Mass Strike Simmering Over the Weekend

September 22, 2009 (LPAC)—On Friday, Sept. 18, Nancy Pelosi was greeted by a rowdy demonstration, when she came to northwest Houston suburb of Cypress, to speak at North Cypress Medical Center. About 250 protesters lined the streets, and, although "The Snake" Pelosi was secreted in through a different entrance, everyone was happy to have "gotten the word out." The rally was organized by "Thelma," of the Tea Party-connected "We, the People are the 9-12 Association." Word circulated on their "meetup.com" website, a message board where members can post various organizing ideas.

On Saturday, an estimated 8,000-10,000 people came out for a rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Billed as the "Tea Party on Constitution Day," [sic] it featured national blogger Michelle Malkin, along with local speakers. Event organizer Mark Block of Americans for Prosperity, claims to have 40,000 members just in that state alone. One demonstrator held a sign which read "Granny is not shovel-ready." Local sheriff David Clarke, told the press, that Jimmy Carter's "racist" comments were, "way off base." Also in Wisconsin, long-time Republican Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner held several events over the weekend, with one in in West Bend (home of the cookware manufacturer), which drew an estimated 150 people.

An estimated 500 people gathered at the Civic Center in (extremely) rural Amarillo, Texas, at a meeting sponsored by Republican Rep. Max Thornberry. Thornberry told the local press that, while he's hosted "thousands" of town hall meetings, the turnout Saturday was probably the biggest he'd ever seen. The meeting was described as "civil," although there were a few speakers who were "booed" by the crowd. Thornberry told the press, "People are involved in all sorts of things because I think they're worried." He countered Nancy Pelosi's crass comments about the crowds, saying, "It's not some fringe element. She may not want to face that fact, but I think it's the truth. I think this is a wide swath of people across the country. When you read the e-mails, read the letters, it's from all sorts of people."

John McCain held a meeting outside Tuscon, Arizona on Saturday. While no estimate of the crowd size could be found, a local blogger gave a detailed description of the event. "McCain said that six months ago he would have said that reform was going to pass, like it or not. But he has never seen a movement like we saw this summer, which he called a 'quiet revolution,' so that now he thinks 'we can defeat it.'" The blogger noted that the MoveOn representatives "could use some public speaking training."