How many people at that tea party rally in DC today 3/31/2011

[Peacetrain]

Just curious.

Don't see any stories out there.. I thought today was the day... flipping channels when I can but nothing.

[gateley]

1. I saw a shot earlier on MSNBC that showed Bachmann, et al., but nothing

since - or nothing that caught my attention, anyway.

It astounds me that the Republican Party seems to be hog-tied by the Teabaggers, yet a poll indicates about 50% of Americans think negatively of them. :shrug:

By the way, I hate Boehner, in case you were wondering. :grr:

[Peacetrain]

2. Yep I hear you on Boehner..

and he is hog tied.

I am still looking, there was all this build up that the tea party was going to be meeting at noon..

The numbers must be pretty small if no one is reporting it.

[gateley]

5. My spew about Boehner is the clip they're showing now is of him presenting

the new Republican Sound Bite (which I'm sure we'll hear from everyone with an (R) after their name - ad nauseam): "The Democrats want to shut down the government!"

Why can't we message like that? :banghead:

I'm thrilled there's no coverage of the Bachmann Bash. Yawn. And kind of really getting off on the fact that even though they're not as much as a threat as they once were, the Republicans are still cowering at the prospect of Teabagger Backlash! :evilgrin:

[Peacetrain]

7. Its all they got.. put what we are doing off on the Democrats

a tried and true old strategy .. pure rove.

If there are as few people at this "tea party" bash to lobby the legislators.. I wonder if there is a big UH OH.. what did we do.. going through some republican minds right now :)

Those republican governors who have been trying to push through their agenda, are getting a wake up call.

he he he he. They screwed the pooch.

[Kurmudgeon]

12. What the GOP fears is Teabaggers siphoning away votes, ala Nader and Perot.

Which is the only thing that makes me slightly more able to put up with Teabagger nonsense. At least they do have one valid purpose.

[flpoljunkie]

23. Here's a pic of Michelle Bachmann speaking at the 'rally'

[louslobbs]

27. I'd like to see an aerial view because this closed in shot makes it seem like there are many people

there when there really aren't.
Lou

[flpoljunkie]

28. I disagree. The crowd is not very deep at all. Also, if the WSJ says there were 200 people, you can

bet there were no more than 200--probably less!

[louslobbs]

29. From that shot, how can you tell that? The right portion of the shot is a thin crowd, but the left

portion shows only the field that the we can see filled with people. However, if the WSJ says 200 or so I will defer to your comment about the crowd and not about the photo.
Lou

[vaberella]

31. How many is that? 50 or 60 people? n/t

[southernyankeebelle]

3. Don't worry Fox will find some phony video to play. We will see thousands.

[Peacetrain]

4. Probably... one of those super pans of 8 people

(remember that Bush photo) repeated over and over to look like 1000's :rofl:

[Jackpine Radical]

6. Are the palm trees in blossom in Washington yet?

[RichGirl]

18. Here it is!!

Even they couldn't cough up a huge crowd!!

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/03/31/961938/-Fox-blames-weather-for-weak-turnout-at-tea-party-rally

[louslobbs]

30. I'll defer to your comment and add only a few palm trees just as a nice touch for FOX GOP

Lou

[MiniMe]

8. 1/31/11? Wasn't that 2 months ago?

[Peacetrain]

11. OOPS... mea culpa.. corrected that date.. thanks for the heads up

:hi:

[gateley]

9. Did you see this, Peacetrain?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x783114

:rofl: Even better than I'd hoped!!

[Peacetrain]

10. Just over there gately and was going to come over and leave the link

:rofl: dozens.. just dozens.. unbelievable.. and FOX had live cameras.. someone is scrapping egg off their faces right now.

Oh My GOD this is just priceless

[JuniperLea]

20. Were there more cameras than people?

Cuz that would be hilarious!

[Peacetrain]

26. Juniper, my guess is that there were more media than protestors.

and it is funny... MSNBC covered it this afternoon.. did not mention the numbers, but just showed Bachmann and King at the microphone.. with people running and strolling behind them. It was obvious there was no one there there.

[flpoljunkie]

13. Steve Benen has story and link to two photos of the 'rally'

March 31, 2011

SO MUCH FOR THE 'COME TO JESUS' MOMENT.... This morning, National Journal reported on the high expectations for this afternoon's Tea Party rally on Capitol Hill in D.C. Far-right organizers hoped this one event, put together by one of the nation's largest Tea Party organizations, could have an enormous influence on the larger budget debate.

If organizers have their way, the event featuring Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., and Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tex., will be a watershed "Come to Jesus" moment, influencing GOP lawmakers to hold fast to the full $100 billion in spending cuts they promised while campaigning in 2010.

So much for that idea.

Tea party organizers had high hopes for their rally today in Washington, DC -- high enough hopes that they arranged for Fox to give it live coverage.

Then something sad happened. Just a few dozen people showed up. And Fox, naturally, blamed the weather.

I wasn't there, so I can't speak to turn out with any confidence, but I've seen some of the pictures, and the event appears to have been a bust. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a Tea Party favorite who has an incentive to exaggerate the crowd size, said 200 people showed up, but if the media footage is at all accurate, even that pathetic number is inflated.

Put in this way: the number of reporters and Republican lawmakers, when combined, rivaled the size of the attendees. That's not good.

more...

[Peacetrain]

14. Wow that says it all..Just saw something on CNN a few minutes ago

They had a story with the focus of the photos on three people.. so you could not tell what the numbers were.. and the story was how the tea party is a force for the republicans.. talk about lying by omission.. shame on you CNN

[flpoljunkie]

15. Here's another posted on the WSJ's Washington Wire plus their story on the rally

MARCH 31, 2011, 3:51 PM ET

Tea Partiers Rally on Capitol Hill

By Danny Yadron

Not even members of the tea party movement say they want to shut down the federal government.


Rep. Michele Bachmann (R., Minn.) addresses the tea party “Continuing Revolution Rally” on Capitol Hill Thursday. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

But many tea partiers attending a small rally Thursday across the street from the U.S. Capitol showed little patience with the idea of negotiating with Democrats, who have offered to cut $33 billion from discretionary spending for the rest of fiscal 2011, well below the $61 billion in spending cuts the Republican controlled House passed last month. If Democrats don’t offer more cuts, many said, so be it.

“I say shut it down,” said Rep. Mike Pence (R., Ind.), as the crowd launched into a chant of “cut it or shut it.” “Nobody wants a government shutdown, but if we don’t take a stand we’re going to shutdown the future for our children and grandchildren.”

The current stopgap spending package for the government runs out April 8.

Conservative activists and lawmakers who addressed the rally said Democrats are trying to blame the tea party for stalling negotiations. Democrats say they’ve already met Republicans half way, and they say the GOP, which controls the House but not the Senate, is acting stubborn.

The event, hosted by the Tea Party Patriots, attracted fewer than 200, unlike the thousands that have descended on Washington for similar events over the past year. Despite a cold drizzle that likely damped participation, one man showed up in a Captain America costume carrying a giant American flag. Others waved “Don’t Tread on Me” flags—a staple at tea party rallies.

more...

[opihimoimoi]

24. FEWER Than 200...Omg

[vaberella]

32. The other ones probably got jobs. n/t

[leftynyc]

17. Tens of thousands

showed up for the Washington National's opening day and they had the same weather.

[JuniperLea]

21. TeaBaggers are such delicate flowers!

They need to learn the art of follow through... when you tout something as a "come to Jesus" moment, you better follow through!

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

22. LOL!! The saddest thing about this for the Teabaggers? The Nats and the Braves

are the two WORST teams in the National League East!! :)

[leftynyc]

35. LOL - that's true

And thankfully, I'm a Met fan.

[66 dmhlt]

16. Hundreds of thousands? Nah ... more like ONES of TENS!

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

19. LOL!! I work in D.C. right near the Mall. I saw NO ONE there!

To be fair, it's very cold and rainy.

[nmbluesky]

25. Fox News said blame Weather

not show up for tea party rally

what the goof.
blame weather? mean blame to God?

[Ghost of Tom Joad]

38. Weather did not stop thousands from

going to Madison. Didn't it snow there as well?

[jenmito]

33. Kick. Lawrence O'Donnell is going to do a segment on the size of the "rally" coming up! n/t

[Peacetrain]

37. Oh shoot I missed him last night..

[FrenchieCat]

34. A handful showed up....in terms of the normal size of rallies,

and they still got as much press as Wisconsin's gathering! Now that's what I call
Propaganda!

[Peacetrain]

36. That is the truth..Big Union rallies in other states did not even make a blip