Boca Chapter Meeting Recap, Tuesday, November 1st, 2011

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The Palm Beach County Tea Party’s Boca Chapter started November with a bang with its monthly dinner/speaker event on Tuesday, November 1st, featuring senatorial candidate, George LeMieux.  Despite lingering Halloween inclement weather, we had a strong showing of patriots, including an entire table of younger people- a byproduct of some of the educational work we are doing here in Boca. 

Boca Greens Country Club continues to provide an excellent backdrop for this monthly event on the first Tuesday of every month (with NEXT month, December, being an exception due to the Holidays).  People lined up for the excellent buffet, which included all kinds of goodies, especially the salmon.  Raffle tickets were sold until the Boca Chapter Coordinator, Alex Berry, presided over the podium to make announcements before introducing the speaker.  A brief welcome was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance, and a review of the three tenets of the Tea Party was presented.  After discussion of Fundraising activities, and alerting people to our merchandise table—featuring our brand new embroidered logo polo shirts–our founder and County Coordinator, Pam Wohlschlegel was then introduced to update the attendees on more PBCTP news and events.

Alex then read an email titled, “Free Ice Cream”—a typical example of how civics and politics can work on a 3rd grade level, and how easily duped we can be if we don’t stick to principals and truth.  Alex then introduced the speaker for the evening: George LeMieux- a senatorial candidate who is up for Bill Nelson’s seat.  George has an unassuming presence, and folksy delivery that was frank and honest.  He has been something of a dark horse candidate, despite having served previously as an interim senator.  Because George’s campaign is not as “slick” or sophisticated as some of the others, I think many were surprised at how much they liked his speech.  It’s funny how “groomed” we have become in terms of our political process—that because someone’s campaign style or look doesn’t fit the current paradigm of expectation, and how quickly we are to dismiss a candidate as “unelectable”.  

LeMieux went on to articulate the severity of our debt crisis, going into granular detail of just how to wrap our arms around the depth and magnitude of the irresponsibility of our leaders in Washington.  He also cited several startling statistics just about our state, including foreclosures.  He went on to describe how political campaigns often have slick speeches and rhetoric, but no actual “plan”.  He mentioned Paul Ryan’s plan- but indicated, in a refreshing way, that it did not go far enough to make spending cuts.  He then unveiled his plan called, “The Four Freedoms Plan”, which covers Freedom From Debt, Freedom From Foreign Dependence, Freedom To Work, and Freedom To Pursue The American Dream.

We had a particularly sprightly Q&A session, as many members asked questions about the Federal Reserve system, Taxes, Term Limits, and a variety of other passionate questions asking about how we can win in November.  One question asked him about why we should vote for him instead of Adam Hasner, our speaker who was warmly received last month.  People watched closely as LeMieux handled the question with grace and aplomb.  He resisted the temptation to go into attack mode – another element that was refreshing about LeMieux’s presentation—but instead provided differences between the two of them from the perspective of how they both voted in the past. 

As usual, a hearty bunch enjoyed further fellowship after the speech, and the raffle was drawn.  It’s always gratifying to see new friendships being forged, and old ones being strengthened at events like this.  We must definitely learn to stick together at times like this in American history.  We must not forget our past, or our future will not be pretty.  We keep hearing how important this election will be, and there is a lot of truth in that.  As LeMieux aptly said, Americans have traditionally risen to each challenge that appeared insurmountable in every generation.  While one might argue that the stakes have never been higher than now, it is important for us to work together to fight the poison of liberalism’s corrosive impact on our society.

We look forward to more great meetings in 2012 for our Boca Chapter—please stay tuned into this site for more information, and INVITE YOUR FRIENDS to our next Boca Chapter event, which will be on January 3, 2012!!! Until then, have a Happy Holiday Season from those of us at the Boca Chapter of the Palm Beach County Tea Party!  See you next year!

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