Tea partiers form new national federation, sort of

“It’s an evolution,” said tea party activist Mark Skoda. “Not an organization. We’re not co-opting a movement. We’re not creating a new leadership structure.”

Still, the creation of the federation is an acknowledgment of the limits of an undisciplined and disjointed political movement…

“It took us 72 hours to respond to John Lewis,” Skoda said, referring to the longtime Georgia Democratic congressman and civil rights leader who said a tea party protester used a racial epithet during a rally against the healthcare bill last month…

Organizers said the federation would not be raising money or hiring a staff. Decisions would be made via conference calls among the various groups.