WASHINGTON — Thousands of disparate protesters from all walks of life descended on the Capitol on Sunday for one last push on health care. It brought a day of contrasting bombast and belligerence.
The day began with a show of solidarity for black congressmen who Saturday had been pelted with racial insults and spittle.
Additional Photos
Civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., walked triumphantly to the Capitol, holding hands with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders en route to the vote. A trumpeter played the civil rights era song “We Shall Overcome.”
Competing demonstrators lined the driveway into the Capitol through which most House members arrived, shouting pro- and anti-health care slogans.
Inside, six Capitol Police officers subdued an unruly protester who had managed to make it to the House visitors’ gallery and screamed anti-health care invective. He was wrestled out.
“Things are colliding today,” said Maria Robalino, 35, of Washington, who was carrying a purple “Catholics for Healthcare Reform” sign.
For most of the day, the tea party demonstrators had been the most vocal, chanting “We the people,” “No, no, no,” and “Kill the bill.”
But as it became clear Democrats had won the votes of key anti-abortion lawmakers, the tea party protesters lost their enthusiasm, and their numbers shrank.
They were quickly replaced by those who had supported the health care overhaul as well as hundreds of demonstrators favoring immigration legislation.
Francine Towbridge of Gaithersburg, Md., carried a bouquet of red-white-and-blue balloons and a “Thank you Democrats” sign.
“I am passionate about the Democratic platform, and I wanted to thank Democrats for having the courage to do the right thing,” she said.
The turning point was the announcement by Rep. Bart Stupak, an anti-abortion Democrat from Michigan, that he would support the health care bill.
“They changed their vote,” grumbled Karyn Skaggs, 55, of Columbia, Md., about the anti-abortion lawmakers who are now backing the bill.
“I’m upset because he was so against this thing…and for him to succumb to a promise that’ll never happen, it’s disappointing,” she said.
There was no repeat of Saturday’s ugly incidents when some protesters screamed racial epithets at black congressmen, including Lewis and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., and used homophobic slurs against Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., one of Congress’s three openly gay members and a health care bill supporter.
House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” called the actions “reprehensible” and maintained they were isolated incidents that shouldn’t reflect on tea party participants as a whole.
Some House members spurred the tea party protesters on, appearing Sunday on the south balcony of the Capitol with signs spelling out each letter of one of the main tea party chants: “Kill the bill.”
Frank blamed House Republicans for the incident in the House visitors’ gallery.
“You have dozens of Republicans standing and applauding a guy disrupting . . . screaming,” Frank said. “It’s a dangerous situation and Republicans are cheering him on.”
One Republican congressman said the fault lay with the way the Democrats were trying to pass the health care overhaul.
“When you use totalitarian tactics, people begin to act crazy,” said Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.