Unlikely Activist Who Got to the Tea Party Early

NY Times ^ | 2/27/2010 | Kate Zernike

[Saije]

Keli Carender has a pierced nose, performs improv on weekends and lives here in a neighborhood with more Mexican grocers than coffeehouses. You might mistake her for the kind of young person whose vote powered President Obama to the White House. You probably would not think of her as a Tea Party type.

But leaders of the Tea Party movement credit her with being the first.

A year ago, frustrated that every time she called her senators to urge them to vote against the $787 billion stimulus bill their mailboxes were full, and tired of wearing out the ear of her Obama-voting fiancé, Ms. Carender decided to hold a protest against what she called the “porkulus.”

“I basically thought to myself: ‘I have two courses. I can give up, go home, crawl into bed and be really depressed and let it happen,’ ” she said this month while driving home from a protest at the Capitol in Olympia. “Or I can do something different, and I can find a new avenue to have my voice get out.”

This weekend, as Tea Party members observe the anniversary of the first mass protests nationwide, Ms. Carender’s path to activism offers a lens into how the movement has grown, taking many people who were not politically active — it is not uncommon to meet Tea Party advocates who say they have never voted — and turning them into a force that is rattling both parties as they look toward the midterm elections in the fall.

Ms. Carender’s first rally drew only 120 people. A week later, she had 300, and six weeks later, 1,200 people gathered for a Tax Day Tea Party. Last month, she was among about 60 Tea Party leaders flown to Washington to be trained in election activism by FreedomWorks...

[Saije]

Props to Carender but this may just be part of the effort to try and identify "leaders" of the movement so they can be later attacked and destroyed.

[eclecticEel]

Yep, she needs to watch out; they smear machine has their sights on her now.

[LucyJo]

Ms. Carender decided to hold a protest against what she called the “porkulus.”

"Porkulus"...hmmm...wonder where she heard that??? : )

[JudgemAll]

This government, from the Census questions to health care and what not, has a full lawyer instigated agenda of stalking and extorting the moneyed American people who make profits because, gosh, they make work cheaper as a form of incentive.

If there ever was a prehistory of things:

Obama_LAWYER_government = STALKERS, pre-rapists and pre-muderers.

[TigerBait]

Agree. She’ll be one of the ‘targeted leaders now.

Overall though for the NYT this is a rare balanced story:

1. Points out Tea Partiers aren’t all redneck, racists, old, etc. Here’s someone that traditionally would be voting Democrat;

2. Points out independence of the movement — anyone, regardless of party affiliation, not holding to Tea Party principles will be ‘fired’;

3. Gives the common sense “don’t spend money we don’t have” motivation to the movement; and

4. Shows it’s completely grassroots. These aren’t paid Republican operatives; they are concerned citizens making use of their rights in a participatory democracy.

This is one of the most balanced stories I’ve seen from the MSM of the Tea Party to date.

[Kimberly GG]

“Last month, she was among about 60 Tea Party leaders flown to Washington to be trained in election activism by FreedomWorks, the conservative advocacy organization led by Dick Armey, the former House Republican leader. “

gag me.....so much for grassroots...besides which...Dick Armey is a PRO-AMNESTY RHINO...I’d hate to think of him as a leader for CONSERVATIVE election activism.

[Cacique]

btt

[freeangel]

We are all leaders of the Tea Party movement as someone said yesterday. Just like a starfish—if one of the “arms” is lost, another will grow back in it’s place. Go ahead and try, rat face carville.

[Brugmansian]

“Last month, she was among about 60 Tea Party leaders flown to Washington to be trained in election activism by FreedomWorks, the conservative advocacy organization led by Dick Armey, the former House Republican leader. “
gag me.....so much for grassroots...besides which...Dick Armey is a PRO-AMNESTY RHINO...I’d hate to think of him as a leader for CONSERVATIVE election activist

The GOP establishment inviting the TP in is a sign of weakness. Obama calling for a Health Summit was a sign of weakness. When the opposition shows weakness, walking away doesn't advance the goal, engagment does.

The left had this debate in the early 1970s. When Nixon ended the draft, the massive protests ends. The New Left looked around and saw the revolution they believed was immanent, was not going to happen. They broke into two factions. Those like Bill Ayers and those like Hillary Clinton who began a Long March through the institutions. We know who won that. They both did eventually but only because of the Long Marchers.

Current situation isn't the same of course but it is similar. If Armey, McCain or whoever in the establishment opens the gate and invites in the TP:

GO! Go inside and take it over.

[Syncro]

They never say a date for her first “tea party” event

Finally it is mentioned it was 3 days before Santelli’s rant on CNBC

Then she did another one (probably on Feb 27th) which would actually be her first tea party rally

There were a few dozen others that day, one put on by Free Republic in Sacramento.

It looks like her first rally wasn't truly a tea party, but a rally/protest similar to many put on over the years by Free Republic

LOL, someone mentioned she used “porkulus”, a term I believe coined here at Free Republic