Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan is camped outside President Obama's vacation spot in Martha's Vineyard. You may remember her. She was a favorite of the press when pestering President Bush during his summer retreats at his Texas home. Charlie Gibson, ABC News, who loved her then, is not returning her calls now.
Sheehan may be ignored but it is hard to ignore protestors when they turnout in the millions. Protesters opposed to President Obama's agenda have been on the streets since February. The accumulation of reports from around the country show that more than 2 million people have rallied against the president's massive spending, and the massive debt it generates. That was before the health care issue hit the fan. More have joined the earlier protesters to stop a Federal take-over of the health care industry, dwarfing those earlier rallies.
The protests began here in Washington's bluest city. The spark that ignited the blaze is a 20-something woman whose first step into politics was joining McCain supporters in Magnolia to watch the GOP convention.
She is Keli Carender who blogs at Redistributing Knowledge under the nom d'guerre, Liberty Belle. She sports bachelor degrees in biology and math and has a minor in chemistry and, along the way, has lived in four other countries. She received her post-graduate certificate of education at the University of Oxford. Just as the tea parties she inspired refer to our revolution, so does the Seattle Sons and Daughters of Liberty, another of her activities. When not working to secure our liberties, she teaches adult basic math to the disadvantaged and regularly appears with a comedy troupe at Jet City Improv.
In February, when President Obama's stimulus bill was up for a vote and her letters to our congressional delegation ignored, Kari decided it was time for action. She obtained a permit to hold a rally in Westlake Mall and then set to work to see if she could get anyone to show up. She filled the mall but the press here, like the press corps in the other Washington, ignored that too. And they ignored it when she again filled Westlake Mall two months later on tax day. Since then she has another dozen rallies on her resume.
When news of Kari's initial rally spread via the Internet, it inspired others and is today the Tea Party movement. President Obama's supporters in the press corps are just waking to the protests. They are flummoxed. They assumed the Republican Party is behind it all. The GOP leadership could only wish it had the ability to organize such a movement. Perhaps they are puzzled because the protesters are not at all like those the Democrats rally for their causes. There are no signs fresh from the printers or brand-new T-shirts sporting the initials of the co-opted organizations that turn out their members on command.
Is it having an effect? Respected political analyst Charlie Cook says yes. He comments that "the situation this summer has slipped completely out of control for President Obama and Congressional Democrats." He adds that his analysis "is pointing toward a net Democratic loss of between six and 12 seats, but our sense, factoring in macro-political dynamics is that this is far too low." Polls show the Democrats' Senate leader, Harry Reid, running 10 points and more behind possible challengers.
Whatever the outcome in November of next year, Keli will not be one of those wishing she had done something. If the Democrats' commanding Congressional majority is burned down, Kari can take satisfaction in striking the first spark.[[In-content Ad]]
