Tea Party Groups Blast 'Unsustainable' Lindsey Graham for Insulting His Constituents

COLUMBIA, S.C., July 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- (http://www.myprgenie.com) -- Today, the National Tea Party Federation (http://www.thenationalteapartyfederation.com) called upon Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to issue an immediate and complete apology to the more than 20 million tea party activists across America he insulted last week in the New York Times when he called the Tea Party movement "unsustainable" and without "coherent vision."

Allen Olson, Chairman of the Columbia Tea Party, said "Lindsey Graham's repeated public attacks on the hundreds of thousands of South Carolinians like me who have participated in tea party events displays an arrogance and contempt for the views of his constituents that is beyond the pale. It is among the reasons three South Carolina GOP committees from Charleston, Greenville and Lexington Counties have censured him in the past two years."

Frank Santarpia of New York's Staten Island Tea Party added, "Senator Graham owes me, my group, and the entire Tea Party movement an apology for his short-sighted and uninformed statement that the Tea Party movement has no coherent vision. Since the very first tea parties in South Carolina and across the nation on February 27, 2009, our consistent message has been to support fiscal responsibility, free markets, and constitutionally limited government."

North Carolina's Erika Franzi, Founder of the Asheville Tea Party, said, "Lindsey Graham threw his lot in with the mushy-middle RINOs, calculating that fence-riding would give him broad appeal. What he didn't count on was an electorate with the two things he lacks: convictions and principles."

Mark Lloyd, Chairman of the Lynchburg, Virginia Tea Party said, "Graham's comments illustrate his disconnect from Americans becoming politically engaged. The growth in the number of conservative grassroots political organizations, including those considering themselves 'Tea Party' is increasing rapidly, much to his dismay, and to the dismay of his fellow Washington elites."

After 22 years inside the Washington Beltway, it may well be it is Senator Graham who is unsustainable and lacks a vision for the country. The senior Senator faces growing opposition because his interests seem to lie more with insuring his personal lifestyle and political powerbase instead of serving the people of South Carolina. The Tea Party movement has a new vision for Senator Graham, and this is it: Former Senator Lindsey Graham, Private Citizen.

About the National Tea Party Federation (NTPF): The Federation is a broad coalition of local and regional Tea Party groups committed to improving communications between tea party and like-minded organizations. Our purpose is to facilitate and support messaging, rapid response to media misinformation, and to collaborate and promote the movement's core principles of Fiscal Responsibility, Free Markets and Constitutionally Limited Government.

To see press release go to http://myprgenie.com/7329

SOURCE National Tea Party Federation