Pam Stout Appears On Letterman: Becomes New Face Of Tea Party Movement?

There’s no arguing that the grassroots Tea Party movement hasn’t been portrayed in a very positive light recently. After the P.R. debacle on Capital Hill during the passing of the Health Care bill, when members of the party were accused of shouting slurs at Democratic Congressmen and and throwing money at a sick man, the campaign needed a new face if it was ever going stop being so easily demonized by the left. And last night, a new candidate emerged from the most unlikely of places in the form of the well-spoken middle-aged Pam Stout from Idaho, appearing as a guest on CBS’s Late Show with David Letterman.




While some may be scratching their heads to why Letterman would have chosen Stout as a guest (it’s no secret that David’s had some bad run-ins with the GOP, most notably when John McCain canceled on him during the 2008 elections) the decision was actually brilliant. Not only as ratings gold, but a chance for the late night host to insert himself back into the news cycle. As Entertainment Weekly noted:

Stout was the mildest of souls, calm and remarkably composed for someone probably not used to the glare of network TV cameras. And Letterman loves this sort of person — a Midwestern citizen, a non-celeb; while raising serious points, he made a point of keeping things light .

Stout may have voted herself into a prime position in the Tea Party, but now that’s she had a platform to show herself as the more genial and articulate version of some in the movement, it will be Letterman she can thank when she’s put on the 2012 ballot.