Tea Party: November will be Our Victory, Not the GOP's
The Tea Party Patriots have a warning for Republicans: The seats the GOP wins this November belong to the people - namely, the Tea Party, the people who elected them.
"We don't consider it as a Republican victory at all," Mark Meckler, co-founder of the group Tea Party Patriots said today on "Washington Unplugged." "They need to follow the values, or we will see them again in two years as we see them at the door and a new crop is moving in."
The Tea Party Patriots announced this morning that the organization had received a $1,000,000 anonymous donation. The grant's purpose is to grow and strengthen regional and local Tea Party Patriot affiliates across the country.
"This fund will help ensure that the principles and values of the Tea Party Patriots will inform the citizens of the nation as we head into election season," co-founder Jenny Beth Martin told moderator Jan Crawford. "The Tea Party movement is here to stay - it is a multi-million person movement."
Local chapters will be able to apply for grants from the Tea Party Patriots by Sept. 26, and funds will be allocated by October 4. The money cannot be used for direct electoral activities, Meckler said.
"The goal is not telling people what to do with this," he added. "They can build their chapters, whatever they are doing locally. This will give them a little capital and leverage those efforts."
The Tea Party Patriots also today launched an effort to get its members to respond to President Obama's challenge to Tea Partiers to suggest ways to get the federal budget under control.
New York Times chief political correspondent Jeff Zeleny and Colorado Republican Congressional candidate Ryan Frazier were also guests on Tuesday's "Washington Unplugged."
Watch the "Washington Unplugged" clip above.
"Washington Unplugged," CBSNews.com's exclusive daily politics Webshow, appears live on CBSNews.com each weekday at 2 p.m. ET. Click here to check out previous episodes.