WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- Only four U.S. senators attended the Senate Tea Party Caucus' first meeting, with at least three new senators who won under the populist banner staying away.
"I sprang from the Tea Party and have great respect for what it represents," Sen. Ronald H. Johnson, R-Wis., one of the movement's stars, said in a statement.
But he will not join the caucus because he fears it could be divisive, he said. Instead, he said he will seek to bring Tea Party ideas under the broader Republican umbrella.
"The reason I ran for the U.S. Senate was to not only stop the Obama agenda but reverse it," his statement said. "I believe our best chance of doing that is to work towards a unified Republican Conference, so that's where I will put my energy."
Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Patrick J. Toomey, R-Pa., also declined to join the caucus, whose Thursday meeting was organized by freshmen Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Jim DeMint, R-S.C., as a venue for promoting Tea Party ideals.
They were joined by freshman Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., The Washington Post reported.
The lack of attendance and increasing reluctance of newly elected Republican senators to keep their Tea Party links on Capitol Hill -- amid fears it could become seen as something of a scarlet letter -- suggests even conservative politicians may be reluctant to be associated with the movement, though it was influential in the Republicans' midterm electoral victory, the Los Angeles Times said.
The Washington Post said the development underscores what it called fissures within the Republican Party, which is simultaneously trying to assemble a governing coalition in Washington while appealing to conservatives "outside the Beltway."
