The Denver Tea Party

The first thing I want to say, is that they said you would not come.

We had only five days to get the word out; and out it was! This all started with me being curious. Curious as I am, I jumped in on a TCOT conference call which I saw advertised on twitter. I listened carefully to hear if there was one in Denver. After 45 minutes or so, no Denver. Finally I spoke up, “We need one in Denver!” "They seemed baffled, Tea Party in Denver? Well ok, although it might be tough". They gave me the minimum number of fifty people. Thinking to myself what a low goal fifty was, but all right. There must be more than fifty outraged, but determined, Colorado residents ready to sacrifice some time for their country, and their beliefs.

I put a message out on Twitter. One response was from @CristaHuff, “We are having a tea party at my house” and she graciously invited me. Very neat to be invited to someone’s home who you do not know. After much conversation in 140 characters at a time, suddenly I knew and respected her life, beliefs and, well, her.

The next day I was asked to post a facebook event page. I knew very little about facebook so I googled it. In a few minutes I had a free facebook account. Within fifteen minutes the event was posted. Within an hour we had four guests. On the next conference call I was informed that there were indeed some outraged and determined Americans in Colorado. Before I had learned about more about face book Vikki Waln and her husband had started a face book event. We chatted through the internet, email and facebook and decided to collaborate.

The event. My first help came from @still_stacy, “What help do you need?” She jumped on the phone started working on a permit for the capitol. Soon with the efforts of Stacy and @angelavcampbell we secured a permit. People were emailing, tweeting, re-tweeting and sending messages across the net. @rfburnhertz volunteered to bring the podium, the table, the much needed microphone and the TCOT sign up sheets. We were working on flags, signs, speakers and making plans for the event. Within a few days we had a plan, we had people, we were ready. It grew from the internet to the streets to the workplace, resonating throughout our state. People responded. Most areas of the state were represented. I am also proud that many from CD7 were able to come.

The Denver Tea Party occurred on the steps of the state capitol. The agenda was as follows:

9:00 am - 10:00 am Setup and speaker meet & greet
10:00 am Pledge of Allegiance
10:05 am National Anthem - sung by Jenny Hatch1
0:15 am @RobMcNealey - "The Twitter Gangster"
10:30 am @BrianTCampbell Candidate to US House CD7
10:40 am Keith Peterson (@rfburnhertz) TCOT/Personal Views
11:50 am Jon Caldera speaking
11:15 am Closing announcements

We arrived at 9 am. One man arrived and said, “Is this the tea party?” Soon another man, who we later found out was from Pueblo was keeping his distance, soon five more arrived, then ten more, still not crowded at 9:45, maybe twenty or so.Then it started to brew fifty then a hundred; by the time we were saying the Pledge of Allegiance over 100 people were lined up signing tea bags to send to our congressmen who voted in favor of the stimulus packages. We started promptly at 10am. I lead the patriotic crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance followed by The National Anthem sung by Jenny Hatch. Outstanding! The whole crowd joined in. It was truly awesome.

@RobMcNealy and Jon Caldera gave knowledgeable and outstanding speeches. Keith Peterson explained TCOT and shared his wisdom of the current economic problems. From all of the speeches you could tell that these people care about their country, their neighbors, the Constitution and your freedom. To have these men and women show up during their busy weekday to bring their wonderful insights, we should all be grateful. There were also a few impromptu speeches. One was by the new group who will audit congress.

We ended the official part of the event by asking everyone to turn to their left and right to meet their new teammates in the fight to preserve our freedom and what the constitution stands for. We asked them to exchange ideas, phone numbers and to become friends. This was the best part of the event. A crowd of over 200 like minded and determined Americans ready to take this movement to the next level, I was fortunate to meet so many. I have not even come close to being able to articulate the complete scene.

This was a wonderful event and the movement is just beginning! Thousands would have been drawn in if the event were held on a weekend. I have received emails from hundreds who expressed their outrage as to what our government is doing and the frustration that they were not able to attend. The next event, and it will happen soon, will be on a weekend where you will all have the opportunity to join us in the fight to preserve our freedom, to bring our nation back to greatness, to force our elected officials to listen and to act on our will. We will remain peaceful but energized and determined to uphold the constitution of our Great Nation. I say it loud and proud, “God Bless America and every one of us. We are not done we have just begun.”
As I write, I remember more people who were vital to the success of this event. If I did not mention you by name, thank you so very much for your help in creating a place for so many to start a coalition that will make our state and our country a better place.

Sincerely,
Brian T Campbell, Sr.