Doug Mataconis · · 10 comments

Well, I can’t say this is surprising:

The Tea Party will support whoever wins the GOP presidential nomination – – even if that person is former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. That’s the affirmative word from Tea Party Express chair Amy Kremer.

Kremer told Fox News on Saturday, “whoever the Republican nominee is will have to have the support of the Tea Party movement, the entire Tea Party movement.”

Kremer went on to say the Tea Party is “completely neutral,” adding that it “just wants to see the cream rise to the top… If Romney is the nominee I believe that we want to defeat Barack Obama.”

Her confidence comes while some Tea Partiers, including some at FreedomWorks, a leading voice in the Tea Party movement, set their sights on stopping a Romney nomination.

Kremer also wants to put to rest the idea the Tea Party would support a third party candidate, insisting the Tea Party can work from within the democratic and republican parties.

“There is no way that we are going to support a third party candidate. It would split the vote and it would guarantee reelection for Obama, and we need to crush Obama we have to get him out of the White House,” says Kremer.