At Boston rally, Palin will be taking her tea without Scott Brown, conservative hero

Boston tea rally has glaring absence: Scott Brown

BOSTON — When the Tea Party Express pulls into the city where the conservative movement got its name, the crowd will be as notable for who’s not there as for who is.

Sarah Palin is the keynote speaker on Wednesday, but Republican Sen. Scott Brown is skipping the event. The movement claims his upset January election as its proudest moment.

Brown says he’s too busy with his congressional duties, but Tufts University political science professor Jeffrey Berry says he believes the senator is worried about being associated with the movement’s more radical elements.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Charles Baker is also skipping the rally, saying he has a prior commitment 40 miles away in Worcester (WUH’-stur), the state’s second-largest city.

Tea party rallies were being held Tuesday in Missouri, Nebraska and New York.