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View Full Version : My INCREDIBLE experience at the Glenn Beck Rally




libertybrewcity
08-28-2010, 03:58 PM
Late last night around 2am I decided I wanted to go to the rally. I woke up, took the bus to the metro station. The two lines going to the ticket machines stretched about 2-3 blocks each. That was around 10am when the rally started! It began moving swiftly as the workers decided to let everyone in for free. The subways were packed. No one was able to move anywhere and the temperatures inside and out were around 85-90 degrees and humid.

Finally arriving near the Lincoln Memorial I biked up to a CVS and bought a large white poster and sharpie.

Making my way over to the Lincoln Memorial the first site and sound was a small group of socialists singing some song about "workers of the world uniting". HA. About 20 yards after that I found a group of kids handing out libetarian literature and bumper stickers!

The Memorial was packed to the brim. Someone was saying CSPAN said there was over 1 million people. I wouldn't even know how to estimate, but I would say there was anywhere from 300k to 600k people.

After making an easy decision to not torture myself by listening to Beck and Palin, I decided to post up under a tree along a major entrance and exist route (23rd street). Easily tens of thousands of people crossed this path over the course of a few hours. I made a nice sign that said "RON PAUL 2012" and sat down for about 4 or 5 hours.

I am telling you, people LOVE Ron Paul. It seemed like every other person was giving me the thumbs up and saying go Ron Paul, or go Rand Paul. Many, many, many people knew who he was, and many told me they voted for him and/or WILL vote for him in 2012 if he runs. It was an amazing experience. Young people, old people, men, women, some people just running and biking not even apart of the rally, black, hispanic, white, families, even children people told me they adored him as a conservative and consistent congressman. I had person after person come up to me to shake my hand and tell me to stay strong and thanked me for helping to spread the message.

Even more people told me they backed Rand Paul. Some were saying how they want Rand to run for president once he gets some Senate experience.

Hardly anyone was negative. I had only three people say they supported Palin, but two of the three said they want to see a Palin/Ron ticket or a Ron/Palin ticket. A few people said they didn't want Ron to split the vote. Only about two people said that Ron should "start supporting the military" or that he was anti-American. Only one complained about his stance on the mosque.

The good news is people are very very open to Ron and his message of liberty. However, a lot of people are not knowledgeable on where he stands on some issues. Listening to people pass by, they thought Ron Paul was a libertarian that was pro-choice and supported amnesty. I tried to clarify his position to as many people as possible.

The only thing that bothered me apart from Beck speaking was the evangelicals. There was a black lady who was yelling at another man for supporting Obama. I thought, hell yeah, the Tea Party is in fact quite diverse. Well..it turns out after she was interviewed by some Christian/Theocrat station that she was just spewing Christian garbage. Now, I am Christian myself but these people are literally nuts. I am sure you know what I am talking about. If I can find the clips I'll definitely post it.

Anyways, I am definitely down to go again and do it better next time. I have my plan. There were also Gary Johnson supporters there handing out literature. I'm still for Ron Paul though:)

low preference guy
08-28-2010, 04:03 PM
great news. thanks for the report.

CaseyJones
08-28-2010, 04:09 PM
you Sir are a steely eyed missile man ,good job!

Matt Collins
08-28-2010, 04:12 PM
I was hoping for a coordinated effort on the part of the CFL to pass out CFL slim-jims in order to recruit and boost numbers.

But I am glad you went out there, thanks for your efforts. The more impressions we can get of Ron Paul's name in front of people the easier than 2011/2012 will be.

speciallyblend
08-28-2010, 04:15 PM
Late last night around 2am I decided I wanted to go to the rally. I woke up, took the bus to the metro station. The two lines going to the ticket machines stretched about 2-3 blocks each. That was around 10am when the rally started! It began moving swiftly as the workers decided to let everyone in for free. The subways were packed. No one was able to move anywhere and the temperatures inside and out were around 85-90 degrees and humid.

Finally arriving near the Lincoln Memorial I biked up to a CVS and bought a large white poster and sharpie.

Making my way over to the Lincoln Memorial the first site and sound was a small group of socialists singing some song about "workers of the world uniting". HA. About 20 yards after that I found a group of kids handing out libetarian literature and bumper stickers!

The Memorial was packed to the brim. Someone was saying CSPAN said there was over 1 million people. I wouldn't even know how to estimate, but I would say there was anywhere from 300k to 600k people.

After making an easy decision to not torture myself by listening to Beck and Palin, I decided to post up under a tree along a major entrance and exist route (23rd street). Easily tens of thousands of people crossed this path over the course of a few hours. I made a nice sign that said "RON PAUL 2012" and sat down for about 4 or 5 hours.

I am telling you, people LOVE Ron Paul. It seemed like every other person was giving me the thumbs up and saying go Ron Paul, or go Rand Paul. Many, many, many people knew who he was, and many told me they voted for him and/or WILL vote for him in 2012 if he runs. It was an amazing experience. Young people, old people, men, women, some people just running and biking not even apart of the rally, black, hispanic, white, families, even children people told me they adored him as a conservative and consistent congressman. I had person after person come up to me to shake my hand and tell me to stay strong and thanked me for helping to spread the message.

Even more people told me they backed Rand Paul. Some were saying how they want Rand to run for president once he gets some Senate experience.

Hardly anyone was negative. I had only three people say they supported Palin, but two of the three said they want to see a Palin/Ron ticket or a Ron/Palin ticket. A few people said they didn't want Ron to split the vote. Only about two people said that Ron should "start supporting the military" or that he was anti-American. Only one complained about his stance on the mosque.

The good news is people are very very open to Ron and his message of liberty. However, a lot of people are not knowledgeable on where he stands on some issues. Listening to people pass by, they thought Ron Paul was a libertarian that was pro-choice and supported amnesty. I tried to clarify his position to as many people as possible.

The only thing that bothered me apart from Beck speaking was the evangelicals. There was a black lady who was yelling at another man for supporting Obama. I thought, hell yeah, the Tea Party is in fact quite diverse. Well..it turns out after she was interviewed by some Christian/Theocrat station that she was just spewing Christian garbage. Now, I am Christian myself but these people are literally nuts. I am sure you know what I am talking about. If I can find the clips I'll definitely post it.

Anyways, I am definitely down to go again and do it better next time. I have my plan. There were also Gary Johnson supporters there handing out literature. I'm still for Ron Paul though:)

woot woot, also don't forget to tell folks to register republican and become a delegate and get involved;)

thanks for update:)

Cowlesy
08-28-2010, 04:17 PM
you Sir are a steely eyed missile man ,good job!

Seconded!

Danke
08-28-2010, 04:28 PM
Didn't Bill O'Reilly say he would quit if Beck got over 100,000 to show up?

ronpaulhawaii
08-28-2010, 04:29 PM
Seconded!

+3

Stary Hickory
08-28-2010, 04:30 PM
You left right as I arrived. I only got to hear the last hour and a half with Glen Beck. YOu missed the Michelle Bachman tea party event though. Plenty opportunity to get the Ron Paul message out there too. Of course I can't chide anyone I just listened and kept to myself when I was there.

Matt Collins
08-28-2010, 04:34 PM
SHEESH!!
:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:


This guy pulls no punches:

[/URL][url]http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/64493.html (http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/64493.html)

angelatc
08-28-2010, 04:41 PM
SHEESH!!
:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:


This guy pulls no punches:

[/URL][url]http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/64493.html (http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/64493.html)

How many times are you going to post this?

BlackTerrel
08-28-2010, 04:51 PM
This is precisely how you do it. Simple but effective. Post up, hold a sign, engage in a friendly manner.

Pretty awesome write up. Thanks for posting.

Danke
08-28-2010, 04:52 PM
How many times are you going to post this?

Knowing Matt...

YouTube - Judge Napolitano on Iran War Rhetoric (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv9QiL2p0dk&feature=player_embedded)

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x93/sonicspikesalbum/bannerad2.gif

Fredom101
08-28-2010, 04:54 PM
Wait, there were women? Stopping at your RON PAUL sign? Amazing, amazing. ;)

MRoCkEd
08-28-2010, 04:58 PM
This is how its done! Great work!

Stary Hickory
08-28-2010, 05:04 PM
Moral of the story go to these events and wear identifying items. I wish I had a Schiff for Senate shirt or something. I don't feel comfortable wearing that stuff, but it would make a huge difference if people were there with Ron Paul shirts and the like.

It would help Ron Paul overall.

Mini-Me
08-28-2010, 05:04 PM
That's definitely more encouraging than I expected. :) Thanks for reporting back!

TNforPaul45
08-28-2010, 05:10 PM
I am ashamed at my lack of initiative and action to support the message of Liberty.

Well done!

angelatc
08-28-2010, 05:10 PM
We noticed the same thing at the TEA Party we attended last year. Two guys were there with an enormous Ron Paul sign, and the people wandering by were almost all saying positive things when they commented on it.

silentshout
08-28-2010, 06:40 PM
to the OP, great post, and very good news about the reception to Ron Paul. Sounds like what Beck was pushing and what people there were thinking were two different things, except for the really hardcore evangelicals? Makes me feel better about the whole thing, but still, what I have read about it and the clips I saw left a really bad taste in my mouth. :(

Bergie Bergeron
08-28-2010, 06:42 PM
You can't let that get to your head ! Join your local GOP and become a delegate NOW or... I'll destroy the universe.

Agorism
08-28-2010, 06:54 PM
How did that bum get 100K or whatever people. That gonna more than Paul ever got (or Huckster for that matter) or McCain.

libertybrewcity
08-28-2010, 07:29 PM
We noticed the same thing at the TEA Party we attended last year. Two guys were there with an enormous Ron Paul sign, and the people wandering by were almost all saying positive things when they commented on it.

Im definitely investing in a much larger, more professional looking sign!

BlackTerrel
08-28-2010, 08:30 PM
How did that bum get 100K or whatever people. That gonna more than Paul ever got (or Huckster for that matter) or McCain.

According to Wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most-listened-to_radio_programs

Talkers Magazine compiles Arbitron's data, along with other sources, to estimate the minimum weekly audiences of various commercial long-form talk radio shows.

* The Rush Limbaugh Show – 20+ million
* The Sean Hannity Show – 12+ million
* Glenn Beck Program – 10+ million
* The Savage Nation – 10+ million
* The Dr. Laura Program – 9+ million
* The Mark Levin Show – 6.25 million
* The Laura Ingraham Show – 6.25 million
* The Dave Ramsey Show – 6.25 million
* Neal Boortz – 4.25+ million

10 million daily listeners. Plus 3 million on TV. To get 100K he only needs to get 1% of his listeners to show up.

I've heard estimates from 50K to 1 million. Probably somewhere in the middle. Either way not really sure I see the point. You basically got a version of his show to an audience much smaller than his usual audience. Who benefits from that?

libertybrewcity
08-28-2010, 11:53 PM
Here is a great description/overview of the event by Reason.tv!
YouTube - What We Saw at the Glenn Beck Rally in DC (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CY5aFvRe2E&feature=player_embedded)

Austrian Econ Disciple
08-29-2010, 12:19 AM
Here is a great description/overview of the event by Reason.tv!
YouTube - What We Saw at the Glenn Beck Rally in DC (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CY5aFvRe2E&feature=player_embedded)

Woah Woah. Rothbard, Ron Paul, and Gillespie saying he is an Austrian Economist @ REASON! Hold the presses! :p That woman with the Rothbard shirt was awesome! (I have the same one myself)

TheTyke
08-29-2010, 12:23 AM
Great report, Libertybrewcity!!! That's exactly what we're experiencing here in KY!!! It's absolutely astounding.... the Tea Party is one of the biggest movements in history, and every one we've been to has been FERTILE ground for our ideas. The general public is catching the excitement - check out my report as well: Overwhelming Demand at Fair Causes Statewide Rand Paul Material Shortage (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=258778)

YumYum
08-29-2010, 01:18 AM
In the video, starting at 2:12, the man being interviewed makes the statement:

"Islam doesn't factor in....They're here to kill us. If you're a good Muslim, you'll kill Christians."

I don't see where this is an incredible experience.

sevin
08-29-2010, 01:55 AM
Beck appeals to people's emotions and not to their brains. People who prefer feeling to thinking like Glenn Beck and all his BS. Lew Rockwell has it right. Beck is drawing Ron Paul supporters and tea party people into the GOP establishment.

I mean, could it be any more obvious? Wake the fuck up, people!

DFF
08-29-2010, 02:24 AM
SHEESH!!
:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:


This guy pulls no punches:

[/URL][url]http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/64493.html (http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/64493.html)

Lew's spot-on as usual.

Cowlesy
08-29-2010, 06:06 AM
Here is a great description/overview of the event by Reason.tv!
YouTube - What We Saw at the Glenn Beck Rally in DC (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CY5aFvRe2E&feature=player_embedded)

Where was the Leather Jacket????

Good video by Nick and the Reason.tv. He got owned when he called that lady an African-American bwahahaha

Seraphim
08-29-2010, 06:34 AM
Where was the Leather Jacket????

Good video by Nick and the Reason.tv. He got owned when he called that lady an African-American bwahahaha

I think that was the point bro. He asked a question with the intent of getting that response. You could see him smiling and nodding his head as in saying THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME THE HONEST AND TRUE RESPONSE THAT IS NEEDED IN THIS COUNTRY TODAY.

Seraphim
08-29-2010, 06:50 AM
Knowing what is going on in the world today and the desperate (and so far, prevailing) attempt to destroy true freedom here, it makes me want to move to the USA. Canada has always been very similar to the USA in that regard but there is more socialist/mixed economy belief in Canada than in the USA. I think both countries are pillars of freedom in this world. But the USA is the Big Dog that has more capability to defend it (10 times more people).

Both of these countries are having the ingrained belief of freedom destroyed (economic freedom as well- they are intertwined). The attack is on America more though. Makes me want to move there and join the fight.

Per capita Canada is possibly the strongest country in the world. See WW2 for examples. But the USA is the center beam of freedom.

My mom has been a big believer in socialised health care (which we have) and I actually got her to say "Ya you are right, there should be an option to opt out of the public health care (and get a tax cut) and go private sector medicine"...I was like- holy shit, reason and logic DOES work when someone is listening- so it's not necessarily a losing battle. My mom is smarter than most so it will be more difficult to get people to see the inherent flaw of well, socialized anything- but it's not impossible.

Our Prime Minister- Stephen Harper, is actually very conservative and wants to start making public options available. The problem is that even saying that is considered political suicide in Canada. Now I'm not convinced Harper is all that great- large dominant party leaders around the world are bought and paid for, but he's been re-elected already so I think the idea of people being fiscally responsible for themselves and cutting spending is not that far off. Problem? Right now this recession has him ballooing the Federal deficit- classic Keysian shit. FUCK.

Anyway, I know this is an American board but our countries are intertwined and in all likelyhood we will be a North American Union soon, so learning about each other is a good idea. Working together to defend freedom and stopping the NAU will take a jointed effort. Ironic: joint effort to stop the consolidation of our countries. lol. It's not the joining I oppose per se, but the reasons behind it and how it's bad for us. Think NAFTA. Think EU.

rant over. PEACE

LibertyMage
08-29-2010, 07:07 AM
It's absolutely astounding.... the Tea Party is one of the biggest movements in history, and every one we've been to has been FERTILE ground for our ideas.

Annnnnnnd that is going in my signature.

nbruno322
08-29-2010, 07:10 AM
SHEESH!!
:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:


This guy pulls no punches:

[/URL][url]http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/64493.html (http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/64493.html)


That is what I like best about Lew!! And that he always refers to the state as "the regime" lol

Romulus
08-29-2010, 07:34 AM
To the OP - great report and GREAT way to represent!

Fredom101
08-29-2010, 08:24 AM
I watched the reason.tv video and it made me kind of sad. Beck literally has a whole lot of people brainwashed, and they will likely follow him off the cliff. It's funny at the end that lady with the Murray Rothbard t-shirt. I wonder if she even knows he was an anarchist?

Gin
08-29-2010, 10:19 AM
I was hoping for a coordinated effort on the part of the CFL to pass out CFL slim-jims in order to recruit and boost numbers.



Matt it seems that CFL is absent from many of these opportunities, which breaks my heart. I have backed off from C4L for this very reason. I believe that if National C4L would have jumped on the bandwagon with Freedoms works as I thought they would after CPAC '09, we might be better positioned. But it seems it has turned into more of a competition between National C4L and the Tea Party Movement. Unlike the local tea parties which many are Ron Paul supporters and C4Lers. THink about this.. last years 9-12 March and Rally had an estimated 1.2 Million people attend.. that is the same amount of people that voted for Ron Paul in 2008.. The movement is growing in leaps and bounds and would grow further if C4L would get onboard instead of push against the TeaParty. They are the reason Rand will likely win the Senate Seat in KY

I look forward to a RP2012 run and believe with all my heart that he can win this time around.. just as Reagan won his second time out

Gin
08-29-2010, 10:25 AM
Moral of the story go to these events and wear identifying items. I wish I had a Schiff for Senate shirt or something. I don't feel comfortable wearing that stuff, but it would make a huge difference if people were there with Ron Paul shirts and the like.

It would help Ron Paul overall.

Funny.. I had considered wearing my R3volution March shirt to the event, but ended up not wearing it... still wish I had.. If I go to the next event on 9-12 I will definately wear it as a reminder where this movement all started :)

Romulus
08-29-2010, 07:52 PM
Funny.. I had considered wearing my R3volution March shirt to the event, but ended up not wearing it... still wish I had.. If I go to the next event on 9-12 I will definately wear it as a reminder where this movement all started :)

It's all about advertising the message.. get people familiar with 2012 support and they'll show up.

libertybrewcity
09-15-2010, 10:01 PM
Sweeettt....I found a pic of me on LeftCoastRebel blog.

http://www.leftcoastrebel.com/2010/08/photos-aerial-pictures-of-glenn-beck.html

Travlyr
09-16-2010, 09:11 AM
Sweeettt....I found a pic of me on LeftCoastRebel blog.

http://www.leftcoastrebel.com/2010/08/photos-aerial-pictures-of-glenn-beck.html

Very cool! :cool: Nice job! I wish more people would read Ron's books. Ron Paul is an honest intelligent statesman... that's what sold me on him. ;)