Boca Chapter and SF912 Host Florida Senate Candidate Forum with Joyce Kaufman!
The Palm Beach County Tea Party Boca Raton Chapter and the South Florida 912 are joining forces on July 10th for another spectacular evening of like-minded fellowship through the three core principles of the Tea Party. Joyce Kaufman will moderate this FL Senate Candidate Forum with candidates Melanie Peterson, Mike Lameyer, and Geoff Sommers at Boca Greens Country Club (19642 Trophy Drive ). Ellyn Bogdanoff, who will be facing Lameyer for FL Senate District 34 in the GOP Primary on August 14th, was unable to attend due to a scheduling conflict. Peterson and Sommers will square off for an August 14th GOP primary for District 25.
This forum is being held in lieu of our normal monthly Dinner/Speaker Event (and we pushed it back one week, to July TENTH, instead of the THIRD, to avoid conflicting with holiday plans for July 4th).
We are fortunate to have local veteran conservative talk show host Joyce Kaufman join us as the moderator, and Lou Galterio will sing the National Anthem. She will be asking the candidates a number of questions put together by our respective leadership teams, and the questions will involve local policy issues, and how the candidates’ positions on those issues might be viewed from the perspective of our three core principles.
As usual, doors will open at 5:30pm and the Cash Bar will be open. Dinner ($15 includes tea, coffee, dinner, dessert, tax and gratuity) will be from 6:00pm to 7:00pm. We will make announcements for the Palm Beach County Tea Party and South Florida 912, and the Candidate forum will commence around 7:15. People are welcome to attend the Forum, at no charge and simply skip the dinner portion. Either way, we still need a head count, and will ask you to click on the RSVP button below.
This event promises to be an exciting evening of getting to know our local candidates, and to get involved in the political process right here, where we live!
Please RSVP now on the button here, and see you on Tuesday!
Slade O’Brien Educates and Inspires Boca Chapter Crowd
The Palm Beach County Tea Party’s Boca Chapter had their monthly Dinner/Speaker Event on the first Tuesday of the month—as usual—at Boca Greens Country Club on June 5th. This would turn out to be a very special and exhilarating evening- not just because of our meeting, but because just after it, the news reported that Scott Walker had won his battle against those who would attempt a recall. Turnout was about as expected, as we will attract a total of about 80 people at every event, no matter what. Many of our patriotic supporters are “snowbirds”, and are gone for the season, and there were several regulars who were not in attendance on this night. Nevertheless, it was a respectable showing for our speaker Slade O’Brien—the Florida Director of Americans For Prosperity. With November on the almost immediate horizon, Slade’s expertise on the political machinations within our state is truly invaluable.
The main dining room at Boca Greens Country Club was closed for maintenance, but Roger and his gang did a great job setting us up in the private meeting room, with a panoramic view of the beautiful golf course. The food was as good as ever—and all went quite smoothly, despite the minor change in venue. We really appreciate the local restaurants’ involvement in that they provide us with gift certificates to auction off for our silent auction. There were SO MANY great restaurants to choose from! We also had a crystal bowl, as well as two Palm Beach County Tea Party polo shirts up on the block, all for the taking.
In a break from our normal protocol, we elected to ask Tyce Fitzmorris to present his specially created DVD on the peril that our country is really in—from both an ideological standpoint, as well as a DEBT standpoint. He set up his projector in front of the podium, and began at 6:30. You could hear the sound of forks hitting plates slow down, as Tyce delved deeper and deeper into these solemn issues. He was clearly a “hit”, and many people wanted both the DVD he created, as well as asking him to deliver the same presentation to other gatherings. Please contact us if you would like Tyce to do this for your group.
Boca Chapter Coordinator Alex Berry began the proceedings at 7:00pm with the Pledge of Allegiance. We were fortunate enough to have Lou Galterio, “The Golden Voice”, sing the National Anthem for us, which was met with thunderous applause! After the usual protocol of explaining what the PBCTP is, and what it stands for, Alex presented his usual recent email fare- this time with a takeoff of the “You Know You Might Be A Redneck If…” series by Jeff Foxworthy. This was titled, “You Know You Live In ‘Upside Down Land’ If…”. It pointed out, in a humorous way, how the poison of liberalism has literally turned our world upside down. Local event announcements were made, as well as a “teaser” for our new Plaque Program, more of which will be revealed next month. We had at least 6 different candidates, officeholders, or candidate representatives announce themselves during the announcements, and they were certainly welcomed in kind.
Alex then introduced Slade O’Brien, who emphasized the importance of GETTING INVOLVED—and mobilizing our efforts to create a maximum effect. His speech was quite illuminating, as Slade and his team truly have their fingers on the pulse of what’s happening in Tallahassee, as well as in Washington, DC. It is hard to imagine having a better ally in our cause for Liberty than groups like AFP, and the people like Slade who passionately run their regional chapters. As a conservative grassroots organizer since the mid-90’s, Slade observed that, “Compromise got us $15 Trillion in debt. We don’t need to compromise. We need to win.” He had great information on judges in Florida, and how none have ever lost a reelection based on “merit retention”. His group will be educating Floridians on this process. He further criticized the Florida Legislature as not being proactive enough in helping Gov. Rick Scott in his program to create jobs, and gave several illustrations of how tax credits were being misused amongst a type of “crony” crowd, much like what’s happening in Washington on a much bigger scale. There were even examples of contracts with the state that were so vague, that the only clear stipulation was that an invoice would be rendered once a quarter! Understandably, Slade was for reducing the extreme amount of regulation that currently exists to bolster new business development in Florida, while increasing transparency with existing contracts with the state.
The crowd had several great questions for Slade. There was a clear sense of frustration within our audience in terms of the existing levels of fraud and corruption already rampant in our system, and what we can do to thwart any further growth of this cancer within our governing bodies. How encouraging it was to see our group engaged in the dialogue, and taking part in the process! There really is no substitute for that kind of fellowship and camaraderie, and I am, as always, happy to see our chapter express their patriotism through having their voices heard in our group. Having said that, I encourage everyone to get involved in our Boca Chapter, and join us for future events to take part in having your voice heard with like-minded folk from all over Palm Beach County.
We look forward to more great meetings in 2012 for our Boca Chapter—please INVITE YOUR FRIENDS to our next event, which will be July 3rd, 2012, with speaker Kris-Anne Hall. PLEASE NOTE: THIS MEETING HAS BEEN POSTPONED DUE TO IT’S DATE FALLING TOO CLOSE TO A MAJOR HOLIDAY (JULY 4TH), SO WE REPLACED IT WITH THE FLORIDA SENATE CANDIDATE FORUM, WHICH WILL OCCUR ON JULY 10TH. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO RSVP TO THAT EVENT!!!
Otherwise, we always have our Boca Chapter Dinner/Speaker event on the FIRST TUESDAY of every month, so mark your calendars! Time is drawing to a close to make a difference for the next election, so please get involved if you aren’t yet, and STAY involved if you already are!
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Slade O’Brien, Florida Director for AFP, To Address Boca Chapter June 5th!
Slade O’Brien is an accomplished grassroots organizer and public affairs professional with more than 15 years of demonstrated success in public policy communications, project, campaign & issue management, media relations, community outreach, coalition building, fundraising, event staging & management, grassroots advocacy and third party recruitment.
A third generation Floridian; Slade double majored in college receiving both a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
After spending 7 years in advertising and marketing, Slade began his political career working for the Republican Party of Florida where he served as Special Assistant to the Chairman for Victory ‘94.
An early leader within the conservative grassroots movement, Mr. O’Brien was tapped to be the first ever Florida Director of Citizens for a Sound Economy in 1998. Long before there ever was a Tea Party Slade built the grassroots organization from scratch and turned it into a 45,000 member grassroots powerhouse, with clubs in 11 local markets which played a key role in passing such issues as tort reform, educational choice, and reducing the intangibles tax in Florida.
Mr. O’Brien also served as the Executive Director of Florida Stop Lawsuit Abuse, a grassroots organization dedicated to challenging those who abuse our legal system and educating the public about the costs and consequences of lawsuit abuse.
Most recently, Slade worked in the private sector as the President of the Florida Strategies Group where he specialized in public opinion strategies, campaign and coalition management, strategic consulting and grassroots organizing.
| DATE: | Tuesday, June 5th, 2012 |
|---|---|
| TIME: | Doors open 5:30pm. Buffet at 6pm. Meeting starts at 7pm, $15 per person (tax and gratuity included) |
| PLACE: | Boca Greens Country Club, 19642 Trophy Drive, Boca Raton, FL 33498, Click HERE for Map |
May 1 Boca Chapter Video
Blaise Ingoglia Fires Up the Boca Raton Chapter!
Despite another rainy and windy evening another night of good food, fellowship, and patriotism from the Palm Beach County Tea Party, we had a very respectable turnout at Boca Greens Country Club on May 1st, for the Boca Chapter’s Monthly Dinner/Speaker event. Our speaker was Blaise Ingoglia, Vice Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida. Better known as the creator of the highly popular video series, Government Gone Wild, which has been extremely successful (read: “viral”) on YouTube, Blaise has a definite knack for articulating complex issues, such as the National Debt, into east-to-understand vignettes, using examples lay people can relate to. His message was powerful, and he came right out and said, “this is going to scare you…” on more than one occasion. It definitely had the desired effect, but the message was inspiring, not depressing—it’s important to know what the stakes are when November rolls around in a few short months!
Boca Greens Country Club definitely continued in their efforts to provide a comfortable venue with terrific food. We had several local restaurants provide us with gift certificates to auction off for our silent auction, and there were many other items for the taking, too. People came from all over the area, and we had several members make the trip from Jupiter—too many to name here. We also had Marion Frank in the audience, who will be stepping in to help run the Wellington Chapter.
Boca Chapter Coordinator Alex Berry began the proceedings at 7:00pm with the Pledge of Allegiance. Carlos Manuel Santana then regaled us with his impassioned version of the National Anthem- truly exhilarating! After the usual protocol of explaining what the PBCTP is, and what it stands for, Alex had a little fun with the audience by examining the new campaign slogan of our opposition, “Forward”, and illuminating how that word has been used prolifically throughout the history of socialism. Alex introduced Pam Wohlschlegel, PBCTP Founder and County Coordinator. Pam announced several items of interest to our group, including the effort to prevent recall in Wisconsin, and Get Out The Vote efforts.
Local candidates Joe Talley (County Sheriff) and Geoff Summers (FL Senate district 25) made appearances, and introduced themselves before the main speaker was introduced.
Alex then introduced Blaise Ingoglia, who spent the next 40 minutes examining how dire our circumstances are with the debt addiction our country currently finds itself in, as well as the seeming blatant disregard for that debt—and the potentially disastrous outcome of these policies—from our elected officials in Washington. Without doubt, Ingoglia has done a LOT of research and homework on all of this. As a Florida entrepreneur, he witnessed gross mismanagement of political affairs on the local level, and then in government corridors on the federal level– and was so genuinely alarmed by what he found, that he created the GGW video series. His presentation combined elements of topics covered in his videos, coupled with a “call to action” for people to get involved in the process locally—the best way to affect change!
Blaise then took questions from the crowd. The reaction from our audience was truly passionate—we had a lot more questions than we had time to address! There is no question that our audience was engaged deeply in the dialogue, and many were happy to express their patriotism through having their voices heard in our group.
It was a great night that was well attended and received. For those who missed this event, I can emphatically say that if you ever get the opportunity to hear Blaise Ingoglia speak live, you should jump at the opportunity. I encourage everyone to get involved in the political process, and join us for future events to enjoy irreplaceable fellowship with like-minded folk from all over the county, and reshape this country to it’s true essence!!!
We look forward to more great meetings in 2012 for our Boca Chapter—please INVITE YOUR FRIENDS to our next event, which will be June 4th, 2012. Remember—we always have our Boca Chapter Dinner/Speaker event on the FIRST TUESDAY of every month, so mark your calendars! Time is drawing to a close to make a difference for the next election, so please get involved if you aren’t yet, and STAY involved if you already are!
Here are some pictures of our event:
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May 1st Boca Raton Chapter Meeting with Blaise Ingoglia!
Republican Party of Florida Vice Chairman Blaise Ingoglia will address the Boca Chapter on May 1st. Ingoglia is a Hernando County entrepreneur and rising star in local and state Republican Party politics. He is behind Government Gone Wild, a series of Web videos, seminars and blogs. The approach, says Ingoglia, shows people how bad the issue really is. A recent video Ingoglia produced through Government Gone Wild — “Brother, Can You Spare a Trillion?” — is a YouTube hit. The video has now surpassed 5.14 million views. “The reason why this resonates with people is it melds satire and motivational speaking in a political atmosphere,” says Ingoglia. “The problem when politicians start talking about budgets and finance is people’s eyes start to roll to the back of their heads in boredom.” He emphasizes the debt problem is bipartisan. He also weaves satire into the presentations. “The government,” Ingoglia told the Sarasota crowd last year, “has turned into that person who is always asking you for money.”
Blaise Ingoglia aims to break down the federal government’s massive debt problems into easily understandable chunks in his videos and seminars.
Ingoglia says he researches and verifies all of his data from online sources, mostly government data websites. Here are some of Ingoglia’s eye-popping nuggets when it comes to debt and spending abuse:
• The federal government will pay $1.9 million per minute of debt for the next 10 years.
• At the current pace, by 2046 every dime collected by the government in taxes will go to pay off debt.
• The federal government has spent $8 trillion in interest payments on its debt since 1988. “A lot of that is going to other countries,” says Ingoglia, “making them prosperous, not us.”
• The government spent $1.5 million of federal stimulus money to spruce up apartments. Problem is, those apartments were scheduled for demolition.
• The U.S. Department of Energy could save $2.2 million if it turned off lights and used more efficient energy sources, says Ingoglia, citing a U.S. Government Accountability Office study.
• The government spent $712,000 of federal stimulus money on joke-telling software. “Why do we need joke-telling software,” asks Ingoglia on a Government Gone Wild video, “when we already have Congress?”
| DATE: | Tuesday, May 1st, 2012 |
|---|---|
| TIME: | Doors open 5:30pm. Buffet at 6pm. Meeting starts at 7pm, $15 per person (tax and gratuity included) |
| PLACE: | Boca Greens Country Club, 19642 Trophy Drive, Boca Raton, FL 33498, Click HERE for Map |
Ron McNeil Energizes Boca Raton Crowd!
Balmy, comfortable weather welcomed our usual patriotic crowd – along with some new faces – in Boca Raton on Tuesday night, April 3rd at Boca Greens Country Club. Many in the crowd who had not heard US Senate Candidate Ron McNeil speak before were clearly in for a pleasant surprise. McNeil’s home stomping grounds are up in the panhandle; so many people in our area do not know him well. That changed quickly on this great evening! Ron McNeil is a great American success story—the absolute perfect example of how good ol’ American ingenuity and “hutzpah” found in finding a need, then filling it, which is what actually creates jobs and wealth… NOT government programs!
Once again, the food selection at Boca Greens was terrific, including fresh fish, sausage and peppers, and lasagna. One lucky patriot, who purchased several raffle tickets, won THREE of the six dinner coupons that were up for grabs! He will be eating well in Boca for the next several days!
Boca Chapter Coordinator Alex Berry began the proceedings at 7:00pm with the Pledge of Allegiance. He stated what the PBCTP is, and what it stands for, as usual, followed by introducing our Founder, Pam Wohlschlegel. Pam made general announcements, but spoke mostly about our upcoming Tax Day Tea Party Rally in Wellington on April 15th, at the Wellington Amphitheatre. In addition to promoting the event, she also asked for volunteers to help us with the expected crowds. Brand new flyers were printed up and brought to the meeting just in time, and we also have new Palm Beach County Tea Party lapel pins. Pam then introduced Barbara Samuells, who is active in the 912 Super Seniors group, and has appeared on Glenn Beck’s program on more than one occasion. Her “live participation” illustration of how we have been sold a sack of goods with ObamaCare was a definite highlight of the evening.
As in March, we had a great turnout from local candidates- Mike Lameyer (FL Senate District 25), Joe Talley (County Sheriff), James Ryan O’Hara (FL House of Representatives), and Anne Trujillo (US House of Representatives) and Melanie Peterson (FL House of Representatives) were among the evenings’ attendees, all of whom got a moment to introduce themselves, and what they stood for, before the main speaker was introduced.
Alex then introduced Rhonda Harrell, Ron McNeil’s Deputy Campaign Manager. She provided a little bit of background for McNeil, and introduced him to the podium. Standing 6’5” in his dark suit, McNeil’s stage presence is energetic and imposing. Rather than stand behind the podium, McNeil paced in front of it, addressing the crowd and making eye contact in a personal, folksy, heartfelt, way that was winsome, and it truly resonated with our crowd. How refreshing it was to hear someone who was unconcerned with “editing” their statements, or having a canned campaign speech! He had a small sign made up of what the problems are that we face, along with his proposed solutions from which he drew for his material in his speech. The fact that his motivation is NOT a career in politics, but, rather, a sincere desire to SAVE this country from the liberal poison that has been infecting our nation so badly was also very well received.
McNeil’s stance on virtually all the issues was quite consistent with the worldview of our Founding Fathers—that stance and worldview that we always ought to be suspicious of Big Government, and that the government needs to “get OUT of the business of being ‘in business’”… In other words, the government should absolutely NOT be involved in any area that the private sector can handle on its own.
Despite McNeil’s appealing and authentic “Good Ole Boy” bravado, he is also perfectly in line with the classic conservative (not to mention Constitutional) position on Foreign Policy—Of course, he still wants to ardently support Israel and other key allies, but is sick of the modern “rules of engagement” in warfare, and is weary of the fact that we are paying to have troops all over the world where we have no conflicts—putting the cost burden on the shoulders of American taxpayers. Worse still, we borrow money from other countries to be the world’s “policeman”. Our Founding Fathers were totally against this idea, a phenomenon that has been bred into our conservative mindset since 1941. For the 200 years prior to 1941 (the vast majority of our country’s history), the classic conservative position was to only go into war when we absolutely NEED to, get in and WIN the war, and bring the troops home. McNeil struck no one as being anything other than very strong on national defense, but he has more of a common sense, constitutional viewpoint on Foreign Policy than most.
His compelling speech made for a boisterous Question & Answer period, which McNeil deftly handled with his usual grace and aplomb. McNeil and his Deputy Campaign Manager were the last people to leave—staying to accommodate every question, comment, or conversation request from the crowd. The outrage from the seemingly uniform attack on our Constitution, liberties, and way of life is what motivates a self-made man like McNeil to enter the race, and we are the better for it. Like many of us in the Tea Party, we don’t “want” to volunteer and make our voices heard, we feel like we “have” to. Like they say, “It takes a Carter to bring us a Reagan!” I think that effectively sums up the political scenario for McNeil, who is an authentic “heir-apparent” to the Reagan mantle. Anyway, the straight talk and genuine demeanor of this man truly energized our crowd. It really was refreshing to see someone with the swagger and “cojones” to back up what he says.
We look forward to more great meetings in 2012 for our Boca Chapter—please INVITE YOUR FRIENDS to our next event, which will be on May 1st, 2012!!! Our speaker will be Blaise Ingoglia, the new Vice Chairman for the Republican Party of Florida, and the creator of the very popular YouTube video series, “Government Gone Wild!”
Remember—we always have our Boca Chapter Dinner/Speaker event on the FIRST TUESDAY of every month, so mark your calendars! We now have FIVE months to make a difference for the next election, so please get involved if you aren’t yet, and STAY involved if you already are!
Pictures from Alex:
CLICK HERE to see all the photos at once.
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“Monumental”, with Kirk Cameron!
Alex Berry here. Just popping in with some information about a brand new movie featuring Kirk Cameron (who was in “Fireproof”, the number one indie film of 2008). It’s called, “Monumental”, and it will have a limited release in about 550 theaters across America.
The Executive Producer of the film is a dear friend of mine, as is the President of the production company who wrote, shot, and edited the film. It’s about how the original settlers of this nation came here, and what it was they risked their lives for. It talks about a deep commitment to the FAITH of our overwhelmingly Christian founders. From this faith, and obedience to the Word of God, our “code” of morality and freedom and liberty were set forth in our Constitution. The point of this film addresses that our country has increasingly gotten screwed up in proportion to how far we have distanced ourselves, as a nation, to these core Biblical principles. The political ramifications of this are quite obvious to any one of us in the Tea Party.
I would love to encourage all Palm Beach County Tea Party members and friends to join me at the worldwide premiere of this movie in Boca Raton, at the Muvico 20, on Tuesday, March 27th, 2012 at 5:30pm for a brief ceremony before the movie shows at 7:30pm.
If this theatre is not convenient for you, other theaters in Palm Beach County simultaneously showing the film are:
- Cinemark Palace 20 in Boca Rston
- Shadowood 16 in Boca Raton
- Cinemark Boynton Beach 14 in Boynton Beach
- Delray Beach 18 in Delray Beach
- Jupiter 18 Cinemas, Jupiter
- Downtown at the Gardens 16 Cinema (16) in Palm Beach Gardens
- Delray Beach 16
- Royal Palm Statium 18 in West Palm Beach
Invite your friends and you will surely see other Palm Beach County Tea Party members at the cinema nearest you. Remember, this coming Tuesday is the only night that this movie will be shown nationwide. After that, it will only be show to private parties requesting the movie. More information on that later!
US Senate Candidate Ron McNeil In Boca Chapter, April 3rd!
| DATE | Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012 |
|---|---|
| TIME | Doors open 5:30pm. Buffet at 6pm. Meeting starts at 7pm, $15 per person (tax and gratuity included) |
| PLACE | Boca Greens Country Club 19642 Trophy Drive, Boca Raton, FL 33498 Click HERE for Map |
| RSVP | Call 561-302-1479 or click on the “RSVP” button below.
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The Boca Raton Chapter looks forward to it’s next monthly Dinner/Speaker Event on April 3rd. We are proud to present US Senate Candidate Ron McNeil, who was also at our Candidate Forum in Wellington this past November.
Ron’s biography:
Ron McNeil, a Florida businessman and a native of the Panhandle, has been a solution-oriented person all his life. His business career started in his home town at the age of 16, chopping firewood for the elderly and delivering a whole truckload for $4. From there, Ron has been granted over 97 patents in the United States and around the world solving problems, mainly in the environmental field, for cities and counties.
His products are in use all over the United States saving taxpayers millions of dollars by reducing the cost and upkeep of vital infrastructure. Ron believes that releasing free enterprise from over-taxation and over-regulation will enable American ingenuity to solve the mounting problems facing our nation.
Ron received the endorsement of President Ronald Reagan in his 1982 bid for Congress in Florida’s 2nd District. A terrible year for Republicans nationwide and a district that barely had 10% of voters being registered Republicans, Ron exploded capturing over 40% of the vote against the district’s long term incumbent. After the election, Ron was called to Washington and met in the White House with President Reagan and discussed the challenges facing America in those unsure economic times.
When not working on his business, Ron likes to spend time on his ranch, riding his horses, and enjoying every moment with his family.
Marielena Stuart In Boca Raton
Despite rather blustery weather with high winds punctuating the start of another night of patriotism from the Palm Beach County Tea Party, we had a great turnout at Boca Greens Country Club on March 6th, for the Boca Chapter’s Monthly Dinner/Speaker. Gracing our podium tonight was Marielena Stuart, a candidate for US Senate from the State of Florida. Her unique perspective as a world traveler, and her upbringing in Cuba and enduring the oppression of Castro, gives her words a LOT of extra emphasis and passion. It was certainly not lost on the 130 people attending, who gave her a standing ovation.
Once again, the food selection at Boca Greens was outstanding, and they even had an “ice cream bar” with someone scooping out portions of ice cream that people could put toppings on themselves. We had no fewer than SIX local restaurants in the Boca area provide us with gift certificates to auction off for our silent auction, which was very successful, just as it was in February. Mel Grossman made the trip from Jupiter to be with us, as did Terry Brady.
Boca Chapter Coordinator Alex Berry began the proceedings at 7:00pm with the Pledge of Allegiance. Carlos Manuel Santana then regaled us with his impassioned version of the National Anthem. After the usual protocol of explaining what the PBCTP is, and what it stands for, Alex made general announcements, and then asked Mel Grossman to come to the podium. Mel had some up-to-date tidbits from newspaper clippings that concern us all. Terry Brady then succeeded him at the podium to go over fundraising, as well as to announce our Tax Day Tea Party Rally in Wellington in April. He announced that Dick Morris has agreed to be the lead speaker. Joe Madej then spoke to us, as he did last month, to explain how our organization will be organizing our poll watching efforts, as well as our Get Out The Vote campaign. Sign-up sheets were on all the tables for that effort.
We had a great turnout from local candidates- Mike Lameyer (FL Senate District 25), Joe Tally (County Sheriff), James Ryan O’Hara (FL House of Representatives), and Anne Trujillo (US House of Representatives) were among the evenings’ attendees, all of whom got a moment to introduce themselves, and what they stood for, before the main speaker was introduced.
Alex then introduced Marielena Stuart, who was accompanied by her family, who all campaign together. Marielena’s perspective on encroaching socialism in our society is perhaps as cogent and strong as anyone in the country. With her background under the Castro regime, watching her relatives face becoming political prisoners, and even DEATH, due to being outspoken regarding Castro’s rise to power, one can tell without any explanation that Marielena MEANS what she says. There was an element to her speech of true human emotion and authenticity that simply cannot be faked—her sincerity was palpable, transcending mere politics. Her positions on nearly all the issues that face us today are as true to the Constitution as anyone who has spoken at one of our events. One can see how much of a threat she represents to the Establishment in politics, since she is not shy about how she would reduce power within the Federal Government, should she be elected.
Marielena then took questions from the crowd, even though we were running later than normal. She and her family were the last people to leave the building, staying and chatting with EVERYONE who wanted an audience with her. If this is not an “approachable” candidate, I don’t know who is.
Several happy raffle prize winners won fine dining experiences throughout Boca, as well as some great Palm Beach County Tea Party Polo Shirts. It was truly an excellent evening—Mrs. Stuart’s message ought to be heard nationwide, not just in a small group dinner setting in Boca. For those of you who missed it, I can only say you missed an exceptional night of involvement in the political process, and irreplaceable fellowship with like-minded folk from all over the county!!!
We look forward to more great meetings in 2012 for our Boca Chapter—please INVITE YOUR FRIENDS to our next event, which will be on April 3rd, 2012!!! Remember—we always have our Boca Chapter Dinner/Speaker event on the FIRST TUESDAY of every month, so mark your calendars! We now have SIX months to make a difference for the next election, so please get involved if you aren’t yet, and STAY involved if you already are!
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