House Dem Leadership Now Managing Expectations for 9/12 Tea Party Protests

Published September 11, 2009 8:09pm ET



Tomorrow, the 9/12 protest will take place in Washington, D.C. An offshoot of the Tax Day Tea Party movement, and hyped by Glenn Beck and conservative activist groups, the turn out promises to be healthy. But Democratic leadership is even more sanguine about the possibilities than organizers:

A top House Dem leadership aide has emailed a memo to Dem aides on the Hill and outside liberal groups warning they should brace for a turnout of up to two million people, suggesting Dems worry that if enough conservatives descend on the Mall it will amount to a major PR victory for the right. The aide, Doug Thornell, warned in the memo that the dust-up over Joe “you lie” Wilson has been invigorating conservatives. “It looks like Saturday’s event is going to be a huge gathering, estimates ranging from hundreds of thousands to 2 million people,” Thornell wrote in the memo, which was forwarded by a source.

Two million tea partiers, huh? I’m sure Nancy Pelosi can imagine nothing more frightening, but the estimate sounds a bit, shall we say, fishy. Greg Sargent goes on to note the possible meaning of this Democratic optimism:

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