Palin Headlines Boston Tea Party Minus Scott Brown (Videos)

Palin Urges Less Gov't, Lower Taxes @ Boston Common Tea Party Rally


Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin criticized the Obama administration and the Democratic-led Congress today at a Tea Party rally on Boston Common, saying the government had been on a "spending spree" and warning of future tax increases.

"Americans now spend 100 days out of the year working for government before we even start working for ourselves," she said. "It is time to remind [elected officials] that government should be working for us, we should not have to work for the government. That's why there are more and more patriots every day standing up and speaking out."

"We believe in expanding freedom and opportunity for all, not the intrusive reach of government into our lives and businesses," she said.

Palin's 22-minute speech was the highlight of the rally at the public park in the center of the city. The event also included stirring patriotic music, tributes to the military, and digs by other speakers at prominent Democrats, including President Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and US Representative Barney Frank.

Several thousand people appeared to be in attendance. The Boston police do not make crowd estimates. Organizers said earlier this week they expected at least 3,000 people from across New England.

"Massachusetts is a blue-collar, working-stiff state, and we're reclaiming it for America," Mark Williams, chairman of the Tea Party Express, which organized the rally, told the crowd earlier in the rally.

"We the people are making it happen, and in November, we are going to vote the bums out," said Amy Kremer, another Tea Party Express official, who urged the crowd to get involved by electing conservatives to public office.

The rally in the city where the original Tea Party was held began shortly after 10 a.m.

Among those watching and listening to Palin was Carla Morey, 54, of Milton, who wore a sticker on her jacket advertising her support for Massachusetts Republican gubernatorial candidate Charles D. Baker, who did not attend the rally.

"She is a true American,'' Morey said. "She has the ability to instill pride, passion and conservative principles.''

An unenrolled voter, Morey said she had donated to the Tea Party organization. "I felt that finally there was somewhere that I could have a voice,'' she said.

She added that as she listened to Palin's talk, she felt one emotion. "I felt happy,'' the retiree said. "I live in a very blue state. I want to turn it red, or at least, purple.''

Before the event, which was held on a crisp, sunny spring morning, a brass band played "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," and plenty of American flags flew, as well as the early American flag that depicts a rattlesnake on a yellow background with the words, "Don't Tread on Me." The latter were on sale in varying sizes, for $2 to $20.

One woman held a sign, reading, "I am not 'the angry mob.' I am an angry, tax-bled, 'hockey mom.' No matter what I write … I will still be called a 'racist, Nazi, teabagger.'"

A counterdemonstrator carrying a sign that read, "Dump Palin in the harbor," was surrounded by a group of Tea Party supporters and asked to leave. He complied.

One of the Tea Partiers walked away, saying, "See that? How's that for coercion?"

John Killion, a US Postal Service worker from South Boston, one of the other Tea Partiers in the group, said he thought the counterdemonstrator "was in pretty poor taste. Their space is never invaded."

"The best policy is just to surround him, smoke him out, and don't say anything," said Killion, referring to a fellow Tea Partier who had been blowing smoke in the counterdemonstrator's face.

Killion said it was his first Tea Party event ever and he was looking forward to hearing Palin speak.

"She tells it like it is," he said.

Not all the discourse was so tense, however. Steve Hurley, a fund-raiser for a nonprofit, walked up to Tea Partier Harry Mentas after seeing the sign, "Vote to Impeach," held by Mentas.

Hurley, of Woburn, and Mentas, a computer programmer from Plymouth, talked about health care reform for several minutes, and the chat ended with a handshake.

"I disagree with you. I don't think you are a Nazi,'' Hurley told Mentas, who was accompanied by his two school-age children. "I think you are a decent, respectful human being.''

Mentas said critics "think we hate liberals and that it's visceral. But I just disagree with him on health reform.''

He added that the more dramatic confrontations likely do not involve actual Tea Party members. Mentas said those involved were "crashers. Those are people who want to make us look bad."

A number of others interviewed, apparently sensitive to criticisms of previous incidents attributed to Tea Party members, emphasized that the crowd was civil, respectful, and simply enthusiastic about the cause they were rallying behind.

Palin, the former governor of Alaska, was Senator John McCain's running mate in 2008. Despite her election loss and the questions raised about her qualifications to be president, she still has a devoted following among some conservatives.

The fervently antiestablishment Tea Party movement is a new force in American politics, whose future impact is still being debated. Members of the loosely organized group generally support fiscal conservatism and believe that the federal government has overstepped its bounds. The rallies organized by the Tea Party Express group are expected to conclude Thursday with a rally in Washington, D.C.

Boston is a Democratic stronghold, and Massachusetts is considered a liberal-leaning state, but the political establishment was shocked in January by the Senate special election victory of Republican Scott Brown, who benefited from the support of Tea Party followers.

Leading figures in the state Republican party have split on whether to join the rally with the group. Like Baker, Brown did not attend. But Christy Mihos, another GOP gubernatorial hopeful, will attend.

Independent Tim Cahill, another candidate for governor, circulated through the crowd, arriving about an hour after Palin's speech. "One reason I'm here is to find out more, to see who represents the Tea Party," he said.

He said some of those in the crowd might become his supporters if they responded to his message of support for the middle class.


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Sources: Boston Globe, Boston.com, Google Maps

Sarah Palin's Entire Searchlight Tea Party Rally Speech

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Sources: Fox News, Youtube, Google Maps

Scott Brown's Winning Strategy: He's A Regular "Joe"

Scott Brown Barnstorms Massachusetts


President Obama flew in Sunday for a last-minute campaign stop for beleaguered senatorial candidate Martha Coakley. In his speech, besides the usual exhortations to the party faithful, he managed to work in several snide references to her opponent's truck as a symbol of false populism. Coakley's opponent, Republican Scott Brown, was flabbergasted. "Unbelievable," he said. "The leader of the free world is talking about my truck."

The last 24 hours before polls opened in Massachusetts had a similar, is-this-really-happening, holy-crap-it's-really-happening kind of feel. As Brown cruised around the state—not always in his truck, but certainly alongside it—he encountered crowds that were undeniably more energetic, emotional, and populous than those that greeted Coakley, the one-time Democratic front-runner. Yes, some were bused in. Others drove on their own from out of state. But most were Massachusetts conservatives who felt like their votes mattered for the first time. The signs people waved echoed those of the tea parties—"I'm Not Obama's ATM," "The Scott Heard Round the World." But this time, they were looking for more than airtime on Fox.

"I can't sleep," said Paul Tusini of Boxford, who showed up at a rally for Brown in North Andover, a suburb north of Boston. "It's all can I think about." "The world is watching, not just the country," said Stephen F. Jackman, a bearded man wearing a red plaid jacket and waving a huge "Don't Tread on Me" flag.

Hundreds of people lined the town's Main Street Monday afternoon. Dozens more gathered that morning in front of TD Banknorth Garden in Boston, where Brown greeted Bruins fans as they passed. (The rallies were infectious even to people who don't follow politics. "Woo hoo! Go Brown!" cheered Chris Pires, a Brockton native who was selling Bruins hats. He later said he did not know Brown was a Republican.) Several hundred more showed up to his final pre-Election Day rally in his hometown of Wrentham.

These numbers could mean nothing. Or they could mean everything. For days, Massachusetts has been flying blind. Reliable polling is hard to come by, and the data we do have are ever-changing. (Although the smart money is on Brown.) Turnout is impossible to predict. And zeal is impossible to quantify. But the lack of information only heightens the excitement. It's like a basketball game in which the hoop is obscured and the score is hidden; you don't know until the end how many shots actually went in.

Which leaves the candidates no choice but to plug away. Brown is remarkably good at this, repeating his message like a mantra. He's Scott Brown. He drives a truck. It has 200,000 miles on it. (Actually, 201,084 at last glance.) He wants to change things in Washington. And he is shocked and disturbed, quite frankly, by the negative campaigning by Martha Coakley. Her suggestion that he supports denying emergency abortions to rape victims isn't just wrong, he says, it's borderline criminal. "There's negative campaigning," he told the Andover crowd. "Then there's being malicious. Then there's illegal." In a radio interview, he suggested he might consider legal action after the campaign was over. "All I have to say is, 'Shame on Martha!' " Brown said in Andover, prompting a chant.

Brown's supporters take their politics personally. In person, Coakley seems perfectly warm and down-to-earth. On the stump, she's slightly distant but still calm and reasonable. In the eyes of Brown supporters, she's hellspawn. "Vindictive," "cold," and "uninformed" were three of the kinder words Brown supporters had for her. Or, worse: "She has no star power," said Regina Schwarzenberg, who drove to Wrentham from Newport, R.I. "I've never seen a race like this, so malicious," said Michael Niederer, a student at Emerson College who supports Brown.

Aside from umbrage, Brown's second strongest weapon has been Coakley's gaffes, of which he makes sure supporters keep a running list. There's the time she thought Curt Schilling, the hero of the Red Sox's 2004 defeat of the Yankees in the American League Championship Series, was a Yankees fan. (Admittedly devastating.) Then there was that time she went to Washington to raise money from lobbyists. (Again, bad move.) Also, she doesn't think there are any terrorists left in Afghanistan. (OK, so she has a problem.)

But to be fair, the mudslinging on both sides has been fairly tame, by national standards. If the worst thing Coakley did was distort Brown's stance on abortion, he got off pretty easy. If Brown's worst sin was his failure to pay his staffers' health insurance, well, it could have been worse. If the worst gaffe either candidate made was a sports mix-up, not bad. Likewise, heads remained relatively cool: The closest thing to an act of violence I saw from either side was a burnt Coakley sign in Hyannis and a poster in Boston that read "If it's Brown, Flush it Down."

Still, exaggeration prevailed. Coakley isn't just the 60th vote on health care. She's a symbol of "tyranny." The Democrats don't just want to reform health care. They want government-run health care.

Brown, meanwhile, enjoys parallel deification. One sign referred to him as "Hottie McAwesome." "He crosses all ethnic and socioeconomic boundaries," said Suzanne Shroba, of North Attleboro. "I'm a physician, and my janitor is voting for Brown, too." "If he becomes senator, he's going to be president," a woman commented in Wrentham.

Other Bay State Republicans expect to benefit from his victory, too. Republican Marty Lamb, a Brown supporter who plans to run for the House this year against Rep. Jim McGovern, hopes to get a boost from Brown's momentum. Even out-of-state GOPers expect to ride the wave. "Right now, we're fourth and long," said Don Murphy, a staffer for a Republican who's running for Congress in true-blue Maryland. "If Brown wins, we're third and long, but our odds greatly improve."

Democrats may still be unable to conceive of a Republican victory in Massachusetts. But Republicans on the ground are having no trouble conceiving it. To many of them, it's already a reality.



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Sources: The Slate, MSNBC, Youtube, Google Maps