One of the (many) reasons I value Steve Benen is his ability to remain calm and temperate and clear-headed. He sums up the Tea Party's decline -- defined in terms of their recent gatherings.
House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-Ind.) specifically urged reporters not to "focus on the numbers" of people in attendance.
Why the shift in emphasis? Because so few people actually showed up yesterday.
And, of course, the well-advertised and funded Beck rally made a somewhat embarrassing showing. So when the second annual nine-one-two rally took place in Washington and failed to draw many people, it's fair to say that the Tea Party may be as post-peak as the oil bizness.
Benen draws on Talking Points Memo's report for a snapshot of the rally.
"For the most part, the day was gray, wet and overcast. Though the threat was there, serious precipitation never came. That's not how the several thousand tea partiers gathered in DC for the second 9/12 rally today would describe things, though -- according to them, a hard rain fell on President Obama and his socialist cronies.This was not the 9/12 rally of a year ago. The crowd was miniscule by comparison, with many tea partiers kept away from the nation's capital by competing 9/12 events in Sacramento and St. Louis, and many others not interested in shelling out for a return schlep to the city so soon after they packed the Lincoln Memorial for Glenn Beck's August 28 event."
After a while, the rally thing, the Tea Party thing, beomes part of the established order, nothing new. As the Tea Party is recognized as an off-shoot of Washington's establishment and the media, the angry placards start to feel heavy, the journey long and costly, and the bright cause tarnished. Benen points out:
Diminishing returns can be tricky. The first time Tea Partiers, Fox News, and lobbying organizations urged right-wing activists to come to Washington, a reasonable number of folks were willing to show up. The second time, the turnaround was less impressive. The third and fourth time, during the health care fight, was another drop off. By the eighth time, it's hard to know why anyone would even bother.
Meanwhile, the populist/labor/peace gathering scheduled for 10/2/10 is gathering steam (and aiming at 300,000+ in attendance). Of course, there will be head counts and disputes. Do we wait breathlessly to see what their score is before committing? Or do we just go and have a good time, feel some team spirit?
If you can't go, send 'em some money. If you can't afford to be an angel, you might consider (this is what I did) becoming a member of the co-sponsor of the rally, the NAACP, if you aren't a member already.
