Taft 2012 - Jason Heller [33]
Just then, approaching from a distance, sirens began to wail.
The Washington Post
Dec. 8, 2011
NEW YORK CITY—A new political movement made a turbulent debut last night as crowds of people bearing signs proclaiming support for a group called the Taft Party mobbed the streets outside the studio of Raw Talk with Pauline Craig, where former president William Howard Taft had just been interviewed in a live television broadcast. The raucous crowd, which police estimated at approximately two hundred, sent five people to New York Presbyterian Hospital with minor injuries and damaged camera equipment of several network news crews.
A spokesperson for Congresswoman Rachel Taft’s office stated that the Taft Party is not affiliated with the congresswoman or William Howard Taft, her great-grandfather. She confirmed that William Howard Taft’s chief aide, Susan Weschler, was among those treated and released from the hospital last night.
Demonstrators described the Taft Party as a loose grassroots coalition of concerned citizens seeking to recapture a more civilized era of American democracy.
“We were just there to root for Taft,” said Brian Talley, a grocer from Virginia. “It was some jerk rent-a-cop who started pushing and shoving, not the Tafties. We came in peace but, man, don’t tread on us.”
As the demonstration descended into chaos, former president Taft refused to take shelter behind his Secret Service detail, leaping into the thick of the confusion to assist his aide, who was knocked briefly unconscious. Taft’s quick move to the center of the throng, where he called for order, was credited by many as the deciding factor in restoring peace.
“He was like an action hero,” said Dee Anderson, a librarian from New Jersey and Taft Party demonstrator. “I had no idea such a big man could move so fast. What’s that saying—that a president should speak softly and carry a big stick? With Taft it was more along the lines of, boom like a giant and you won’t have to bother with the stick.”
The Taft Party United Support Association
About Us
MISSION STATEMENT
The Taft Party came together in fall 2011 in response to the reappearance of former president William Howard Taft, which served as a clarion call to all Americans, reminding us that politics in the United States once attracted a more sensible, more decorous class of participant—and must do so again. Our mission is to gather, inform, organize, and motivate our fellow Americans to achieve a higher quality of political representation across the ideological spectrum in the 2012 election and beyond.
CORE VALUES
1. Common Sense National Policy (read more)
2. Equitable Treatment of Citizens (read more)
3. Care for the Future Shaped by the Past (read more)
EVENTS
New Year’s Eve rallies—Dec. 31, 2011
Primary protests—February–March 2012
Taft Party National Convention—July 12–15, 2012
REGIONAL TAFT PARTY BLOGS & GROUPS
Mid-Atlantic—coordinator: Allen Holtz, aholtz@taft2012.com
Midwest—coordinator: Frank Lommel, flommel@taft2012.com
South—coordinator: Rev. Todd Osborne, tosborne@taft2012.com
Southwest—coordinator: Linda Beach, lbeach@taft2012.com
Northwest—coordinator: Matt Shelby, mshelby@taft2012.com
New England—coordinator: Victoria Eldridge, veldridge@taft2012.com
MORE INFO
About William Howard Taft—taft2012.com/taft
How to participate—taft2012.com/community
Signs, buttons, shirts & more—taft2012.com/store
Support the Taft Party USA—taft2012.com/donate
TWELVE
“Taft Party? How can they presume to call themselves the Taft Party when we are the Tafts?”
Taft fidgeted furiously in the middle seat of Rachel’s van, wishing by all that was holy that a ham sandwich were to be had as they drove down the highway back to D.C. Susan dozed in the back seat while, up front, Rachel poked intensely at her phone.
“Grandpa,” she said, “I think you might be surprised by some of these blogs. I mean, I don’t agree with everything