Van Jones claimed the so-called American Dream Movement, which he launched over the summer, has attracted more interest from supporters than the Tea Party did in 2009. He and other progressive groups are trying to rally that sentiment into something more cohesive at the spirit-building conference in Washington.
Making no secret of his disdain for Tea Party ideals and ideas, ex-White House adviser Van Jones on Monday nonetheless urged liberal activists to “steal” the Tea Party’s playbook.
The former “green jobs” adviser, speaking at the top of a three-day conference in the nation’s capital designed to galvanize liberal activists, spoke interchangeably in harsh and glowing terms about the Tea Party movement. He described their cause as “the worst” and “silly” and other unflattering adjectives. At the same time, he said progressives can learn from what the Tea Party has accomplished, as he tried to steer the crowd toward his own umbrella group which he’s been working on since the summer.
Using the pick-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps tone President Obama has employed in recent days, Jones pointed to the Tea Party movement as an example of grassroots activism done right. He suggested liberals have relied too much on one person, Obama, to fix everything.
Only instead of taking to the streets in the name of lower taxes and less regulation, he urged the crowd to model its own Tea Party-style movement in the name of the middle class.
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