Rove: GOP Ignores Tea Parties at Own Peril

Party needs to harness anti-tax feeling as issue moves to the forefront

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 16, 2009 6:27 AM CDT

(Newser) – Karl Rove thinks the "tea party" anti-tax movement is "frequently amateurish and sometimes shrill," but he knows an opportunity for his beleaguered GOP when he sees one. The movement represents an outpouring of real and growing concerns that the party can't afford to ignore, the Republican strategist writes in the Wall Street Journal.

President Obama's tax hike on cigarettes was the first in 15 years, Rove notes, and the protesters clearly fear more to come. The Republican party may get a boost in upcoming state elections from the anti-tax feeling, Rove writes, but to properly harness it, the party needs to start explaining—as Reagan did—how the GOP approach will "link lower taxes to money in voters' pockets, and economic growth and jobs."

[Images (6)]

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Hundreds of people from southern New Mexico line Main Street in Las Cruces, NM, to protest taxes Wednesday, April 15, 2009. (AP Photo/Las Cruces Sun-News )

A tax protester holds a picture of President Barack Obama during the Atlanta Tea Party tax protest Wednesday, April 15, 2009 in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

People take part in a tax day protest in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, April 15, 2009. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Karl Rove prepares to address the Jackson County Lincoln Day dinner in Jackson, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

In this Jan. 14, 2009 file photo, Karl Rove participates in a panel discussion on the implications for Africa of Obama's inauguration in Abuja, Nigeria. (AP Photo/Sunday Aghaeze, File)

Republican strategist Karl Rove addresses delegates at the Republican state convention at the Mayo Civic Center on Saturday, May 31, 2008 in Rochester, Min. (AP Photo/The Star Tribune,Jennifer Simonson)

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Mr. Obama's response to the financial crisis—a government power grab and budget explosion —has put spending and taxes back on the front burner. - Karl Rove

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Rove: GOP Ignores Tea Parties at Own Peril