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Tea Party rally draws thousands to Nutter Center

Keynote speaker Keyes invokes spirit of 1776

Speakers Stan Solomon and Alan Keyes chat with Steve Sandestorm of Miamisburg, dressed as Abraham Lincoln, during the Dayton Tea Party Rally at the Nutter Center on Tuesday, April 13. Staff photo by Teesha McClam

Teesha McClam/Staff Speakers Stan Solomon and Alan Keyes chat with Steve Sandestorm of Miamisburg, dressed as Abraham Lincoln, during the Dayton Tea Party Rally at the Nutter Center on Tuesday, April 13. Staff photo by Teesha McClam

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Staff Writer Updated 4:04 PM Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Former presidential candidate Alan Keyes started his keynote address to the Dayton Tea Party on Tuesday night, April 13, with a familiar question, “What is a Tea Party?”

The 8,000 who attended a rally at the Ervin J. Nutter Center had many answers.

“We want capitalism back,” said Brenda Schmitt of Beavercreek. She and fellow Beavercreek Liberty Group member Bre Mahaney said they got involved with the Tea Party because they were sick of the government taking too much control.

“We hate being told what to do,” said U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, to one of the most resounding cheers of the night. “We actually value this thing called freedom.”

The night included historical re-enactors, colorful T-shirts proclaiming “BF (Ben Franklin) is my BFF,” a rap by Abe Lincoln, and American flags waved and worn in every possible way.

From bailouts to health care, the message to Washington was shouted, literally at times, with “Fire ‘em!”, and “Repeal it!”

Keyes encouraged the nostalgic tone and shouts for change with his answer to the opening question, “We want a Tea Party that looks back to the spirit of 1776,” he said. “A real Tea Party understands that no matter how much you like tea, if it comes at the price of your liberty you will throw it in the ocean and tell them no.”

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