Earlier this month — actually, September 12th (or “9-12” in Glenn Beck parlance) — conservative Tea Parties were again held across the country, essentially to bring like-minded folks together to decry excessive federal spending — at least when Barack Obama is doing it.
In Lakeland, a crowd estimated to be around 2,500 people showed up at Lake Mirror Ampitheatre despite a steady rain. (That’s what the Lakeland Ledger reported — though it looked to this observer to be maybe only half that that amount). It was at least the third major such event that I’ve attended in 2009, and was again a stark reminder that in opposition, conservatives have found their voice in a way that John McCain was unable to articulate for them in 2008.
Though it’s debatable how representative these protesters are in the body politic, it is undeniable that their protests — at least in the arena of health care reform — have had an impact. Because protests and street activism can make a difference. Liberals were united in the latter parts of this decade against George Bush and his egregious war in Iraq. Joined by disaffected independents, they came together in harmony last year, first battling each other (in their epic Democratic primary race), before coalescing behind the brilliant campaign of Barack Obama last fall.
That same energy wilted for much of the just concluded summer, but the Democrats seem finally to be getting it.
This article appears in Sep 2-8, 2009.