A weekly news discussion and analysis podcast
Hartford Tax Day Tea Party 2011
On Friday April 15, 2011 Brian visited the Hartford Tax Day Tea Party rally during his lunch break to get a feel for the Tea Party movement in Connecticut. In the below photos, you will see plenty of Gadsden flags and other typical symbols of the Tea Party. There were, of course, plenty of vendors selling Tea Party-themed memorabilia, looking to cash in on the modest-sized rally.
Beyond the signs there were a variety of speakers. One speaker focused mostly on the value of the dollar, the Federal Reserve, and the New World Order global currency conspiracy. This speaker also attacked, what he called the ‘false left-right paradigm.’ Another speaker parroted Michelle Bachmann, reading a canned letter she sent out to tax day rallies across the country. The mention of her name was met with ravenous applause. With the exception of one speaker, the general message was restricted to seeming Republican talking points, and anti-Obama/Democrat talking points.
What was absent from this rally, were overtones of racism or militaristic rhetoric. These, of course, being routinely trumpeted talking points of left-leaning, anti-Tea Party commentators. However, the crowd was far from diverse. The participants in the rally were almost exclusively white, and overwhelmingly middle-aged and older. This seems to be the demographic that is energized by the now Republican-co-opted Tea Party.
| Print article | This entry was posted by GNR on April 17, 2011 at 1:24 PM, and is filed under News. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |
about 12 months ago
I was at the rally in Hartford and was saddened by most of the speakers had to say, mainly that Republicans = Good, Democrats = Bad, like the Tea Parties of the past 2 years shouting cliche slogans such as “it’s not your money” and “Taxed Enough Already” and so on. The expressions on the faces in the crowds seemed very vacant, as sharply dressed political hopefuls worked through the human maze passing out flyers and making their pitches. The Tea Party Patriots had a lot of action at their table and they seemed pretty well organized. Again, quite mainstream from the Tea Party I knew when the Ron Paul Revolution was gaining a lot of traction among many people in the 20 to about 45 age group and as you stated correctly, most were middle-age or older, less idealistic and more worried about getting there taxes raised than in changing the current crop of suits in the District of Criminals. Older folks are more likely to vote and those at the rally I’m quite sure are going to vote in another crop of slick-talking connivers. I’m quite sure the next-gen voters will be a tad more radical given the protracted recession and the tight job market. At least I hope they’ll not be radicalizing others in long food lines at Walmart after the crash.