'Tea party' lashes back at NAACP over charges of racism

If an NAACP resolution condemning "racist elements" in the "tea party" was meant to chasten the conservative protest movement, it appears to have had the opposite effect. A day after the civil rights organization passed a resolution that linked the tea party to white supremacist groups' websites, candidates and leaders sympathetic to the movement on Wednesday erupted in a defense and lashed back with attacks of their own. One site featured a series of blog posts titled "I condemn the NAACP." A movement leader accused the group of "looking to make a buck off skin color." Sarah Palin, in a lengthy Facebook post, branded the resolution a "regressive and diversionary tactic to change the subject." For both, the strategies serve a dual purpose: firing up a base of reliable voters while persuading moderates that the other side has abandoned them. Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons said the NAACP resolution affirms what many African Americans already suspect about the tea party movement, which polls show is overwhelmingly white. It also may reach those who aren't paying close attention...