Ed Rendell points out that the media has been over-hyping these Tea Parties given the very small number of people that have been attending their rallies.
Rendell: I think David the first thing we have to define is what's the tea party itself. If you say it's the anger that people feel about the economy, etc. that's giving the tea party too much credit. We had two recent tea party demonstrations in Washington. One a week before the health care vote drew about 1000 people, the tax day rally by the organizers own estimate was 1500 people.
If I organized a rally for stronger laws to protect puppies, I would get 100,000 people to Washington, so let's... I think the media has blown the tea parties themselves out of proportion, that's number one.
That didn't sit too well with Marsha Blackburn. Sorry dear but he's right. Those numbers are small and the press has been over-hyping the astroturf movement for obvious reasons, like helping the Republican Party regain power. As we've already pointed out here there were huge anti-war protests that the media all but ignored. Now we get these tiny crowds showing up in D.C. and the media is hyping them with wall to wall coverage. It's pitiful.
John Amato: The Tea Party movement is an extension of the conservative movement. Every poll we've seen basically pegs them as sore losers.
