP candidate in Texas has claimed to support the tea party’s agenda.
Ross Ramsey is executive editor of the Texas Tribune, KUT’s political reporting partner. He and KUT’s Ben Philpott spoke about the movement’s influence in state politics.
I think this has just become part of the Republican Party now. A couple of years ago we were going to tea party rallies every weekend; they were all over the place. Now they are relatively few and far between. The rally that’s here in Austin this weekend is partly a tea party rally, but it’s partly a Ron Paul rally, and Ron Paul’s a whole thing unto himself.
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