'Tea Party Express' stop in Phoenix draws crowd

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by Parker Leavitt - Mar. 28, 2010 06:18 PM
The Arizona Republic

The "Tea Party Express" was greeted by about 1,200 to 1,500 supporters as it rolled into Phoenix on Sunday, the third stop on a three-week, cross-country tour that ends in Washington, D.C., on April 15.

Activists from across Arizona and from as far as Seattle gathered at the Arizona State Capitol complex to sing, chant and voice their distaste of taxes, health-care reform and big government.

"This is the silent majority that is silent no more," said 54-year-old Jan Manas, who brought his family from Kingman. "For the last two decades, we've sat quietly and watched the government expand and erode our liberties."

Manas, a former Democrat, said he became a Republican during the Reagan years because he objected to "new insidious taxes" from the federal government.

"I can't think of anything specific tax-wise; it just increases incrementally," he said. "A few cents here and there, that's how it's been chipped away."

The message of smaller government and lower taxes echoed the tea-party protesters' message on Saturday in Searchlight, Nev., where the Tea Party Express launched its national tour.

But the Phoenix rally also addressed issues specific to the border state.

Joe the Plumber, whose real name is Samuel Joe Wurzelbacher, of Ohio criticized liberals for what he called lax enforcement of border security.

His solution? "Put a fence in, start shooting," Wurzelbacher said.

The plumber also said the federal government made a mockery of the military by choosing to "coddle terrorists."

"Line up every last terrorist and I'll torture them myself," he said. "And I'm not just talking."

Photos from the protest

U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Hayworth, who is challenging U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told protesters that a rancher in southern Arizona had just been found shot to death on his property near the Mexican border.

While admitting that "we do not know who perpetrated this attack," Hayworth strongly suggested "illegal aliens" were to blame.

The federal government failed to protect that rancher, who was "one of the good guys," Hayworth said.

Tea-party activists often bristle when described as an "angry mob" or as being "on the fringe." But Levi Russell, communications director for Our Country Deserves Better political-action committee, said he could see how such statements could lead to that sort of perception.

But the core principle of the movement is simply "reducing the intrusion of government in private lives," Russell said.

During the last two months, the Sacramento-based political-action committee has added 50,000 members and is approaching 400,000 members total, Russell said.

The rally in Phoenix with 1,200 to 1,500 participants was the lowest attended of the first three Tea Party Express stops, Russell said. At least 8,000 people were at the kickoff event in Searchlight, Nev., and about 5,000 people attended the protest in Henderson, Nev., organizers said.

The Tea Party Express plans to stop in 39 more cities, including Salt Lake City, St. Louis, Mo., and Boston.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... y0329.html