What We Saw at the 9/12 Tea Party Rally in DC
On September 12, 2010 in Washington, D.C., FreedomWorks sponsored its second annual 9/12 rally, based on the theme of "Remember in November." Among the speakers were FreedomWorks' Dick Armey and Matt Kibbe (go here for Reason.tv's interview with them about their best-selling Give Us Liberty: A Tea Party Manifesto); former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson (go here for an interview about his Our America initiative); "Tito the Builder," a Colombian immigrant and contractor who is an outspoken defender of free enterprise; Deneen Borelli of Project 21 and Tom Borelli of the Free Enterprise Project; and new media impresario Andrew Breitbart of Big Government.
This year's event drew a smaller but arguably more intense crowd than last year's demonstration. Attendees' attitudes toward President Barack Obama and the Democratic Congress were sharply negative and sometimes strayed from the Tea Party's traditionally narrow focus on curbing federal spending to issues such as illegal immigration and race relations. Yet there was no mistaking the main thrust of the day's event, which was, as Matt Kibbe stressed, that "November 3 is even more important than November 2." As Andrew Breitbart put it, "The beauty of the Tea Party movement is watching it hold Republicans accountable…These people are not going to stop holding their government and elected officials accountable, especially those that claim to represent their values."
Approximately 5.30 minutes. Shot and edited by Dan Hayes and Jim Epstein. Interviews by Michael C. Moynihan and Nick Gillespie.
Watch Reason.tv's coverage of last year's 9/12 rally here and Glenn Beck's August 28, 2010 "Restoring Honor" rally here. Go to Reason.tv for downloadable versions of all our videos.