Pleasanton Mom Behind Major Tea Party Rally
- April 14, 2010
Members of the "Tea Party" are making tax filing day a day of protest. Among the nationwide rallies planned for Thursday is a Pleasanton protest, which is expected to be the state's largest.
Organizers expect between 5,000 and 10,000 in Pleasanton. A mother from the area is behind the event, and growing into a political powerhouse.
Bridget Melson had zero experience organizing political events a year ago. Now she is in the rolodex of some of California's most prominent politicians.
"I was a voter…and I made sure I made it to the polls every November and to the primaries, but that was about it," said Melson, who decided about a year ago that she didn't like the direction the country was going. "I got a little heated, so I decided "I'll throw a little tea party."
The Pleasanton wife, mom and psychologist didn't know what she was getting in to.
"April 15th we threw the tea party last year...and April 16th I'm like 'phew I'm done,'" she recalled. "Then January I got that inkling."
Melson said she formed a committee and things took off. Her group now has almost 3,000 members. Melson's personal crusade to let her voice be heard has now turned into a 'must' stop for many California politicians.
Senate candidate Carly Fiorina said the tea party movement cannot and should not be ignored.
"It would be prudent for politicians to tap into it," said Cal State East Bay Political Science Professor Elizabeth Bergman. "It's an audience that's able to express a poplar, populist sentiment."
Bergman cautions that the outsider theme of populist movements can have a downside.
"They're independents, and they may be independents of the fringe sort that may be expressing a more radical point of view that could be kind of controversial," said Bergman.
"In any group you're going to have these people who kind of go off and don't know how to contain themselves," said Melson. "Quite frankly it doesn't get anything accomplished. It just encourages people to look down upon us conservatives."
In all, a dozen candidates are expected to show up to Thursday's Pleasanton event at the Alameda County Fairgrounds.