Senate TEA Party Cacaus Consits ONLY Of Rand Paul, Mike Lee And Jim DeMint.

(From left: Rand Paul, Mike Lee and Jim DeMint are pictured).

Senate tea party: Members wanted
So far the caucus consists of Rand Paul, Mike Lee and Jim DeMint.
By MANU RAJU & SCOTT WONG

Tea party activists may have dramatically reshaped the national political landscape last year, but the Senate’s tea party movement could fit in the backseat of a cab.

The Tea Party Caucus is scheduled to hold its first official meeting Thursday, but so far, the entire group consists of just three outspoken conservative senators: Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky.

Several senators have declined invitations to join, some are holding out because they are unsure about what the new group will do and others seem to think the caucus is an all-around bad idea that could send mixed messages on what Republicans stand for.

“I would hope what they would do is just think about the fact that they are brand-new to the Senate and we got a Republican Conference and they need to see how the conference works before you jump out and start saying, ‘Well the tea party position says this,’” Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) told POLITICO. “The Republican Conference has historically been pretty conservative and will be going forward. I would hope they would try to exert their influence here and not through some independent group.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/48266.html#ixzz1CLaxivKd

Update: Jerry Moran, Kansas' freshman Senator, is now the fourth Tea Party Senate Caucus member.