Author: Cristina Corbin

The Tea Party Express credited its influence on Friday in “defeating” Michigan Rep. Bart Stupak–a key target of the conservative activists who barreled into his district a day earlier to rally against him.

“The surprising announcement that Congressman Bart Stupak is abandoning his campaign for reelection shows the power of the tea party movement,” the group’s political director, Bryan Shroyer, said in a statement.

“Stupak was no longer able to hide his betrayal of conservative principles because the tea party movement was determined to educate the voters in the district,” he said.

Stupak, a pro-life Democrat representing Michigan’s 1st congressional district, was under attack by the tea party movement and other conservative groups for his vote in favor of the Democratic health care legislation.

“I absolutely credit the mere threat of us coming through his district,” Tea Party Express chairman Mark Williams told FoxNews.com. “We put the nail in the coffin.”

The Tea Party Express, one of the most visible factions of the movement, rolled into Bessemer, Mich., late Thursday to stage a rally targeting Stupak. The group also launched an aggressive ad campaign against him – with the group’s political action committee, Our Country Deserves Better, pledging $250,000 in radio and T.V. ads aimed at ousting him from office.

The group had planned 11 rallies in the state over the next three days, protesting Stupak’s controversial vote and calling for his swift resignation.

Williams said Stupak’s announcement on Friday in no way disrupts their plans.

“Now it becomes a celebration of the process and the power of the people,” he said.

Bessemer, Mich. – The Tea Party Express bus caravan barreled into the Wolverine State late Thursday with a single purpose in mind: to unseat Rep. Bart Stupak for his “betrayal” in voting for President Obama’s health care legislation.

The tea party group, which is in the middle of a 42-city cross-country bus tour, has launched an aggressive ad campaign targeting Stupak – with the group’s political action committee, Our Country Deserves Better, pledging $250,000 in radio and T.V. ads aimed at ousting him from office.

Stupak, a pro-life Democrat representing Michigan’s 1st congressional district, was roundly criticized by the tea party movement and other conservative groups when he voted in favor of Obama’s health care legislation last month.  Stupak and other Democrats ultimately backed the overhaul after objecting to abortion language in the bill.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., became the Tea Party Express’ primary target when the grassroots group launched its bus tour two weeks ago from Reid’s hometown of Searchlight.  Organizers say Stupak ranks a close second on their list of incumbent lawmakers whom they’d like to see leave office.

“Congressman Bart Stupak, you betrayed our Constitution,” reads the announcer in the group’s 30-second television ad.  “You sold us out on the health-care vote. And now it’s time for you to pay the political price. Join the Tea Party Express as we send Bart Stupak packing for early retirement.”

Click here to see the ad.

The Tea Party Express, which claims it does not campaign on “social issues,” said its opposition to Stupak is based more on his “failure to uphold principle” than on policy.

“He said he was going to stand on his principles and then he caved in,” said Sal Russo, chief strategist of the Tea Party Express. “This isn’t so much about abortion than it is about breaking faith with what he promised.”

Stupak voted for the health care legislation after Obama pledged to sign an executive order upholding the ban on federal funding of abortions. Obama signed the order March 24, but some conservative groups, like the Tea Party Express, say they are skeptical of its effectiveness.

The bus caravan rolled into Bessemer for a rally late Thursday, greeting a crowd of 350 activists gathered outside a Veterans of Foreign War post – one holding a sign reading “Let’s Stick it to Stupak.”

About 20 Stupak supporters, meanwhile, staged a counter protest across the street from the rally, carrying signs like “Bart, You Betcha” and “Progressives for Stupak” and chanting “We love Bart!”

“He’s been a good representative for us and he’s stood by his constituents,” Dan Obradovich of Wakefield, Mich., a Stupak supporter, told FoxNews.com. “If the Republicans don’t like moderate Democrats than where are they? Where is their alternative plan for health care?”

The Tea Party Express is expected to hold 11 rallies in Michigan over the next few days – more than any other state in its cross-country tour — and concludes in Washington, D.C., on April 15, Tax Day.

Minneapolis, Minn. — In an effort to build its credibility and influence nationwide, the tea party movement on Thursday announced the formation of a “federation” of tea party groups.

Mark Shroder, a member of the Memphis Tea Party, told a crowd of roughly 200 conservative activists gathered outside the state capitol that 21 factions of the movement will form the National Federation Tea Party. Shroder said the federation will act as a “rapid response” to “misinformation” allegedly put forth by the “mainstream media.”

The National Federation Tea Party includes groups like the Tea Party Express, which is currently on a 42-city bus tour across the country, as well as Tea Party Nation, ResistNet, Constitutional TEA Party and American Grassroots Coalition.

But the conservative movement, which has prided itself on its refusal to formally merge with the Republican Party, refuted claims Thursday that the tea party seeks to form its own political party.

“That would be political suicide,” Mark Williams, chairman of Tea Party Express told FoxNews.com. “America is a two party system and to create a third party is to reinvent the wheel. This federation was formed simply as a rapid response to put out brushfires in the mainstream media.”

“This is a not a single leadership formation,” added Shroder.

The federation also includes several conservative “affiliate groups” like Aemricans for Prosperity, Ameircan for Tax Reform, FreedomWorks and Citizens United.

PHOENIX, Ariz. — Samuel “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher, once a prominent face of John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign, said Sunday that he won’t be stumping for the Arizona senator in his close race for reelection.

In an interview with FoxNews.com, Wurzelbacher said he was used as a “political tool” during McCain’s presidential run and faulted the fourth-term senator for what he described as a weak stance on immigration and border security.

“It’s supposed to be a closed border. Why don’t you uphold the law instead of trying to change it?” he said. “McCain’s been a senator for a long time and he’s failed in his duties.”

Wurzelbacher, who appeared at a tea party rally of 400 conservative activists in Phoenix on Sunday, said he won’t be backing anyone in the Arizona senate race. “I don’t want to cloud the issue and create a lot of drama,” he said.

McCain, who is seeking a fifth term, is locked in a close race with former congressman and radio talk show host J.D. Hayworth, a favorite among many tea party voters.

Wurzelbacher rose to fame in 2008 after he confronted then-candidate Barack Obama over taxes. He soon became a familiar face at Republican rallies, stumping for McCain and his running mate, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

Energized by yesterday’s turnout of nearly 9,000 conservative activists in Sen. Harry Reid’s hometown of Searchlight, Nev., The Tea Party Express hit the road Sunday for Arizona.

Movement leaders say the message in the Copper State will be the same: fewer taxes, less government spending, and a repeal of the massive health care overhaul Obama signed into law last week.

“We just want our country back,” said Mark Williams, vice chairman of the Our Country Deserves Better PAC, which is funding the Tea Party Express bus tour to 42 cities and 23 states.

Arizona Sen. John McCain, who is seeking a fifth term in the U.S. Senate, is locked in a tight race against former conservative congressman and popular local radio host J.D. Hayworth.

The tea party has so far been reluctant to endorse either candidate, but movement leaders told FoxNews.com on Sunday that Hayworth was likely their preferred choice.

“At this point, J.D. Hayworth probably has a bigger following,” said Sal Russo, a Republican strategist from Sacramento, Calif, and chief strategist of the Tea Party Express.

Russo said the movement has declined to make a formal endorsement largely because of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a tea party favorite who kicked off the bus tour in Searchlight with a speech calling for Reid and the Democrats to be “fired.”

McCain has called on Palin, his running mate during the 2008 presidential election, to campaign for him in the months leading up to the Aug. 24th Arizona Senate primary.

“We knew Governor Palin would be campaigning there and so we didn’t want to detract from her activities in any way,” Russo said. “We’re just trying to be respectful of her.”

McCain leads Hayworth by seven percentage points, according to a March 16 Rasmusson poll. The survey, which polled 541 likely voters in Arizona, found McCain with a 48 percent approval rating compared to Hayworth’s 41 percent. Three percent of those surveyed said they preferred some other candidate, while eight percent said they were undecided. The poll had a margin of error of four percentage points.

Fewer taxes, less government and no ‘Obamacare’ — that’s the message the Tea Party Express hopes to send to Washington when it descends Saturday on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s hometown of Searchlight, Nev.

The Tea Party Express, one of the most visible factions of the national Tea Party movement, officially kicked off its cross-country, 42-city bus tour outside a hotel in Laughlin, Nev., early Saturday.

Dozens of activists gathered in the parking lot of Harrah’s Laughlin hotel and piled into a caravan of three buses, headed for Reid’s dusty hometown of Searchlight, where movement organizers said they are expecting a crowd of up to 10,000 conservative activists.

“Harry Reid is symbolic of the problems in Washington in the sense that he’s been the leader in the Senate of all the things we’ve been against — expanding the government, increasing the deficit and raising taxes,” Sal Russo, chief strategist of the Tea Party Express, told FoxNews.com.

“He campaigned as a moderate, but has moved so far to the left,” Russo said. “Voters are tolerant of different views, but what they don’t like is when someone campaigns one way and then governs by another.”

Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is expected to headline the rally in Searchlight, and there will be an appearance by Samuel “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher, who rose to fame during the 2008 presiential election when he confronted then-candidate Barack Obama over taxes.

The movement’s main rallying cry will be for repeal of the health care overhaul that Obama signed into law last week.

“There’s great frustration with that policies within the health care reform bill run counter to our view as to the proper role between government and the individual,” said Joe Wierzbicki, coordinator for the Tea Party Express.