Ron Paul suggests that the GOP should be wary of aligning themselves too closely to protesters. Paul: Tea parties won't rebuild GOP

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) said Wednesday night that despite the groundswell of grass-roots conservative energy, the tea party movement is not likely to revive the Republican Party.

“I don't think you can talk about the tea party as a party,” Paul said during an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. “It’s made up of a lot of different people. And I don't even see them as being Republicans.”


“I think they're unhappy. They're unhappy with the establishment party. And that's made up of the Republicans and the Democrats,” Paul said. “If the Republicans don't catch on to that, they can't build their party.”

Paul is a favorite among the tea party crowd, but the former Republican presidential candidate suggested that the GOP should be wary of aligning themselves too closely to protesters who can be unpredictable in their actions and messaging.

Asked about a recent photo that has been widely circulated in the liberal blogosphere showing a prominent tea party organizer from Houston holding up a sign with incendiary racial language, Paul said the tea parties sometimes “act too angrily, and it doesn't come off well.”

“If they keep doing that, yes, it may not necessarily build the party,” Paul said.