While Thursday's rally ran fairly smoothly, a stir was caused when two such infiltrators - Harold Saive and Bob Tuskin, who described himself as a University of Florida student and talk radio host - walked through the crowd several times carrying signs declaring that the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks were organized by the White House.
When an argument between Saive, Tuskin and a few crowd members started to grow heated, two Gainesville police officers showed up. Saive and Tuskin were not asked to leave the plaza. "This is basically a First Amendment thing," Saive said.
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GAINESVILLE SUN
Hundreds attend Tea Party event; rally smaller this year
By Christopher Curry - Staff writer - April 16, 2010
Gainesville's second annual Tax Day Tea Party event was not as large a bash as the one last year, but hundreds still turned out to rally against government spending that they feel has grown out of control.
SOURCE: http://www.gainesville.com/article/20100415/articles/100419586
In 2009, the crowd at the downtown Gainesville rally was estimated at approximately 1,000. Thursday's crowd at the Bo Diddley Community Plaza downtown appeared to be in the range of 300.
Patriotic country music filled the air. American flags and replicas of the American Revolution-era flag featuring a coiled rattlesnake against a yellow background and the message "Don't Tread on Me" flapped in the breeze.
The crowd carried signs with messages such as "Vote All The Socialist Bums Out" and "Party Like It's 1773" - the year of the Boston Tea Party.
Sitting under the shade of a tree toward the back of the plaza, Bill Tutt, 75, a retired electrical engineer who lives in the Gainesville area, needed only a few words to describe why he joined the Tea Party movement.
"It (government) is too big," Tutt said.
Tutt, a registered Republican who identifies himself more as a Libertarian, said he's not against government. But he feels the federal government has grown to mammoth proportions and he favors a more decentralized government with more power for the states.
Tutt said he'd like to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts and the U.S. Department of Education, saying public education should be left to the states.
Gainesville Tea Party President Karianne Wilkins 32, a speech pathologist from the Jonesville area, also described herself as a registered Republican who now identifies more with Libertarian ideals. She said the Tea Party movement wants to promote fiscal responsibility, limited government and the open market.
"We want the government to reduce the debt, balance the budget and be willing to cut spending," Wilkins said, "because we're already going bankrupt, and I want a future for my children. I don't want them to work just to support the government."
Nationwide, the Tea Party movement grew out of opposition to the $700 billion Trouble Asset Relief Program of 2008 (the bank bailout); the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the stimulus package); and the heated debate over the recently adopted health care reform legislation.
While some have attempted to malign the movement as on the fringe, Tea Party support carried Republican Scott Brown to victory in the special election to fill Ted Kennedy's old U.S. Senate seat in the Democratic stronghold of Massachusetts.
Locally, the Tea Party support almost propelled Don Marsh to victory in the Gainesville mayor's race against Craig Lowe - a Democratic incumbent city commissioner in a largely Democratic city. Because Lowe won by less than one-half of a percent, a recount is scheduled for today.
Marsh, who spoke briefly Thursday, argued that Lowe supporters attempted to use that Tea Party support against him on the campaign trail but it backfired.
"They thought that was something to slander me with," Marsh said. "He's a tea partier."
Local conservative talk radio show host Jake Fuller said Marsh's strong showing should be seen as "the opening shot heard round the city" and that incumbent city commissioners should be the next target.
University of South Florida political science professor Susan MacManus said, across the country, Democratic and Republican incumbents alike should be "very nervous" about the Tea Party movement in upcoming elections.
"It's a very powerful movement," MacManus said. "It's an anger at government for not meeting their immediate needs, which are jobs and keeping their homes. It's a classic case of what happens when people think government is out of sync with pocketbook issues."
Before the rally, a message on the Gainesville Tea Party Web site warned of "infiltrators" who might show up at the event and try to pose as Tea Party members to portray the movement in a negative light.
While Thursday's rally ran fairly smoothly, a stir was caused when two such infiltrators - Harold Saive and Bob Tuskin, who described himself as a University of Florida student and talk radio host - walked through the crowd several times carrying signs declaring that the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks were organized by the White House.
When an argument between Saive, Tuskin and a few crowd members started to grow heated, two Gainesville police officers showed up. Saive and Tuskin were not asked to leave the plaza.
"This is basically a First Amendment thing," Saive said.
Contact Christopher Curry at 374-5088 or chris.curry@gvillesun.com.
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20100415/articles/100419586
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