One year later: Crist-Obama Fort Myers stimulus rally fueled Rubio campaign, pre-Santelli tea party protest
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 by George BennettConservatives in the GOP were outraged, and the stimulus embrace became fuel for former Florida House speaker Marco Rubio’s Republican primary bid for U.S. Senate against Crist. Rubio is marking the anniversary with a rally in Fort Myers tonight, an online fund-raising blitz , and the Web video above.
Less noticed that day in Fort Myers was a woman named Mary Rakovich who organized a small stimulus protest. The term “tea party” wouldn’t be attached to such demonstrations until MSNBC’s Rick Santelli’s famed rant nine days later. But Rakovich, trained by the Washington-based conservative group FreedomWorks, is credited with perhaps the first tea party protest.
Where's the money? Use The Post's interactive database of who wants and who's getting federal dollars.
Use these interactive graphics to find and contact Palm Beach County and Treasure Coast legislators.
