I think everyday people on the street who have never been affiliated with the tea party movement are alarmed with the spending and the debt that we have.

I think what the Tea Party movement is - I'm all for it; they're out there fighting for our rights, fighting for what our forefathers stood for.

People ask me if I'm the father of the Tea Party movement... I was the spark... that started it.

One of the beauties of the Tea Party movement - and the many, many like-minded citizens that don't participate in the Tea Party movement - is the fact that it is independent.

But I think the - what the tea party movement demonstrates, and I think the, the, the enthusiasm that we're seeing from independents and Republicans, is that if Washington isn't going to change itself, then we're going to change Washington. And I think that's what we're seeing.

The reality of it is I think the GOP - Republicans and certainly conservatives - will partner with the Tea Party movement around this country.