The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

‘Ground Zero’ in Fairfax County

Posted on | July 14, 2012 | 56 Comments

Frederick Peterson III protests outside Obama event in Centreville, Va.

CENTREVILLE, Virginia
When President Obama came to this prosperous suburban community, he was greeted by a contingent of Tea Party activists and local Republicans. The number of protesters were estimated variously between 100 and 300, but their enthusiasm — standing for hours in the July heat, waving signs and shouting slogans — could not possibly be underestimated.

Molly Ball of the Atlantic Monthly thinks Obama may be able to skate to victory in the Old Dominion, but if she’s willing to stake $100 on that proposition, I’ll be happy to cover her bet. Money talks, and Obama’s bullsh*t isn’t likely to walk very far here in Fairfax County.

“This is Republican territory,” Virginia state Del. Tim Hugo told me, standing among the protesters across Union Mill Road from Centreville High. “More importantly, these are the people who will take it on the chin with Obama’s tax increases. These are the job-producers, the dual-income families . . . This is Ground Zero for the Obama tax increases.”

Indeed, Fairfax County is one of the wealthiest counties in America, a place where the median houshold income is more than $100,000 and the average home price is more than a half-million dollars. The western side of Fairfax County is also staunchly Republican. GOP Rep. Frank Wolf carried this district with more than 60% of the vote in 2010. Hugo has represented the Centreville area in the Virginia House of Delegates since 2002 and he was standing with another GOP delegate from Fairfax County, Barbara Comstock, who is statewide co-chairman for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign.

“We’ve got people out door-knocking,” Comstock said, explaining the strong GOP turnout at an Obama event on a summer Saturday afternoon. E-mail bulletins sent out by Americans for Prosperity and state Tea Party leaders also helped generate an impressive crowd.

“It’s amazing how many people are here,” said Hugo.

“Our people are energized,” said Pat Herrity, a Fairfax County supervisor. “People around here are angry.”

The recent Supreme Court decision upholding ObamaCare has helped inspire Tea Party activists to renewed efforts. “Our attendance has doubled since the Supreme Court decision,” said Ron Wilcox, a Fairfax County resident who is an organizer for the Northern Virginia Tea Party.

UPDATE: Now, for a selection of photos from today’s event:

This is Tami Hurley of Burke, Va., and her button (click to enlarge the photo) says: “”Officially Screwed: Small Business Owner.” Mrs. Hurley explained that her business has 14 employees and is being wrecked by regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency and will be further hurt if ObamaCare goes into effect.

Sarah Falk, her friend Margaret Baker and Margaret’s daughter Emily Baker.

UPDATE II: Still more photos:

Tami Hurley’s sons Brian, 12, and Kevin, 14, with a guy named Henry who didn’t want to give his last name.

Hey, some of us weren’t fooled the first time . . .

Smitty still can’t understand why the Thad McCotter presidential juggernaut fell short. But he’s happy with his second choice.

Barbara Comstock, Pat Herrity and and Tim Hugo talk to a reporter.

UPDATE III: Marooned in Marin has many more photos as well as videos. He estimated the protest attendance as “a couple of hundred.”

UPDATE IV: Linked by Jackie Wellfonder — thanks!

UPDATE V: Jazz Shaw says Obama decided yesterday to get in touch with his inner Elizabeth Warren. He’s 1/64th Cherokee, y’know.

UPDATE VI: Michael D. Shear of the New York Times reports on the president’s Virginia campaign trip:

CLIFTON, Va. — President Obama barnstormed through this swing state on Saturday as his campaign relentlessly hammered at Mitt Romney’s business record, releasing a mocking new ad that shows Mr. Romney singing “America the Beautiful” as it accuses his former firm of shipping American jobs overseas.
Mr. Obama, speaking first to a drenched crowd during a downpour in the Richmond suburb of Glen Allen, and then at Centreville High School in Fairfax County, accused Mr. Romney of investing in “companies that have been called pioneers in outsourcing.” . . .
“My opponent and his allies in Congress, they believe in top-down economics,” Mr. Obama said. “If you cut through all the stuff, what they are really saying is tax cuts for the wealthy, roll back regulations. That is essentially their plan.”

Whereas Obama and the Democrats want to raise taxes on everybody and regulate everybody out of a job. That is essentially their plan.

Welcome, Instapundit readers! The Professor quotes Centreville readers who point out that (a) many of the supporters attending the Obama rally were from out of the area, including some from Maryland; and (b) Obama skipped the larger facility at nearby George Mason University to speak in a high school gymnasium but didn’t fill up even the smaller venue.

Still no word on whether Molly Ball is willing to bet $100 on Obama winning Virginia. Is she bluffing? C’mon, Molly, bet me.

 


Category: Barack Obama, Election 2012, Virginia

Comments

56 Responses to “‘Ground Zero’ in Fairfax County”

  1. richard mcenroe
    July 16th, 2012 @ 12:22 am

    How many convictions equals “almost zero”?

  2. cwat
    July 16th, 2012 @ 2:46 am

    True!  Every time the dems require ID for an event I just laugh…

  3. Instapundit » Blog Archive » STACY MCCAIN REPORTS FROM anti-Obama protests in Fairfax County. Meanwhile, reader James Wink ema…
    July 16th, 2012 @ 3:55 am

    […] STACY MCCAIN REPORTS FROM anti-Obama protests in Fairfax County. […]

  4. richard40
    July 16th, 2012 @ 7:24 pm

    I dont recall a big drive for poll taxes.  I think they have been gone for over 50 yrs.  If you are talking about voter ID, anybody that does not already have a drivers license can get a free voter ID by just proving they are a real voter.   I have a tough time beleiving that we can require a photo ID to buy booze and cigs, and to cash a check, but it is legit to not require it for something as vital as voting.  Do you dem spinners really beleive this inflamatory BS, or do you know you are forwarding lying spin.

  5. richard40
    July 16th, 2012 @ 7:29 pm

    It appears from this article that the protestors might have outnumbered the Obama supporters in the HS gym, and I suspect more of the protestors were locals.  If this is an example, as the idiot in the NY Times said, of Obamas “relentless” campaign in VA, he is in real trouble there.

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