Another tea party v. Tea Party squabble brewing

A week after Tea Party operative Doug Guetzloe crashed a press conference of tea party activists (a biased account from the activists is here) a similar skirmish could be in the works tomorrow night in Delray Beach. Some quick background: Guetzloe’s Tea Party has fielded candidates in 20 state races to target “big spending” Republicans. The South Florida Tea Party is suing Guetzloe’s group in a West Palm Beach federal court, charging they have no right to use the name as a formal political party. The tea party, they argue, is a political movement - not a formal party. The latest now is that Guetzloe is threatening to bring his band of Tea Partiers to a tea party gathering for an event with GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill McCollum at the South County Civic Center. Guetlzoe was informed that invites for him and 19 of his allies has been rescinded. “It is a private affair and if you attempt to enter the building you will be met by the Palm Beach Sheriffs Officers to charge you and your group with trespassing,” Tim McClellan, outreach director for the South Florida Tea Party, wrote to Guetzloe...more