One Nation Rally takes on Republicans and the Tea Party

image
Published: 05 Oct, 2010
Updated: 13 Oct, 2022
2 min read

Countering Glenn Beck’s Tea Party-oriented rally, labor and minority activist groups convened in Washington DC over the weekend, taking on an overtly partisan tone to energize the left-leaning base for the upcoming midterm elections. 

Partisanship at One Nation, the name of the rally, appeared to be a bit more blatant than what occurred at the Restoring Honor Rally held just a few weeks earlier.   Beck specifically asked his audience to leave political signs at home via the official website advertising for his event and also through a video promoting the event as well.  And while he resorted to his usual conservative-slanted rhetoric once he returned to the airwaves, his Lincoln Memorial event was itself very faith-based and non-combative in nature.  

By contrast, the opposite can be said of the One Nation Event.  Attendees brought signs that took shots at the Tea Party movement and Republicans as a whole, implying that the "right" was the party of hate and not of hope.  While there were some signs at the Restoring Honor rally taking shots at liberal policies, politically charged signs and intense rhetoric did not dominate that event. 

Perhaps most telling at One Nation was that the various signs attendees brought also emphasized scattered agendas they wanted the current administration to tackle, from ending the current wars waged by the United States to achieving immigration reform.   The Beck rally, by contrast, had a more concentrated message with religious and limited government undertones.  

While the Beck event seemed to draw a somewhat broader audience, One Nation brought together a more niche audience of union members from various work sectors. In fact, unions had the most physical presence at this weekend’s rally.  In terms of numbers, a pictorial comparison revealed that Beck’s rally brought more people to DC than did One Nation, despite the fact that one speaker at One Nation claimed the contrary.  

It is also worth noting that, just as Tea Party members attended Beck’s event, Coffee Party members latched onto the One Nation event as way of showing the political ideals with which they identify.  

Latest articles

CA capitol building dome with flags.
Why is CA Senator Mike McGuire Trying to Kill the Legal Cannabis Industry?
California’s legal cannabis industry is under mounting pressure, and in early June, state lawmakers and the governor appeared poised to help. A bill to freeze the state’s cannabis excise tax at 15% sailed through the State Assembly with a unanimous 74-0 vote. The governor’s office backed the plan. And legal cannabis businesses, still struggling to compete with unregulated sellers and mounting operating costs, saw a glimmer of hope....
03 Jul, 2025
-
7 min read
I voted buttons
After First RCV Election, Charlottesville Voters Back the Reform: 'They Get It, They Like It, They Want to Do It Again'
A new survey out of Charlottesville, Virginia, shows overwhelming support for ranked choice voting (RCV) following the city’s first use of the system in its June Democratic primary for City Council. Conducted one week after the election, the results found that nearly 90% of respondents support continued use of RCV....
03 Jul, 2025
-
3 min read
Crowd in Time Square.
NYC Exit Survey: 96% of Voters Understood Their Ranked Choice Ballots
An exit poll conducted by SurveyUSA on behalf of the nonprofit better elections group FairVote finds that ranked choice voting (RCV) continues to be supported by a vast majority of voters who find it simple, fair, and easy to use. The findings come in the wake of the city’s third use of RCV in its June 2025 primary elections....
01 Jul, 2025
-
6 min read