Tea Party Reshapes New Hampshire Calculus

At WSJ, "Movement Emerges as Wild Card for Republican Hopefuls In Presidential Primary Often Dominated by Independents"

CONCORD, N.H. — In the brewing battle for New Hampshire, the tea party is emerging as a wild card for Republican presidential hopefuls who want the movement's energy but must also appeal to the state's crucial independent voters.

The nominal GOP front-runner, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, appears to be hedging his bets on the tea party. He was a no-show at a tax-day, tea-party rally at the state Capitol here Friday, choosing instead to talk taxes in Florida.

By contrast, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, whose low-key demeanor and blue-state roots were once considered his strong suit, fired up the faithful at the rally. In a rousing speech, he hit at what he called "the triangle of greed" that feeds off ordinary Americans: Big Government, Big Unions and Big Bailout Businesses.

"Let's send them this message: Don't tread on me," he told about 500 tea partiers, many carrying a yellow flag bearing that same phrase.

Independent voters, however, have been fickle in the Granite State, and it is not clear how they will respond to that kind of rallying cry.

Interesting piece. There's more at the link.

And see Frontloading HQ for the list of 2012 candidates. Six Republicans have either announced a presidential exploratory committee or simply thrown a hat in the ring: Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Tim Pawlenty, Buddy Roemer, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum. I'm not feeling a vibe for anyone here as the tea party candidate. Sarah Palin put a fire under media speculation yesterday following her barnburner in Madison. But she's still quiet on a formal announcement. I think Herman Cain's going to have a nice base of support, but we'll see how strong a contender he turns out to be. He's working on it, that's for sure. He's been truckin' it up to New Hampshire, as we can see with this clip from Brad Marston's shop:

And see The Last Tradition, "GOP prez hopeful Herman Cain Gives Rousing Speech at Tax-Day Rally: We Need Some ‘Altering & Abolishing’."