Daily Caller special correspondent Virginia Thomas weighed in on the race shaping up for the Republican presidential nomination during an interview with Newsmax at the Faith and Freedom Conference in the nation's capital last weekend.
The wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas addressed how she anticipates the Tea Party will influence the trajectory of the contest in video of her remarks published online on Wednesday.
“I think it’s important that both the Tea Party movement and grassroots activists come together with the establishment and we see as little division as possible,” she explained. "In order to have the most success, we need to build bridges between the establishment conservative community and the Republican community and the grassroots community. I hope together we can have an effective force in 2012.”
Thomas herself maintains close ties to the conservative coalition of activists, which proved instrumental in determining the outcome of numerous races in the 2010 election cycle.
As for the relationship between the Tea Party and the Republican establishment, Thomas suggested that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) should be doing more to embrace the conservative movement.
Thomas said that she hopes "the most conservative candidate" will emerge victorious in the GOP presidential primary race in 2012. She explained that while she doesn't have "a dog in the fight" she believes former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain "has gotten the attention of the grassroots.”
While largely considered a longshot candidate for the party's nomination, Cain has found success in appealing to voters on the right side of the aisle since launching his campaign last month. He proved to be a smash hit with conservatives in the first GOP primary debate of the election cycle in South Carolina.
Thomas suggested conservative grassroots activists are also watching Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), who is expected to announce her candidacy for president later this month in Iowa. She said that it "would be exciting" to see Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) jump into the mix, despite recent reports suggesting a presidential run is likely off the table for the Republican senator in 2012.
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