Storming the Capitol

Health Care Rally in Washington, DC

November 5, 2009

Steps of the US Capitol

Footage of crowds and interviews posted on YouTube

Renaissance Women Productions has posted on YouTube.com . . . at Ren Women Productions, 5 segments (under 10 min. each) of the footage gathered at the rally with attribution to Nina May and the Renaissance Women Productions, (rwnetwork.net), and Va. Living TV.

There were over 30,000 people on the west side of the US Capitol, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009. The crowd was full of people who had never been involved politically, didn’t even know what congressional district they were in, or who their elected official was. They were not partisan at all, and many didn’t even know if their representative was Democrat or Republican . . . they just knew if they were supporting or opposing the health care bill . . . and would vote in 2010 accordingly.

Segment one . . . http://www.youtube.com/user/

RenWomenProductions Shows the crowds outside the three House Office Buildings, waiting in long lines to get in. We interviewed dozens of people from all over the country, telling where they are from, why they came and who their elected official is. Surprisingly, there were a lot of people who were there just to show support for their representative who is voting against the bill. Everyone was upbeat and positive, only one person was angry at being dismissed as “Astroturf”.

Segment two . . . http://www.youtube.com/user/RenWomenProductions

More interviews and comments from people in the crowd. Poignant story of a GE employee from Jacksonville, Fla. who held up a poster showing all the people he works with who chipped in to pay for the gas for him to make the trip on their behalf. This was the face of the crowd . . . people who made great sacrifices to make their voice heard. Everyone had a story, and stressed that they only had a few days to change their schedules to come in from all over the country. Many said they heard about the rally a week before on Sean Hannity’s radio show when Michele Bachman was a guest.

Segment three . . . http://www.youtube.com/user/RenWomenProductions

Interviews inside the halls of congress with people who either did or didn’t get in to see their representatives and what happened. One man told about the arrest of two teenage girls and a priest outside of Speaker Pelosi’s office. It was closed off to the public and designated a “crime scene.” They mention different offices visited and the responses. Many were very polite and encouraged by the reception they received, or frustrated and determined to keep trying to make their voices heard. It was stressed that it was not about politics or partisanship, one even condemned Senator Lugar, a Republican.

Segment four . . . http://www.youtube.com/user/RenWomenProductions

The opening of the press conference, rally, shots of the crowd, part of Pledge and Anthem and Michele Bachmann speech.

Segment five . . . http://www.youtube.com/user/RenWomenProductions

John Voight speech and shots of the crowd.