The organization that ignited the tea party as a national mass movement gave Mitt Romney perhaps his biggest victory yet, deciding to drop its opposition to his candidacy, a top executive in the group told The Washington Times.FreedomWorks had originally protested against Romney, so for it to move to a position of neutrality---or even tepid support---is a big change.
FreedomWorks, which organized the Sept. 12, 2009, mass demonstration on the Mall, says that while it will not give an explicit endorsement, the time has come for Republicans to unite around the former Massachusetts governor and focus on defeating President Obama.
“It is a statistical fact that the numbers favor Mitt Romney,” FreedomWorks Vice President Russ Walker told The Times on Tuesday. “We are dedicated to defeating Obama and electing a conservative Senate that will help Romney repeal Obamacare and address the nation’s economic and spending challenges.”
Even inveterate Romney foe Erick Erickson has now declared that Romney will be the nominee.
Many grassroots Republicans apparently like Romney (a core 15%-20% has stayed with him throughout the whole primary, a bigger base of support than any other candidate has been able to muster consistently). However, many voices purporting to represent the grassroots had discounted Romney and criticized him as a traitor to conservatism (even if many "conservative" purists embraced him in 2008). After Romney's win in Illinois, we may see some of those voices lowering the volume or redirecting their wrath at Obama.
