“But tea party organizers and activists say they’ve seen the influence of women firsthand — personified by the politician most associated with the movement, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, the headline speaker Saturday when tea party activists hold a pair of rallies in Nevada, one of them in Searchlight, the home of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

“Celebrities such as Palin have had less influence shaping the movement, however, than an outburst of women’s activism unusual among conservatives.

“‘For years, it has been the liberal women who have organized and been staunch grass-roots and policy advocates,’ Rebecca Wales, a spokeswoman for Smart Girl Politics, a new group formed to train and mobilize women in the tea party movement. ‘No longer is it only the liberals. Conservative women have found their voices and are using them, actively and loudly.'”

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