Mating Dance Begins Between Tea Partiers, Traditional CPAC Stars

Thursday's premiere conference of big-name Republicans and conservative activists will include a new a group of attendees separate from the Washington establishment yet equally frustrated with the party in power: Tea Partiers.

The annual Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, the three-day event in Washington, will play host to 10,000 conservative activists, including dozens of Tea Party members opposed to big government spending, increased taxes and a host of policies backed by the Obama administration.

Unlike CPAC's traditional attendees, Tea Party members consider themselves separate from inside-the-beltway politics and have few funds or an established hierarchy. The movement, which launched on April 15, 2009, the annual U.S. deadline for submitting tax returns, is a grassroots cause made up of ordinary citizens from around the country.

However, the bulk of tea partiers appears to trend conservative and they insist they don't want to become their own political party.

Their success has pushed Republicans to adopt their approach. The most influential conservative grassroots leaders nationwide signed a Mount Vernon statement on Wednesday recommitting their movement to constitutional conservatism. They were joined by several lawmakers who are in attendance at CPAC.

How well the two groups mesh is of key interest to political observers as the November 2010 midterm elections near.

Former Florida Speaker of the House Marco Rubio is speaking at CPAC. An upstart who has been embraced by conservatives said 2010 will be a choice not just between Republican's or Democrats but liberals and conservatives.

"People want leaders that will come here to Washington D.C. and stand up to this big government agenda, not be co-opted by it. The Senate already has one Arlen Specter too many. And America already has a Democrat Party. It doesn't need another Democrat Party," he said referencing the Pennsylvania senator who switched parties last year.

The "Tea Party Express" is expected to barnstorm from state to state on a national tour, beginning March 27 and ending April 15, to host a series of rallies in dozens of U.S. cities.

Fox News' Caroline Shively contributed to this report.