Sarah Palin told thousands of conservative tea party activists
assembled in the Nevada desert Saturday that they "fire" Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid and other Democrats from Congress in the upcoming
national election.
The wind whipped U.S. flags behind the former Alaska governor as she
stood on a makeshift stage, holding a microphone and her notes as she
spoke to the cheering crowd in Reid's hometown. She told them Reid,
fighting for re-election, is "gambling away our future."
"Someone needs to tell him, this is not a crapshoot," Palin said.
About 7,000 people streamed into tiny Searchlight, a former mining
town 60 miles (100 kilometres) south of Las Vegas, bringing American
flags, "Don't Tread on Me" signs and outspoken anger toward Reid,
President Barack Obama and the health care overhaul.
Palin told them the big-government, big-debt spending spree of the
Senate majority leader, Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is over.
"You're fired!" Palin said.
A string of polls has shown Reid is vulnerable in politically
moderate Nevada after pushing Obama's agenda in Congress. His standing
has also been hurt by Nevada's double-digit unemployment and record
foreclosure and bankruptcy rates.
The Searchlight native responded with sarcasm to the large crowd
gathered in the hardscrabble town of about 1,000 he grew up in.
"I'm happy so many people came to see my hometown of Searchlight and
spend their out-of-state money, especially in these tough economic
times," Reid said Saturday in a statement released through his Senate
campaign. "This election will be decided by Nevadans, not people from
other states who parachuted in for one day to have a tea party."
Traffic on a highway leading into the town was backed up more than 2
miles (3 kilometres) Saturday afternoon as people gathered for the
rally, which kicks off a 42-city bus tour that ends in Washington on
April 15, the deadline for filing federal tax returns.
The tea party movement is a far-flung coalition of conservative
groups angered by Washington spending, rising taxes and the growth and
reach of government. It takes its name from the Boston Tea Party in
1773, when colonists dumped tea off English ships to protest what they
considered unfair taxation by the British crown.
Cars and recreational vehicles filled the dusty area where the rally
was held, as people set up lawn chairs and braced against the stiff wind
whipping up dust clouds and blowing dozens of flags straight out.
The rally took place just days after Obama signed into law the
historic health care reform bill approved by Congress that ushered in
near-universal medical coverage but left the nation deeply divided. The
vote was followed by reports of threats and vandalism aimed at some
Washington lawmakers, mostly Democrats who supported the new law.
Palin, the 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee, appeared after
spending Friday and Saturday morning campaigning for Sen. John McCain,
the Arizona Republican who led the 2008 ticket. McCain is seeking
re-election but faces a Republican primary challenge from the right by
former congressman and radio talk show host JD Hayworth.
Now a Fox News analyst and potential 2012 presidential candidate,
Palin faced criticism after posting a map on her Facebook page that had
circles and cross hairs over 20 Democratic districts. She also sent a
tweet saying, "Don't Retreat, Instead - RELOAD!"
She said Saturday she wasn't inciting violence, just trying to
inspire people to get involved.
"We're not going to sit down and shut up. Thank you for standing up,"
Palin said.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department sent dozens of uniformed and
plainclothes officers to patrol the crowd. Officer Jay Rivera said
there was a report of a fistfight in the morning, but when police
responded, they found nothing. He said there had been no arrests.
"So far it's nice and peaceful," Rivera said.
Some people milling around at the rally wore old-fashioned costumes
and carried drums, lending to a festival-like atmosphere. Organizers had
said up to 10,000 people might come; around 1 p.m., police estimated
the crowd was about 7,000.
Leonard Grimes, a 70-year-old retired logger, said the U.S. is
drifting toward socialism, and he's not convinced Obama is eligible to
be president.
"I'd like him to prove he's an American citizen," said Grimes, a
registered independent who is originally from Michigan but now lives in
Golden Valley, Arizona.
He called the health care bill "a joke, just another way to enslave
the American public."
Ketha Verzani, 60, said she came to the rally from her home in Las
Vegas "to stand with those who want to clean house."
The Republican opposes the health care bill and worries Americans are
losing their rights, including parental rights and gun rights.
"It seems like every day more and more of our rights are being taken
away," Verzani said, sporting a Palin 2012 button to show support for
the former Alaska governor who "doesn't beat around the bush."
Reid supporters set up a hospitality tent Saturday in the parking lot
of a Searchlight casino, about a mile (1.6 kilometres) from the tea
party rally. The Senate leader planned to spend part of the day at a new
shooting range in Las Vegas with National Rifle Association Executive
Vice-President Wayne LaPierre.
Luis Salvador, 55, an unemployed fire sprinkler fitter, drove down
from Las Vegas to support Reid, who he said has done a lot for the state
and doesn't deserve the protest brought to his hometown.
"You don't come to a man's house and start creating a ruckus," said
Salvador, a registered independent. He and several others taped signs
saying "Nevada Needs Harry Reid" to the side of a truck near the highway
that runs through town.
Another Reid supporter, Judy Hill, 62, said she doesn't understand
the hatred of Reid. The longtime Democrat from Searchlight, a town of
about 1,000, said she thinks people just don't know the man she calls a
friend.
"They listen to the rhetoric. I think he's very misunderstood and
under-appreciated," she said.
David Mikael Taclino
Inyu Web Development and Design
Creative Writer
