COngressman Tom Tancredo (Left), U.S. Senate Candidate Howard Kaloogian (R) (Center), and KSFO AM 560 Talk Show Host Melanie Morgan (Right)
Posted on 02/22/2004 11:15:39 AM PST by Impeach98
WOW!
Yesterday's rally against giving drivers' licenses to illegal aliens (as proposed by Democrat Gil Cedillo's SB1160 which Repub. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says he supports) was a H U G E success.
The rally planning had been going on for several weeks. It was set to take place Saturday, February 21st at the Burlingame Hyatt, where the California Republican Party Convention would be taking place.
Since Governor Schwarzenegger has said he thinks giving drivers' licenses to illegal aliens is a "fantastic" and "excellent idea" (after he made conservatives very happy by repealing an existing law by Gil Cedillo that Gray Davis had signed that did the same), the thinking was that Arnold would get the message when Republicans turned out to say "WE DON'T WANT IT - NEITHER DOES CALIFORNIA."
The location had to be changed a couple times because officials with the California Republican Party establishment were offended that Kaloogian has rallied Republicans to oppose Bush's amnesty/guest-worker plan and Schwarzenegger's "sell out" on the illegal alien drivers' license plan.
With Kaloogian's opponents for U.S. Senate uncomfortable with challenging either the Bush plan or the Schwarzenegger-backed plan (they will speak to vague policy but not these specific proposals for fear of alienating Bush or Schwarzengger and their establishment suppport), the rally united immigration reform advocates and Kaloogian campaign supporters.
A little after 10:00 AM people began gathering outside, right in front of the Hyatt Hotel. Kaloogian for Senate staffers and volunteers were handing out Kaloogian signs, bumper stickers and lapel stickers.
People were simultaneously streaming towards the Kaloogian for Senate table inside of the convention and were being directed to join the now-growing crowd outside.
At the same time, last minute preparations were taking place at a giant tented pavillion located next to the hotel's pool at the back of the hotel complex. A stage with blue-curtain backdrop and "Kaloogian for Senate" wall would serve as the dais. Approximately one-dozen Kaloogian volunteers were assisting in the set-up effort. People seeking out the rally location began arriving at this location too.
By 10:20 AM things were crazy!!! There was now a crowd of a few hundred people outside that was growing fast. More and more people were running up to the Kaloogian table inside the hotel to find out the rally location and at the poolside pavillion (site of the rally) supporters were being directed to join the crowd at the front of the hotel.
Melanie Morgan and Donald LaCombe of the Kaloogian campaign were now firing up the crowd with chants over a megaphone. There were a handful of reporters and cameras covering the mass of people out front who were shouting "Enough is Enough," "No License for Illegals," and "Stop Them at the Border."
Finally at 10:30 AM, with the crowd now a giant sea of people, completely fired up, we opened the front doors to the hotel and Melanie Morgan chanting "Enough is Enough" into a megaphone led the procession of people through the hotel, down one of the main corridors to the back of the hotel where the crowd would exit, walk the pathway towards the poolside pavillion and assemble for the rally.
A number of interesting things took place. First, the procession passed right by the press room and reporters were shocked to see this massive and boisterous gathering of people streaming through the hotel screaming and chanting. Also, liberal Republican Vice Chair of the CRP, Mario Rodriguez, was conducting a seminar teaching Repubs. how to reach out to Latino voters and was horrified to see the protest march... apparently he is unable to distinguish between the difference of "illegal" individuals and legal citizens of the United States.
The throng of people was so wide, two sets of double-doors had to be opened to allow the crowd to flow in. But then the final mass of people who had gathered in the lobby in front of the Kaloogian for Senate booth formed a third 'feeder' stream to the procession. There were so many people now marching towards the rally location in the back that people could not enter the rally tent fast enough... we had a human traffic jam and this 10 foot wide hallway that runs several hundred feet was now completely jam-packed with participants.
People contiued streaming into the giant tent and tried to squeeze in to allow as many people as possible in. But there were so many people that not everyone could fit... there were dozens of people flowing out the side entrance, straining to see over the heads of those inside, and an even larger group of people at the back end of the tent who could not get in because of the overflow crowd.
Melanie Morgan and Brian Sussman of KSFO AM 560 - San Francisco were the emcees and had the crowd fired up... it wasn't hard. The energy in the room was electrifying. They introduced Kaloogian who received a hero's welcome from the crowd.
Kaloogian was on fire and delivered one of the best speeches I've heard him give on the stump so far. And the crowd responded with passion and energy. The tent was rocking folks!!
Just as Kaloogian was finishing his remarks, we got word that Tancredo was arriving in the back entrance (having been picked up by one of our Kaloogian staffers at the SFO airport). So Kaloogian then transitioned into welcoming Congressman Tom Tancredo, a hero to our cause, just as the Congressman entered the facility.
Tancredo bounded up to the stage and grabbed Kaloogian's fist. They raised their hands into the air - pumping up and down. The crowd was hooting, hollering, screaming, chanting. Melanie Morgan and Brian Sussman were up there on stage still and were themselves cheering and beaming from ear to ear. It was a moment of magic and the energy was incredible.
Now during all of this time there was this steady stream of television camera crews arriving. While we had worked the media over pretty heavily to tell them about the rally, and who would be there, they had been dismissive. They weren't interested in covering a bunch of right-wing kooks complaining about immigration policies. So at the start of the rally we only had a handful of print reporters, 4 or 5 television cameras and 2 or 3 radio reporters. But by the end of the rally news organizations, learning of what was happening, had rushed over scores of additional reporters, camera crews, and microphone-carrying radio techs and reporters.
Tancredo gave a great speech. He explained that a series of events had led to him almost not making it. Delayed flights, cancelled flights, being held up on the tarmac, having to change connecting flights and airline carrier. Everything was a mess and a mass frustration (he was supposed to arrive at 9:30 AM so we could get him settled, instead he didn't make it until about 10:55 AM).
Tancredo told this story and explained that he would go through this kind of hassle every single day between now and Election Day if this would help to elect Howard Kaloogian to the U.S. Senate.
Again, the crowd exploded.
Tancredo went on to explain during his speech that he had NOT ONE immigration reform friendly member in the U.S. Senate... and that without an ally in the Senate to join him in leading the charge on the immigration issue that we could not bring about the change in our failed policies that we need.
Tancredo was funny, gracious, passionate and simple but eloquent. At the end of his speech he again urged those in attendance to go to work to get Kaloogian elected to the Senate and announced he'd be doing all he could till Election Day to propel Kaloogian to victory. Tancredo and Kaloogian raised arms again and the crowd cheered and the camera flashbulbs flashed.
Tancredo and Kaloogian webt out back for a press conference/media avail.
Over the course of the next 45 minutes, Mike Spence, Founder of "Save Our License" (the group that collected signatures to repeal the original drivers' license for illegal aliens bill, SB60), Rick Oltman of FAIR, Ron Prince - author of Prop 187 and Proponent of Save 187 all addressed the crowd.
Crowd estimates have varied. I heard one person say 600-800 but I think this was high. Maybe 500-550.
All the press reports have said several hundred people.
Realize that there were only 1400 delegates listed for the CRP convention, so maybe 1200 were actually at the Hyatt. But while Marin and Jones could generate rallies of 50-75 people, Kaloogian had a massive crowd of cheering and raucous supporters who would then linger throughout the convention for the rest of the day - wearing Kaloogian t-shirts, carrying Kaloogian signs and bumper stickers.
It was an awesome day!
Man, this is getting too easy with you.
His opposition was delivered in such a way that if Bush and Kaloogian were on a stage delivering their arguments and debating their points of view you'd have a landslide in favor of Kaloogian on the issue.
That doesn't mean Republicans don't like Bush on other issues, but obviously on this one, Kaloogian argues the Republican line.
You do know this was Vincente Fox's plan. I'm not trying to make an outlandish charge here. It was actually revealed in an interview in Time magazine. They were praising Fox for being the one who first came up with this plan... back when Bush was governor of Texas. And Fox tried to get Bush to help him push the plan in the U.S.
That's what Bush is now doing.
Bush is great in fighting terrorists. He's great in pushing for lower taxes. He's with the pro-life community in opposing abortion (albeit quietly).
But he is rather abysmal on immigration (and vetoing spending bills for that matter).
That makes him 10 times better than Kerry, but still wrong on those two issues (immigration and excessive spending). The congressional Republicans are wrong on spending too. And guess what - Kaloogian's been outspoken about this too! It makes him a great Republican. He actually fights for Republican beliefs and is not ashamed to hold them, even if the media doesn't like his views.
I also brought up excessive spending! (feels ashamed at betraying the conservative cause)
Bump that...Recall the SOB....
It was the argument many have made here in the past few months... help the PResident (and now Arnold) save themselves from pushing bad proposals.
Is that discouraging 'booing' or is that saying "let's rechannel the emotion and energy into making sure that these proposals don't go forward" - I guess it's tomato - tomAto... depending on how you look at it.
That's painfully clear.
We can listen to you who think that Republicans should not stand for Republican principles during an Election Year.
Or we can follow Howard Kaloogian who was a Bush Sr. delegate from Michigan in 1988 and was one of the first California Republican Legislators to sign the Bush endorsement letter in 2000.
I think that Howard's history, and his record in the State Assembly (three terms and six years of keeping his conservative Republican campaign promises, being a leader in the recall effort against Gray Davis, and heading up the Defend Reagan Committee to defend President Reagan from the CBS/Viacom smear campaign), opposing amnesty and drivers' licenses for illegal aliens and overspending by the Congress make him a better Republican than you, who believes we should NOT defend Republican principles during an Election Year.
But that's just me ;)
Mega bump!!
Damn righ bump!!
There's a big difference between attacking an amnesty plan and attacking a person.
Fair Opinion since Day 1 has been outraged that the base of the Republican party is upset about the amnesty plan.
He/she does not recognize that the political miscalculation being made here is not Kaloogian for standing up for his principles he's held all his life, or for that matter the ideology that Republicans espouse, but that it is the President's advisors who told him 'yeah, support the Vincente Fox plan, that'll win you votes."
It won't - it will just cause strain between him and his conservative base. He needs them motivated and energize. Attacking Republican principles is not the way to do that.
Yeah, Howard loves that point, and you are right he did bring that up at that point in the rally when the audience was riled up about the "amnesty plan that they say isn't an amnesty plan"
Decorum has a tendency to get trampled after watching the two beltway parties stand in treasonous stone silence for 25 years, while our country has been literally over run with multiple millions of people pouring in illegally.
It's beyond polite chat over tea, and business as usual, political decorum..If this nationwide massive lawlessness is not stopped in the near future, terms like polite political decorum, will be a relic of the past along with the well entrenched, two beltway parties in DC.
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