Thanks to two wonderful tea party volunteers, we were able to capture the entire footage of the healthcare townhall last night. Darin from RebootCongress and Michelle from A Traditional Life Lived have full coverage. Michelle was livestreaming the event, and Darin was shooting video of the speakers.
Neither of these people have ever been paid a dime to help out. Neither of them have ever received talking points, or secret handshakes, or any of the other laughable conspiracy theories of leftwing blogs (and far too many "reporters").
What was amazing about last night was the lineup of speakers. You couldn't arrange a group as knowledgeable and as powerful as what was shown last night. These were real people with real stories, standing forward to tell their Senator of their concerns. Compare this to the livestream of Carnahan's townhall, where various lobbyists and organized special interests stood up with scripted speeches.
This event was organized on the fly. Though email, blogs, twitter, and Facebook, a large number of average citizens simply stood up and demanded to be heard. The Tea Party Organizers were not instrumental in bringing out these folks. They were involved, but they certainly weren't the driving force. Carl Bearden from AFP arranged the affair with McCaskill's office, but he had no control over who chose to speak, who came, and who watched online.
This is what real grassroots looks like. I left last night more hopeful than I've ever been about the direction of our country. A spontaneous meeting organized on the fly drew a crowd ten times larger than an organized opposition. On the left, MoveOn, DailyKos, and ShowMeProgress tried to bring in large numbers to tilt the balance. They failed, miserably. Most of the progressives there were young folks coming to protest cap and trade (they got bad information from Kos and ShowMeProgress). I have some video below showing with teeshirts, printed signs, and that earnest do-gooder look that works only as long as your parents are footing the bill.
I was asked by Jo Mannies, who does a good job laying out the facts of last night, if we thought we were having an impact. I'd say the simple fact that we had the event proves we were effective. And the fact that McCaskill's office had to reach out to supporters to convince them to show up so she wouldn't be booed too loudly, is proof we were making a difference. How do I know that? Why, I carried chairs downstairs for two of those McCaskill supporters, who were personally asked to attend.
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