The Tea Party Express brought its “Fighting for Liberty” national bus tour to Cathedral Square in downtown Mobile on Wednesday, April 23, 2014, rallying conservative supporters with a message focused on fiscal responsibility and taking control of the U.S. Senate.
The event, which kicked off at 5:00 PM at 300 Conti Street, featured U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) as the main speaker. Sessions, a prominent conservative voice, told the crowd that if Republicans were successful in taking control of the Senate in the upcoming November elections, Congress would have an “option to pass a budget that would put America on a sound path”. He also criticized the Obama administration’s handling of the Affordable Care Act and immigration, arguing that the nation was on a “path of destruction financially”.
The rally was part of a broader two-week, 10-state tour through key battleground states that organizers hoped would energize grassroots conservatives ahead of the midterm elections. The tour, which began on April 19th in Fort Myers, Florida, made stops in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, and Minnesota.
Taylor Budowich, executive director of the Tea Party Express, said the tour’s goal was to rally and engage conservative Americans on issues that matter to them. “2014 will be the year we rip the gavel out of Harry Reid’s hand and return it to the people,” Budowich declared.
Approximately 25 people arrived in Mobile aboard two colorful buses, one of which was adorned with the likeness of President Ronald Reagan. The Mobile stop was the only one scheduled in Alabama during the tour. Budowich noted that Senator Sessions’ presence was a major draw for the rally, calling him a “stalwart conservative”.
In addition to Sessions, the event featured speeches from national and local Tea Party leaders, as well as performances from the conservative band Rivoli Revue and singer/songwriter Diana Nagy. About 10 local politicians and candidates also attended the rally, including Mobile-based candidate Jim Zeigler.
The Mobile stop came just one day after the Tea Party Express celebrated what it called the “movement’s first victory of 2014,” when Tea Party-supported candidate Curt Clawson won a Republican primary in Florida’s 19th Congressional district. The tour was set to continue on to Mississippi the following day.
