Those who wanted to give Obama a piece of their mind had a laundry list: bank bailouts, unemployment, his push for a health-care overhaul. A dozen abortion opponents also stood along Route 309, holding signs that blamed him for permitting the abortion of "future taxpayers." Others criticized his announcement this week of a troop increase in Afghanistan, and at least 100 people protested the rate of government spending.
As the motorcade raced to the school, supporters cheered, and members of a group called the Lehigh Valley Project 912 Tea Party shouted "No-Bama!"
"This is not what we want to be doing," said Linda Schmidtner, a founder of the group, a mother of two, and a small-business owner from Lower Saucon Township. "They're not representing us."
Frustrated with bailouts for corporations that she felt ignored the plight of workers, Schmidtner said, she had never been politically active before organizing the group.
"I had to do something with the frustration I had," she said in the biting wind outside the college. "Now we have 1,000 members."
Like Schmidtner, Diana Reimer, 67, of Lansdale, said she had never been politically active. But when her 71-year-old husband was told to retire or face a layoff, and they could not sell their home, Reimer grew frustrated.
"I'm not blaming Obama, I'm not saying he caused all this," said Reimer, who is now state coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots. "But this government is getting bigger and bigger. Instead of taxing the people more, why don't they cut out some of their perks?"
Diane McFarland, 51, of Whitehall, said this was her first protest, too. She held a sign with a red line through the words "Obama Care."
