CHICAGO TEA PARTY ORGANIZERS REJECT A SPEAKING BID FROM MICHAEL STEELE. This illustrates two things. First, the increasing haplessness of Steele, who hasn’t performed nearly as well as I’d expected. And, more significantly, the growth of the Tea Party movement as a grassroots outside-the-establishment phenomenon that has become so big that establishment figures are trying to jump onboard. This is what Tucson Tea Party organizer Robert Mayer said yesterday — it’s gone from hoping a few people would show up, to having to turn down speaking offers from big names.

UPDATE: Incumbentitis.