Conservatives Going Green

As in, the Tea Party folks might just turn themselves into the conservative equivalent of the Green party: a fringe movement whose political relevance is measured by how many votes they siphon off the establishment.

"A good candidate for the CT Tea Party isn't someobody who has money, isn't somebody who has political power and isn't somebody that will be corrupted by the major party tradewinds,'' [Tea Party Chairman, Dan] Gaita said. "We're looking for outsiders, for people who are living in the trenches, who are going through everyday struggles.''

It's early days - but they're showing every bit as much political acumen as the party of Nader:

Tanya Bachand, leader of the Connecticut Tea Party Patriots, said she had no idea that Gaita's group was planning to register the name as a political party and learned of it only after the fact. Initially, Bachand was concerned: In Florida and elsewhere around the nation, activists have clashed over the right to use the tea party name.

Oh joy.

That's more than schadenfreude. I mean, sure - I'm happy to see the right's crazies step up and be counted. Conservatism has been ripe for a split for some time now. But in a larger sense - the idea that a group of voters is so disenchanted with their party that they form their own splinter group - I'm all for that.

But if the Dems are smart, they'll go door to door to get the Tea Party registered as a party in all 50 states.