"Something's happening
"Round 2 of Tea Party protests: A political powerhouse in the making?”.--Christian Science Monitor
They threw Stafford County’s first Tea Party at noon on Independence Day. A grass-roots effort with no apparent political sponsorship and hardly any advance publicity produced an enthusiastic noontime crowd that overflowed the grounds of the Courthouse--a historic structure on U.S. 1 that's 40 miles south of and oh so different than the District of Columbia.
Why the large turnout? Certainly not the entertainment, which involved only speeches. Rather, as Aquia Harbour resident Jerry Cunningham, a Vietnam War veteran, explained, “I’m here because I’m just tired of Congress being a profession.”
The Tea Party’s organizer, Vince Ellis, whose family lives near Seven Lakes, was delighted with the crowd.
“When it was over, 490 had registered with us,” he said. The Stafford government center’s large parking lot was comfortably full at noon.
A civilian engineer, Ellis said he took it on himself to do something to generate this local TEA (taxed enough already) Party.
The event had no official support of any organization, political or otherwise, he said. Other similar grass-roots efforts, initially centered on April 15, had yielded some 2,500 Tea Parties involving up to 500,000 participants. Numerous July 4 Tea Parties were also held in other Virginia localities such as Prince William County and Front Royal. The national tally was said to exceed 1,400 events.
Several invited speakers included Va. Delegate Mark Cole, R-88th District; and Greg Riddlemoser, a military veteran who lives near Mountain View High School. They focused on celebrating our nation’s flag on Independence Day and our country’s greatness while protesting Washington’s “irresponsible fiscal policies and increasingly intrusive government.”
However, “Most of these people don’t want to be connected to any one group,” said Adam Bitely with Americans for Limited Government, in a Washington Times article about the typical attendees at Tea Party events.
Local volunteers staffed registration signup desks at the Stafford Courthouse. Participants waited in lines to get their names included. A separate booth was run independently by Virginia Citizens Defense League, a gun-rights group.
Many passing motorists on U.S. 1 in front of the Courthouse honked in support of the typically anti-government signs many participants waved.
Know anyone who might be able to capitalize politically on these burgeoning Tea Party supporters nationally?
They threw Stafford County’s first Tea Party at noon on Independence Day. A grass-roots effort with no apparent political sponsorship and hardly any advance publicity produced an enthusiastic noontime crowd that overflowed the grounds of the Courthouse--a historic structure on U.S. 1 that's 40 miles south of and oh so different than the District of Columbia.
Why the large turnout? Certainly not the entertainment, which involved only speeches. Rather, as Aquia Harbour resident Jerry Cunningham, a Vietnam War veteran, explained, “I’m here because I’m just tired of Congress being a profession.”
The Tea Party’s organizer, Vince Ellis, whose family lives near Seven Lakes, was delighted with the crowd.
“When it was over, 490 had registered with us,” he said. The Stafford government center’s large parking lot was comfortably full at noon.
A civilian engineer, Ellis said he took it on himself to do something to generate this local TEA (taxed enough already) Party.
The event had no official support of any organization, political or otherwise, he said. Other similar grass-roots efforts, initially centered on April 15, had yielded some 2,500 Tea Parties involving up to 500,000 participants. Numerous July 4 Tea Parties were also held in other Virginia localities such as Prince William County and Front Royal. The national tally was said to exceed 1,400 events.
Several invited speakers included Va. Delegate Mark Cole, R-88th District; and Greg Riddlemoser, a military veteran who lives near Mountain View High School. They focused on celebrating our nation’s flag on Independence Day and our country’s greatness while protesting Washington’s “irresponsible fiscal policies and increasingly intrusive government.”
However, “Most of these people don’t want to be connected to any one group,” said Adam Bitely with Americans for Limited Government, in a Washington Times article about the typical attendees at Tea Party events.
Local volunteers staffed registration signup desks at the Stafford Courthouse. Participants waited in lines to get their names included. A separate booth was run independently by Virginia Citizens Defense League, a gun-rights group.
Many passing motorists on U.S. 1 in front of the Courthouse honked in support of the typically anti-government signs many participants waved.
Know anyone who might be able to capitalize politically on these burgeoning Tea Party supporters nationally?
posted by Ben Blankenship at
8:05 AM
