Yesterday’s tea party meeting was smaller than most, not only because of the poor people having a fedora wearing blogger unleashed upon them but also because of a debate between candidates Jen Benson and Kurt Hayes for state rep.
When all the speakers were done a very unexpected guest showed up:
She spoke for several minutes about the tea party, unlike many pols republican and democrats he seems enthused by it
After he was done there was back and forth from the crowd:
The crowd was very taken by his appearance and he left with a souvenir of the evening.
A Twin City Tea Party Shirt for the Mayor
The Mayor seemed to grasp that the tea party was not a passing phase but the engagement of the citizens with their government. He seems to be way ahead of the curve here.
This is the last meeting before the election, it remains to be seen if the November meeting will be one of celebration or re-evaluation.
For all of those hundreds of faculty and administration who were e-mailed about the appearance and for all their students in history or government classes who were either uninterested or uninformed about a congressional candidate taking questions on campus here is some photos/video:
One of two stand out locations
Supporters stood out for Bill
Heading for the hall
They engaged students nearby
The Ex Mayor before the event
The ex mayor of Fitchburg arranged the hall, strangely enough I recall the lights being on and the bus for my kid being free when he was mayor.
State Sen candidate Neal Heeren showed up
Candidate Neal Heeren showed up as well
It would be untrue to say there were no students there except the one setting up the mike, there was a student there, unfortunately she didn’t go to Fitchburg state:
My camera had a write error so the first 20 minutes of Bill’s speech was lost, he talked about accountability and told a story of a person who although a voter who lives in the first district was told by Olver that she “wasn’t a constituent” when he found out she disagreed with him on issues.
The remainder of the speech comes in 4 parts
When the camera card filled I switched cards as quickly as possible
I found it really strange that an Audio visual department didn’t film this
When Bill was done he invited Neal Heeren to make his pitch:
He then took questions I show them individually:
I asked him about apathy:
Most answers were quick:
His answer on regulation was long, detailed and informed:
Nobody asked him about the war, (he wants the troops home, I disagree with him on this one) likely if the college kids were there he would have been asked. When everything was done I went back to Megan and asked her what she thought:
If the turnout among youth voters is an indication of the “Obama excitement” then democrats, be afraid, be very afraid.
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