Political Pandering? Who's co-opting who?

By John Sykes
LATE FLASH! Following the post below and intense pressure from SFl’s conservative bulldog Joyce Kaufman on her PM show, Representative West said he had been waiting to be invited to join the Tea Party Caucus. Subsequent to being reminded by Joyce that Rep. Bachmann had recently sent out an Email to that effect, he said he would join the Tea Party Caucus soon!
In GOP freshmen joining RSC Alan Ota writes:

Tea party groups were given considerable credit for the Republican success in last fall’s elections. But now that they are in Washington, the dozens of newly elected GOP lawmakers appear reluctant to formally identify themselves with the movement.
The House Tea Party Caucus, which appeared likely to see a dramatic expansion in the 112th Congress, has yet to recruit a new member from among the 87 freshman Republicans.
The new GOP lawmakers are opting instead to work through the older, much larger and not-quite-so-conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC). That group has grown by about 50 percent to 174 members, including 80 freshmen

I’ve already posted at more length on this issue in Are we beginning to discover our Tea Party Chamberlains? Both Representative Allen West and Senator Marco Rubio have so far refused to join their respective Tea Party caucuses. Rubio used the excuse that the RSC already existed. Both Rubio and West says they don’t want politicians to co-opt the Tea Party movement. I guess it’s okay to be co-opted by the RSC or the sirens of DC>
It appears the election isn't close enough yet for those who earlier begged for Tea Party support to maintain even a semblance of allegiance to the movement. They have short memories. This Tea Party movement member will not forget and, once again, urges that Tea Parties not waste their time, talent and treasure on those pandering to voters until election time when they need us.