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Free Republic is full of patriotic individuals who are willing to pitch in for the cause. Their reasons for not attending probably have less to do with their patriotism than more pedestrian issues like cost, time, etc. In addition, we don't know how many people within driving distance attended the protest the week before. There are only so many weekends one can give up away from your family.

One also has to analyze the issue of safety. It's been pointed out several times that the situation was very tense and at times people were in fear for their well being. You can't plan on plopping 100 FReepers down in the middle of thousands of potentially violent leftists without some questioning their safety. FReepers are not like the leftists who attended the other rallies, who are primarily young, single, unattached college students who think they are going to live forever. FReepers have jobs, families, duties and responsibilities. Most could not afford getting arrested, which was a distinct possibility if altercations arose.

All of these issues must be considered when planning an event. If the primary goal was to oppose the lefties and not let them have DC all to themselves, than one must accept lowered attendance, considering conservative sensibilities. It appears this was the goal as intended by the rally organizers, so in that repsec, they were successful.

If the primary goal was to get as many people to attend as possible and make a big PR splash, it might have been better to hold the rally on a different day or in conjunction with the rally the previous week when you would have an additional 50k people (plus press) or so to draw to your stage and speakers.

It has been pointed out several times in these threads that the left is better at this than we are. It's not that they're better, it's that they have big head start, don't repeat mistakes and when they commit to organizing events such as this, they have very clearly defined goals and objectives that emphasis turnout and exposure. All their event decisions pivot around these issues. Right now, the opposition rally leaders, from the varying organizations, are having bull sessions analyzing what they did right, what they did wrong, and how to use what they learned to improve their impact next time. They know how to work together, even thought they may disagree on issues and strategy, because they realize there is strength in numbers and they increase the output of their efforts through cooperation. Free Republic, and conservatives in general, will never have the impact of the left until we learn to put our trivial ego and territory issues aside and work together as a team.

BTW - This is one of the goals of the FRee Republic Network.

"Free Republic is full of patriotic individuals who are willing to pitch in for the cause."

I agree. Regardless, as you should surmise, my reference to the many "fat and happy" (post #512) was regarding the metro D.C. area residents in the tri-state area who are within less than a two hour commute to downtown DC. Many of the FReepers I saw there Saturday were from as far away as West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and even NYC. If some of them were willing to sacrifice even just a one day road trip down here, just where the heck was everyone else?

Even though I was not involved at all in the planning nor execution of this mega-FReep, Patriots Rally, I truly empathize with how disappointed some of them may feel that the turnout wasn't any better than it was. And, I wouldn't blame any of those who were there last Saturday for somehow feeling like David in his fight against Goliath.

And that's another reason why I feel that those who did follow the D.C. Chapter's leadership and showed up last Saturday were truly representive of the spirit of those militia men who stood on Lexington Green, April 19, 1775 against the redcoats. True Patriots, every single one of them. And I truly believe that even if the Park Police hadn't been there, the D.C. Chapter FReepers and allies (including the TRT) would have stood their ground against the mob, just like the they had during the dark days (years) of FReeping Clintonista/Goron rule and during the election aftermath.