D.C. Rally Energizes Liberal Voters
HOLMES: We saw some 400 different groups come together yesterday representing the spectrum of liberal causes. They organized the One Nation Working Together rally in the nation's capital. They were trying to get people enthused about the upcoming election. But the people that were trying to fire up were supporters of Barack Obama, many would say. CNN's Kate Bolduan was there for us.</s>KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The rally here at Lincoln Memorial was organized by a coalition of liberal and progressive- leaning groups, including union groups and civil rights groups, among them. Talking about a range of issue, but really focusing on the need for job creation, improving public education, also touching on immigration reform -- all of this setting as the backdrop of the upcoming midterm elections.</s>AL SHARPTON, POLITICAL ACTIVIST: We got to go home and we've got to hit the pavement. We've got to knock on doors. We've got to ring those church bells. We've got to get ready for the midterm exam! We can't stop in '08. We've got to get ready in '10, from '10 too (ph), to '11 too (ph) -- we go passed the midterm exam.</s>BOLDUAN: With polls showing that Democratic members of Congress are in trouble in the upcoming election, people turning out here said they wanted to present a show of force and to have their voices heard. Why did you, guys, coming out here today? What -- what's the motivation? Why did you, guys, show up?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're in solidarity with everybody out here, I guess, and the agenda to make America a more progressive place. We want America to be something that represents every kind of diversity in this country. We're here -- we want to show that we have a presence and we want America to head in the right direction.</s>BOLDUAN: A major theme here today was, as they call it, One Nation, organizers trying to rally the Democratic base, rally voters with a get-out-the-vote message with an aim today, really, of trying to stir same emotion and the same energy that they've already seen amongst conservative groups, among conservative rallies, right here at the Lincoln Memorial, like the Glenn Beck and the Tea Party rallies over the summer, all of this with an eye toward the upcoming election one month away. Kate Bolduan, CNN, Washington.</s>HOLMES: Well, it seems like it's been the year of rallies in Washington. We did see it, conservative Glenn Beck and the Tea Party gatherings there. Now, this one, the One Nation rally, a liberal, as you heard, kind of a left-leaning, progress-leaning groups getting together there. Thousands came together. This is at the Lincoln Memorial. You're seeing this video again. Again, the focus, they say, was on jobs and education and a pledge to support Democrats in November. Well, joining me on the phone now is National Tea Party Federation spokesman David Webb. Mr. Webb, thank you for hopping on the line with us this morning. After seeing what happened yesterday, would you have liked to have been there at that rally yesterday? Do you think there was something you and other Tea Party movement folks could have contributed to it?</s>DAVID WEBB, NATIONAL TEA PARTY FEDERATION SPOKESMAN (via telephone): Well, I think the more important message is not that we sit and counter each other, which this is being kind of set as the rally versus rally atmosphere.</s>HOLMES: Yes.</s>WEBB: They don't reflect the majority of Americans. Well, the liberal progressive agenda has been rejected by America, we have seen it fail, stimulus and 15 million people out of jobs, and they want to continue this entitlement mentality. Plus, when you look at groups involved in this, like La Raza and other groups that have had hateful messages against other Americans, playing the race card, playing the race game -- this is about getting voters to come home for the elections.</s>HOLMES: Well, Mr. Webb, would you say on some issues, though, whether that's education, jobs, that there are some issues that the folks at the rally yesterday, folks we saw at Mr. Beck's rally, folks we see the Tea Party Express tour that goes across the country -- aren't those a couple of issues, the jobs and education, that no matter what we think on some of the other things, that we clearly, a lot of folks disagree on, that everybody can come together at least on some things?</s>WEBB: Well, it would be great if we did more than agree on the headlines. What we don't agree on is the approaches. Education is a major civil rights issue. It has been mismanaged. Throwing money at it has not fixed it. So, why continue a failed policy? We need to have that choice in our education system that helps especially urban communities regardless of the ethnic makeup.</s>HOLMES: And, Mr. Webb, you said there that you don't agree on the approaches, even though -- yes, we want more jobs. Yes, we want better education. You don't agree on the approaches. But does that preclude us all, and I say "us," I'm just talking about Americans, does that preclude us all from being able to have civil conversation and debate? It sounds like you're saying, hey, we don't agree on approaches so it's us against them.</s>WEBB: No, it's not about us against them. And we should be civil on the debate. But what we have seen is a pervasive hateful response from the left. When someone on the right does something -- and look, there are people on right that have made that -- that have done things wrong also, to be fair. On the extremes, neither one belongs in the discussion. But they don't have discussions. The ones on the extremes simply come out and use invective and stir up emotions. We need to sit down and figure out what's needed in America -- what needs to work from a policy point of view, not an ideological point of view.</s>HOLMES: Well, on that point there, I was talking to Ben Jealous, the head of the NAACP, yesterday, head of the rally -- and I want you listen now to what he told me about the rally yesterday and what it was in response to. And I do want to give you an opportunity to respond to it. So, let's take a listen.</s>BEN JEALOUS, NAACP PRESIDENT & CEO: We're not the answer to the Tea Party. We're not the alternative to the Tea Party. But we're very much the antidote to the Tea Party. We're a different response to the same situation. Some folks see tensions going up and prosperity going down and they want to inflame tension. We say, let's push up on prosperity. Let's create a tie that lifts all votes.</s>HOLMES: You know what? I will just -- not even ask a question, I will just let go ahead and respond to what you just heard.</s>WEBB: Well, Ben Jealous has little credibility with me. This is a man who is the head of an organization, and there are great local chapters of the NAACP. But the national chapter would not answer a lie told by them in their own press release to me on "LARRY KING." So, his credibility is shot. The problem is that we don't have a discourse going on, as you mentioned earlier, in the country about need solutions. What we have is a constant attack by the left and when they are in the minority, which they are, and when they are in trouble for the elections, they play the race card for the black community, they play the immigration card for the Hispanic community, they play the anti-war card for the anti-war activists. They're not looking for American solutions. They're looking to get their agenda through, regardless of whether the policy is good for America or not.</s>HOLMES: Mr. Webb, I hope we can find a time, find a day, where that conversation you and I are speaking of can take place and accusations don't continue to fly and some of that nasty rhetoric doesn't continue to fly. Mr. Webb, I appreciate you hopping on the line with us, hope to have you part of the conversation here with us at least over the coming days, weeks and months ahead. Thank you so much for your time.</s>WEBB: Thank you. I would love to have that conversation.</s>HOLMES: All right. Well, we look forward to it. And I want to remind viewers out there, you can always get the latest political news by going to our Web site, CNNPolitics.com. Sixteen past the hour. Quick break, we'll be right back.