DC ‘Tea Party’ Crowd Estimate: How Did Thousands Become Millions?

What’s the message? It seems the only people that get attention are those that leave a mark, riot, be belligerent, offensive, and can do a really good “whoa me”. The majority of these people are not accustomed to marching and making their voices heard. So for the working class; marching isn’t their most effective attention getter. Unless of course they learn how to make a mark. But that would be too much out of character. Much like their efforts during the town hall meetings that didn’t make them seem any more intelligent than those that have taken advantage of their trust. No, their strength is the ballot box. Unfortunately their next opportunity there is more than a year away. Just maybe this time they will have some of their own run for the offices of those that have betrayed them. Until then they should be gathering at the doors of their representatives demanding an accounting of the representative’s conduct and agendas.

Just wha tI would expect from ABC. Towing the line for Obama, trying to minimumize the overwhelming crowd that represent the mainstream of America. Same old same old!!!!!

I watched all three morning news shows (ABC,NBC and CBS)and did not see anything mentioned whatsoever about the Tea Party march on Washington, D.C.. I DID SEE the HUGE stories about Serena Williams and Kanye West/Taylor Swift. This just confirmed what I already knew about the mainstream media .. the only difference now is that it is so blatant!!! Thank God for Fox News!!!

At 3 PM, I stood on Capitol Hill and looked to the right and the left, as far as could be seen down Pennsylvania Ave and down both sides of the Mall to the Lincoln Memorial. All people shoulder to shoulder! If that wasn’t a million people, I don’t have eyes. Notice that the ABC photographers never took a longrange, comprehensive picture!

I remember your coverage of the “million
man march.” That march was organized and led by a national organization. There you in the national media struggled to stretch scenes of thousands to look like a million.
As a journalism school graduate, I’m ashamed at the way the national news media have attempted to minimize this event and its significance. Boo! You lie.

the original tea party they dressed up as Native Americans and dumped the tea while now days they need to dress up a Native Americans who don’t have a tax on them as long as they reside & work on a Reservation. Otherwise they don’t fit the bill and need to be taxed

While people struggle to try to revise the number downward, consider the double standard.
The US has an estimated 5% homsexual population, yet look at the impact it has made on the nation.
Now consider that a majority of those polled disapprove of Obamacare.

Typical ABC still a lap dog and having the slobbering lovefest for Obama. You and NBC are tied for first with CNN right behind as the National Enquirer for the State Run Media. Sit BoBo.
Thank goodness for Fox News.

Please, ABC commentators, take the limelight away from backward people who still believe that there are WMD’s In Iraq, who dispute global warming, who equate the public option with Marxism, who cling to their weaponry in times of uncertainty, who resent the prominence of an extremely well-educated and thoughtful Chief of Staff, and those who want to drag this country back into the Dark Ages.
Does anyone in the media publicize the findings of the 541-page bi-partisan Senate committee’s report on the analysis of pre-war intelligence? Does the media’s audience consist only of those who are incapable of reading beyond a 10th grade level (at most)?
It’s time that those who watch something other than FOX News are given a voice.

In re JJb’s comments: Thank God that there are still a few well-informed folks who have the perspicacity to realize that W dragged us into an illegitimate war, subverted the constitution, doubled the national debt, brought the deficit to record levels, while managing to de-list threatened and endangered species, pollute the nation’s waters (1/2 million illegal dumpings of sometimes highly toxic materials in a five year period) and sell off mineral rights to the highest bidder, even if the land abutted pristine national parks.
These folks appear to be not just what Van Jones called them, but incredibly stoooooooopid, as well.
One of their gurus is Sarah Palin? Get real. You betcha. Wink, wink.

“Thank God for Fox News!!!”
“Thank God for Fox News.”
“Thank goodness for Fox News.”
Hey you Fox lovers, sorry to burst your bubble but Fox News pegged the crowd at “tens of thousands” just like all the other media outlets in America.

Wow, most of the comments here are truly deranged.
“I want there to have been a million-plus people there despite any credible evidence that there was even a fraction that many, therefore the media are evil biased monsters.”
There were clearly nowhere close to a million people there, period. Obama’s inauguration was attended by 1-1.8 million people and the CITY COMPLETELY GROUND TO A HALT as a result. It was such a zoo that there were people waiting HOURS to get on the metro. I know many people in DC, and nothing remotely similar happened this weekend. And is the DC Fire dept now a left-wing propaganda organization? Please.

Eric England, even in their reports the next day, Fox News claimed there were “tens of thousands” of protesters. You either don’t know how to read or are blatantly lying.

Is this how ABC covers a story? Give me a break. This site is filled with garbage, you guys totally missed the point. I dont care about Kanye West, Serena Williams, or Taylor Swift. Leave that B.S. to Mtv.
By the way, have you guys ever heard of a group called ACORN?

Thank god for fox news. Whatever happened to objective journalism at ABC? I am a trained journalist and what you people spew is nothing more than biased,prejucial propanganda. It’s no wonder your ratings are plummeting and will continue at an even more awesome rate now that your agenda has become apparent to everyone with an IQ over 50. The American people are not as stupid as you think.

How long are these honest people going to keep on lying about their number of supports. In Cincinnati, Rep Boehner and the Sheriff who is a strong supporter of the Tea Party said they had 18,000 person in attendance but the Reporter for the Cincinnati Enquirer and the pictures taken show only 1 to 2,000 people. Also the Tea Party protester who was in Cincinnati on Labor Day during our President Speech, had about 25 people present but the Fox reporter kept saying 250. Joe Wilson is clone amoung these people and they are Liars, I hope you all don’t fall for the okie dope. Also, do Senior Citizens who get Medicad, Medicare and Social Security know that they are in a government run programs, so why are they protesting. Do their statements say from the Department of Treasury or the Department of Job and Family services, if not what do they say. Also, if Texas, Minnesota and South Carolina secede from the U.S. then this will be more Social Security, UI, Medicad, and Medicare for the citizens of the United States. Good bye Pawlentry, Wilson, etc and others who want to leave the wealth, power and respect of the United States.

I don’t think you could find more than a handfull of people in that crowd with a three digit IQ.

Came over here to see if it is true that you do not even mention acorn.I am so sorry that you have turned so left for our country,plus ashamed of abc,who from a small child I have known.

Our liberal friends with the more advanced intelligence should be able to calculate the attendance by viewing the extensive photo and video documentation of the event that is all over the internet. By calculating the total amount of ground that was covered by people attending the event, using the average square footage occupied by each person (using slightly more for all of seniors and vets who were there in wheelchairs and walkers), and allowing some factor for the constant influx of new arrivals throughout the day (in part no doubt due to the backlog at the Metro stations), they should be able to come up with a reasonably good estimate to publish for peer review. Why not?

there were 75,000 people there and this was amazing because most of these people have never been to a demonstration in their lives. Obama has insured that the Democrats will lose Congress in the next election. You can take that to the bank.

You really are a bunch of frightened misinformed & easily lead people, not to mention the latent racism in all of your fears.I come from a country with universal public health care, it is not perfect but we have an abiding principle that says a civilised nation looks after its most vulnerable citizens & health care is a fundamental human right.Anyone who chooses can still have private health insurance but those who cannot afford it are covered by the public purse & nobody has ever cried foul because they have to contribute a very small levy to fund this program. It is your responsibility as a member of a community to do so. It seems that Americans have been spoiled rotten for so long that think it is a given that they have to contribute nothing to their nations needs.This is not communism nor over-regulation, it is basic humanity. What really astonishes me is the people who are against this, I have seen the state of health care in your country, especially in the rural south, it is shocking to behold, more akin to some African village than the richest nation in the world. And now it is these people who belittle the man who is trying to improve their lot, why? Because he is black? Like most ill informed & vulnerable people they are easily mislead, armed with lies & pointed in the wrong direction. If you really think about it for more than a hairs breadth you will see it is the corporate billionaires & their conservative lobbyists who have kept you poor & downtrodden all these years, for if your life was easy than you could not be so easily used as political pawns against progressive policy moves. The same attitude exists in rural regions of Australia where the National Party holds traditional majority. They have never given a damn about farmers & do their utmost to keep these people in the dark while at the same time representing the industrialists that make slaves of our food producers, keeping them in debt & making sure that they do not have the required 5 year period in which to make vital changes that would allow farmers to be more productive & get ahead of the debt cycle. Tradition is the favoured weapon of the political spin Doctors & should be dumped at the first opportunity.

“From what I have seen of these protests, the people are quite intelligent, having a strong knowledge of US history and the constitution, and desiring that the country adhere to its founding principles in order to hold on to liberty .”
The first video I saw of the DC TEA party came from the AP and showed the following handwritten signs:
ABC, CBS, NBC + CNN – Investigate ACORN CZARS – Do Your Job!
We Have Only Just Begun
AMA does not speak for all doctors!!
Obama, We have waken [sic] up to your evil plans to destroy our country. Take your Facist [sic] Un-American [sic] Acorn groups and arrogent [sic] wife back to your own country and strip their rights away.

Brian Dillion I am glad you shared your views and they are welcome here but that does not mean that we feel the need to agree with them. I personally do believe in helping those that need it until they can get on their feet. I do not believe in supporting any able bodied human who simply believes that society “owes” them something. Hand up…always…hand out…never. Your race assessment could not be more off base. I find it personally offensive but it will not quiet my thoughts. I think that those statements are only proving to make sure that ordinary people continue to notice a difference. Incidently President Obama could have never been elected without the 42% white vote he got. Trust me…we knew he was a black guy.

to Pat Todd-
Have you thought about what it says about your belief system that you have more respect for a Van Jones than a Sarah Palin? Talk about self-incrimination, ouch.

To WWW: as I said, guess we have the public education system to blame for the poor spelling on that sign!

“as I said, guess we have the public education system to blame for the poor spelling on that sign!”
The spelling was the least troubling aspect of the sign.

Nancy No disrespect meant but are you crazy? I was there. Read the signs. Was your little reunion doing that? I hope you had a good time. Whatever you smoked evidently lasted quite a while. I was there from about 930am till 330pm and it was packed with TEA Party people for at least a mile and a half back from the Capitol when I left and people were still coming in.

Thank you for the response, the usual reply to my comments is silence so I appreciate the fact that you have taken the time to disagree with me. I do not expect anyone to agree with me, only to think upon what I have said & this you have done. I don’t support a welfare state either but in times such as these when work is simply non-existent you cannot just let people starve. As far as healthcare as a fundamental right being unconstitutional, not in my country. Also we have more millionaires per capita than the U.S so the medicare levy has not effected wealth creation.
I am not a leftist but nore am I a conservative, we have just had 13 years of conservative governance & witnessed a terrible polarisation of the nation, the rich got richer while the poor worked longer & harder as wages decreased annually. I apologise for the race comment to all those who don’t hold such a view but it is patently obvious that many do, I believe that they are victims of predatory conspiracy theorists. It just seems to me that America has for so long been under an almost unregulated system that many people cannot see the merits of any alternative. Democracy does not necessarily equate to capitalism, you have just experienced the pitfalls of an unregulated financial system so a more active government should be a welcome change. You have a long way to go in your recovery so a bit of patience & an open mind would not go astray. For those who may think that I have no right to comment as I am a foreigner, remember that when a pin drops in America, it echoes all over the world.

I am an intelligent, educated, white male… married to a strong, intelligent, educated woman of color.
In no way are either of us racist, bigoted, or un-American.
We both disagree with this administration… as well as the prior administration. Niether had/have the best interst of the PEOPLE in mind.
Our disagreement, and frustration steams from the lack of representation given to us by both the R&D parties.
Again this disagreement does not make us Racists, Bigots, or un-American… ABC News should report about the many of us who are outside the extreme right or left sides. Stop playing politics. Everyday, educated, non-racist Americans have something very profound to say.

Someone get this information to Charlie Gibson:
Charlie, your interviewed Steve Wuori on “Over a Barrel”, his 24 year old son was tragically killed Friday and his funeral will be on Thursday September 17, at 2:00 pm. at Vancouver WA. Be a gentleman and be at the funeral.

It’s ordinary people who are waking up and going to these town hall meetings, tea parties, and this march.
It looks like most of these people are not professional protesters.
The message is this:
From Wall Street to Capitol Hill:
Stop taking us for granted; we have been exposed to a crash course on how things work, and we are sick and tired of it all. We will continue to educate ourselves and you won’t be able to get away from stealing us blind any more.

Mr Eric England, thank you for posting your thoughtful sensible comments on this blog. It’s refreshing to read something intelligent from time to time.
“When I look around the world I don’t see healthcare that is all that great and I do see the rich of every country coming here for treatment when things don’t go well where they live.” Eric England
So true.
Regarding the numbers game going on.
Let’s just say a couple hundred thousand people were there.
That’s enough to make the point they were trying to make which is what matters in the end anyway, not if the crowd was a million strong or not.

I can also see the racist whites and blacks coming out in droves to say that republicans are nothing but racist’s for opposing them. Reverse racism is on the rise, but that bubble will burst eventually and then the democratic party will burst, unable to garner any power.

Perhaps the numbers are not as important as the fact that substantial numbers of people, are not happy with administration proposals, and that the administration must view the demonstration, as a sign, that trouble is ahead, if they do not review the direction the administration is taking.
I for one, do not participate in such things, but I totally support their position, just the same.

The clear message is that we don’t want America to be transformed into a Socialist Nation.
“Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country” JFK

Oops, left out the biggie, Glenn Beck: “I think that it doesn’t matter if any newspaper published how many people were there. University of Illinois I think did a spatial count and looked at the photos and said I think it was 1.7 million people there. It doesn’t matter if they say there were three; the people that are wandering the halls of congress and the White House know exactly how many people were there.”

Eric,
I see you respond to these comments quite frequently. What I find absolutely ridiculous and uncalled for in regards to you, is your ability to lash out and say rude things towards individuals. The comment of me “smoking something” was highly uncalled for, as well as “your little reunion”. Obviously someone didn’t want the information I provided to be released to the masses considering my previous comment was deleted. As I stated before, I wasn’t here to take any sides, simply to state the facts. Maybe this was an attempt on your part to provoke me in some type of way. I won’t stoop to your level of disrespect. I simply hope the media releases the full story. Ask some of your “friends” that actually came down a little further on the mall to hang out watch the concerts, and enjoy food from the vendors. Oh wait, maybe they thought all that was set up for the Tea Party :-/. I assure I state the facts. When you open your eyes to the possibility that someone is right other than yourself, you might see the truth. The next time you want to insinuate that someone has “smoked something” be sure to do some research.

FYI 4500 buses paid for permits to come to DC loaded with people, at 50 people per bus that is 225,000 plus all the hotels were full and I personally know several people who drove in for the day.
So the official line which is the unofficial number is obviously too low.
Truth is…. Democratic party does not want the truth out. But the photos do not lie.. infowars and radiopatriot have some great photos, so check them out.
And latest poll on the media printed in my local paper (back page) 63% believe news stories are INACCURATE… but that is from a newspaper so that may too be inaccurate!

The figure of 1 million to 1.5 million is such a lie. A camera zooming in on a huddle crowd would only serve to distort reality and serve as propaganda fodder to be obediently swallowed by the right wing zombies in the U.S. Next time the media should be giving arial views to such gathers. Anyway, even if crypto-racists protesting health care actually reached 1.5 million as falsely claimed it would still only represent barely 5% of the current U.S. population which would put it firmly in a fringe minority group category that can be easily dismissed for its irrelevance.

George Stephanopoulos said, “You can’t sneeze at tens of thousands of people coming out on a Saturday afternoon to March on the Capitol. That is significant. Even if it represents a minority, it can show a strongly motivated minority.”
————————————-
George, like the rest of ABC, is just another useful tool that reports on up to the minute Whitehouse dictation…
Minority, my collective ###??? They are the seeds of revolution…and must be marginalized, that’s why we have George and our pit poodle Gibbs.
Truth and Facts will not be tollerated and will be purged.

The UK news reported 2 million people. And you are still not reporting on ACORN?????

One way is to look at the photos and count the density in one area them multiply by the area of all those streets, side streets and the mall.
They look pretty full on the photos. One reporter from Florida had a professional camera crew there, got good camera coverage and interviews with police, park police and etc. she, going to release a DVD next week.

thank heavens for FOX NEWS. ABC why don’t you talk about acorn!! what about all of obamas radical associations along with acorn. you never mentioned much about the tea partys. when bush was in office you covered any and all of the above, you do not cover the news very well any more, it’s all one-sided and your ratings will show it
what a shame!!

Dan Harris’s report on the tea party tonight has pointed out to me the truth of what I thought to be groundless ‘liberal biases’ at abc news. While the actual reason for the protest was never mentioned, all of the boneheaded slanders, namecalling, and accusations of ‘racist’ viewpoints were covered in depth. Even Obama realizes the ridiculousness of calling ‘racist’ in the face of differing opinions. I can’t believe the treatment of the tea party protest in this piece as racist or at best crazies, alongside the lack of coverage of acorn. Unbelievable… guess Im going over to FNC as well…

People routinely overestimate crowds by a factor of 10 or 20. A million people occupy the 2 miles of the mall from one end to the other, very tightly packed. They clog the metro for hours. This was a relatively minor protest even by DC standards. I once watched a crowd march by my office on PA Ave for several hours. The organizers claimed something like 150-250 thousand. Some said 750 thousand. Police estimated 75 thousand. By my count, there were no more than 25 thousand, even though they stretched for a mile.

WHAT IS SO SMART ABOUT OBAMA ?? I WILL ANSWER THAT NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!

They say to cut spending but they don’t suggest where to cut. Our two biggest expenses are Medicare and the Military Industry, respectivly, while Social Security is pretty much self contianed. I dare them to suggest cuts there and see where they end up.