Van Nuys Tea Party Report
This rally where I arrived about 7 PM was much more subdued than the one in Santa Monica even though the crowd was about four times as big. As in Santa Monica, protesters were waving signs at passing motorists who regularly honked their support.
Signs celebrating the Gipper were in abundance as well as a plethora of clever references to piracy. There was one man eager to get protesters (as per this DailyKos acolyte) to say silly things as he recorded them on his video camera.
Once again, the spirit was a festive one. A lot of people were coming from work, hence the larger crowd. The Santa Monica rally had been held during the work day.
And there was a more organized public portion of the protest, with a variety of speakers, including actors and activists. One person said, “This is not the end, it’s the beginning.”
Given how little attention the MSM paid to these, they can only grow as word of their success seeps out.
Someone read the speech that launched Obama’s presidential campaign:
My kind of man. His (very attractive) girlfriend is one lucky gal.
A few people were aware of the latest Department of Homeland Security report on Rightwing extremists:
Another man after my heart.
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[...] the actions in Santa Monica, and in the S.F. Valley. (I almost went to the latter, but was unable to get out yesterday; at least I was at the Pasadena [...]
Pingback by Gay Patriot West’s Coverage . . . | Little Miss Attila — April 16, 2009 @ 5:35 am - April 16, 2009
Actors as in celebrities?
Comment by ThatGayConservative — April 16, 2009 @ 5:42 am - April 16, 2009
fivethirtyeight.com has an aggregate of 306 parties that there has been extensive coverage of, puts the number at just over 260,000. It wouldn’t be considered unreasonable if you wanted to double it to get a hypothetical grand total.
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/04/tea-parties-appear-to-draw-at-least.html
approx 520,000 is a good turnout. its a couple of hundred thousand more than have signed the WND birther petition, so there’s plenty of debate as to whether the protests represent actions being taken by a political faction with decent potential energy for generating political capitol.
The feburary 2003 anti-war protests, for instance, were generally supported by factions with a fair degree of political capitol, but little policy influence, So even though the numbers then reached anywhere between 6 and 30 million (Depending on the source, I mentioned 6 million before as aconservative estimate), it did not translate into a change of policy.
It has been said here that the objective of the tea parties should not be to try and ‘convince the nay sayers’. I would agree. the next step should probably be trying to stabilize or increase momentum by convincing the 43% or so of republicans who, according to gallup, think that their taxes are ‘about right’, up from 39% in 2008.
Comment by Scottland — April 16, 2009 @ 6:12 am - April 16, 2009
Here’s one way to try and gague this success: number of self identified republicans minus number of republicans who think their taxes are ‘about right’ = a potential base of protest support from the offset, if these protests are about lower taxes and spending. Last week, Pew put number of self identified Repubs at 28%. Potential voter population = approx 200 million, according to the AU centre for study of american electoral figures. 28% of 200 mil = 56 mil. 57% of 56mil = just under 32 mil. 520,000 of 32 million is about 1.6%. So it could be that these protests reflect 1.6% of the electorate. maybe not. we just dont know yet.
Comment by Scottland — April 16, 2009 @ 6:48 am - April 16, 2009
Ours in Lancaster SC was an awesome experience. There were 260+ in a very small town in rural South Carolina. The songs, prayers and speeches were right on target.
These should become a semi annual event
Comment by PatriotMom — April 16, 2009 @ 7:10 am - April 16, 2009
Also, the political activism of organizations such as the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee were part of these protests as well, so if the issue of taxes is being raised, then it could just as well lead to a nexus of anti-war and anti-tax activism, depending on who grasps the narrative better. Frankly, if freedomworks is orchestrating the whole thing, it makes it less likely that those voices are going to be articulated by the movement, in spite of the fact that they have a very specific anti-tax message. There’s benefits to top down management. improves message discipline. The movement so far, as far as I can make out, is not anti-war tax.
Comment by Scottland — April 16, 2009 @ 8:20 am - April 16, 2009
Scottland, what’s funny about your comments, which are largely-irrelevant spin (because of your mistaken underlying assumptions about the nature and aim of the tea parties), is that you misspelled “political capital”… more than once.
We all make typos and other spelling errors. I know I do. Especially on a blog. But when someone makes the same one twice and with no countervailing correct instance, in an area they claim to know (politics in your case) and want to do a bit of ’showing off’ in, it’s funny.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — April 16, 2009 @ 8:58 am - April 16, 2009
My position was that the nature and aims of the protests were ‘about lower taxes and spending’.this site has stated that the tea party movement should be ‘committed to cutting excessive government spending and holding the line on taxes.’ How have I misunderstood? Are you saying that taxes related to war do not fall into that bracket?
Everything I wrote was (indeed, always is) a first draft, typos included, and based on a variety of extremely easily available sources. I claimed that I was correlating two or three bits of data that I considered, in some way, pertinent. As I said, it was ‘one’ way of looking at the data, not ‘THE’ way (as if there is only one way that this data can be meaningfully interpreted!).If that was me showing off, it would be a pretty poor show.
In this forum i’m a keyboard warrior who knows how to type and chew gum at the same time, not unique to this site, i’m sure. I dont think that i’ve claimed anything more, or if I have I have attempted to qualify my assertions. I place a value on being collegial, though it may not be something that I am 100% successful in, or that other members of this forum value.
Comment by Scottland — April 16, 2009 @ 9:23 am - April 16, 2009
Though I missed the Bangor rally due to a pressing work deadline (lame, I know) I was there in spirit and am a bit curious at the attempt to sniff out organizer motives and pant over tax policy.
The lack of an overarching theme and the lack of national organization was, for me at least, what made them so exciting!
I mean, these are normal people – working people – who came out to air grievances and CONNECT with each other. I’d contrast that with an ACORN rent-a-mob any day…
Best wishes,
-MFS
Comment by MFS — April 16, 2009 @ 9:25 am - April 16, 2009
The Raleigh, NC tea party was a smashing success. We had a great turnout (my husband estimated 1500-2000, the police there said 2500-3000 so who knows). It was very positive with partiers clearly happy to be with others who feel the same way. I saw no opposing protesters or anything negative. It was inspiring. I’d love to submit a photo but not sure how.
Comment by Patriot Goddess — April 16, 2009 @ 9:37 am - April 16, 2009
Denton Texas Tea Party Photo Slide Show.
http://youhavetobethistalltogoonthisride.blogspot.com/2009/04/denton-texas-tax-day-tea-party-april.html
Signed, Right Wing Extremist Radical Militant LOL!
Comment by keyboard jockey — April 16, 2009 @ 11:17 am - April 16, 2009
I was there carrying my “NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION,” sign (and a picture of the Boston Tea party below that.
It was fun and the crowd was friendly. I saw people of all Political stripes come together. President Obama, Congress, and the MSM woke a sleeping beast — 2010 here we come!
Comment by JSF — April 16, 2009 @ 11:24 am - April 16, 2009
Scottland, your comments appear to labor under the impression that the Tea Party events are Republican Party events. The Republicans might be about ready to try to co-opt the movement, as parties often do, but the movement is partly in opposition to them (for being a part of Big Government) as well as Obama. I saw no sign of Republican Party politicking – none whatever – at the rally I attended yesterday. I did see many non-Republicans, including even an Obama supporter or two who were brave enough to admit that Obama has turned out very differently from what they hoped for.
As for your War Tax Resistor stuff or whatever it is – I saw none of that at all. Truly none. I did see American flags and patriotic slogans. I can’t speak for the Tea Party movement, obviously, but I would suspect that many of the people involved would understand that national defense is one of the legitimate functions of government, and hence, not something they care to protest. It was the myriad, and ever-growing, illegitimate functions of government that people appeared to be protesting. I gave a description of what I saw, here:
http://www.gaypatriot.net/?comments_popup=10621#comment-407774
It’s consistent with the signs and slogans that you can see in the photographs posted on the GayPatriot site.
Next, the fact that X% of Republicans will tell a pollster that their taxes are “about right” means nothing: aside from the Republican / non-Republican question already discussed, it was the size and scale of government that was being protested, whether it be financed by higher taxes, definition, or the dilution (‘printing’) of money. Where government expands, personal responsibility and freedom contract.
As for your slightly hurt talk about ‘collegiality’ – The reaction I was expecting to my comment would have been more like a simple “Yes, I can see that was a bit silly of me.” Lighten up.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — April 16, 2009 @ 11:38 am - April 16, 2009
Typo of my own – “whether it be financed by higher taxes, **deficits**, or the dilution of money…”
Sometimes I wonder if the browser changes words on me without telling me. I mean, could my fingers have really typed ‘definition’ – and correctly – when I was thinking the word ‘deficits’? Maybe.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — April 16, 2009 @ 11:42 am - April 16, 2009
Scottland, as the chaotic, haphazard nature of these rallies shows, they were not orchestrated by “freedomworks” or any other organization. And you’re spot on when you cite the benefit to top down management. At the two rallies I attended, we did lack “message discipline.” But, that’s just one more example of the grassroots nature of these things.
Unlike the anti-war rallies, the people who put these parties together are very new at this sort of thing, so we’re learning. If your number of 260,000 is accurate, then this was an amazing success. People not adept at getting the message out. Further more, unlike the anti-war rallies, which were held on weekends, this was held on a weekday, so a quarter-million people is a good turnout.
I said we needed 214,000 to make this a success. Looks like we met and exceeded this goal–and your figure is from a site which leans left.
Comment by GayPatriotWest — April 16, 2009 @ 12:15 pm - April 16, 2009
Fox showed a clip of a CNN reporter on the scene of a Tea Party. Instead of reporting she was confrontational with a participant and absolutely rude. NBC passed it off as a right wing demmonstration that won´t amount to much.
Comment by Roberto — April 16, 2009 @ 12:36 pm - April 16, 2009
What do we do now?
Comment by Ignatius — April 16, 2009 @ 12:56 pm - April 16, 2009
Get ready for the next rally, and in the meantime, try to protect your money from Obama.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — April 16, 2009 @ 1:29 pm - April 16, 2009
#16 – And you think that maybe that’s the reason why CNN and the NBC family of networks rank BEHIND Fox News? I do.
Regards,
Peter H.
Comment by Peter Hughes — April 16, 2009 @ 2:33 pm - April 16, 2009
Hi All you Rads… Van Nuys, CA was similar to NC #10 above. We thought 1500, but the police told us 3000!!!! YES! Everyone was kind to the police and to each other, no problems, no incidents! I do hope our group picked up after themselves. Kevin James, Evan Sayet and other speakers were strong and inspirational. Thank you to all who opened the possibility and beginning for Americans to tell our leaders,THEY WORK FOR US, and not the other way around.
Comment by Elanore Taylor — April 16, 2009 @ 3:41 pm - April 16, 2009
[...] a comment, our reader Scottland, one our most civil critics links liberal blogger and polling expert Nate Silver who finds that over a quarter-million people [...]
Pingback by GayPatriot » Over a quarter-million “Tea Party” protesters — April 16, 2009 @ 4:33 pm - April 16, 2009
#17 what do we do now. Try to starve the govt of as much tax revenue as we can. Change your tax withholding deductions to as high a level as possible. And try to barter as many services as you can in your local neighborhoods as you can. I was surprised at how many trades will do work for cash or trade. Fix my pipes I’ll change your oil for you. Paint my house I’ll landscape your lawn for you. Ask a trade what he’d charge if you pay in cash instead of check or charge. Doing that starves the govt of tax revenues that Obamateleprompter is counting on.
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2009/04/14/afx6288880.html
As states run out of money, the velvet revolution can begin. We can topple the leftist, high spending governors in the liberal states of NY, ILL, WI, CA, etc. and some can become swing states like PA and MI.
Comment by Gene on Pennsylvania — April 16, 2009 @ 5:51 pm - April 16, 2009
#27 – Gene, the first thing you and your fellow Pennsylvanians can do is to get rid of two of the biggest blights on your state’s landscape. Their names are Murtha and Specter. Get voters to vote them out.
Git ‘er done!
Regards,
Peter H.
Comment by Peter Hughes — April 16, 2009 @ 6:00 pm - April 16, 2009
[...] Van Nuys Tea Party Report [...]
Pingback by GayPatriot » Why Do Those Who So Readily Revile Us Devote So Much of their Day to this Object of thier Revulsion — April 16, 2009 @ 8:25 pm - April 16, 2009
Peter H yesterday Pat Toomey declared for Senate to challenge Mr Spector. Let the battle begin.
http://www.toomeyforsenate.com/?gclid=CLH4sOnj9pkCFR1N5Qod0ivIwA
Comment by Gene on Pennsylvania — April 16, 2009 @ 9:39 pm - April 16, 2009
I love this page GP, and I am very happy to see all the tea party excitement! This is great! If a serious grassroots movement can make it clear that wasteful spending and govt overreach are not acceptable, then I feel we have made an impact. The far left, like the smug reporters who mock us regular folk, are having a tantrum, which is a good sign. Remember, never get angry and belligerent with our leftist foes, but instead laugh at them and mock them. They are snide and condescending jackasses and deserved to be treated as such. Most importantly think of this as just a beginning. There is a lot of rage being turned into constructive action, and therein lies our strength.
Comment by untrendypatriot — April 17, 2009 @ 12:27 am - April 17, 2009
I too attended the Van Nuys protest.
Who knew there were so many conservative-minded people in the valley…LOL
I could barely hear the speakers from all the honking car horns.
Comment by The Ugly American — April 17, 2009 @ 1:16 am - April 17, 2009