Tea partyers are planning a major rally in Kansas City this fall that organizers hope will attract as many as 300,000 people. The event scheduled to start Sept. 30 will culminate with a presidential straw poll, the Kansas City Star reported Wednesday.
Organizers are dubbing the weekend gathering, which will include speeches, music and fireworks, the Freedom Jamboree. It’ll be held at The Woodlands racetrack.
“Freedom Jamboree is the national tea party event of 2011,” said William Temple of Brunswick, Ga., one of the organizers. “We’re not going back to D.C. this year, we’re coming here to K.C.”
Temple said the free event will be paid for through fundraising. It’s expected to cost about $1.2 million.
Hundreds of tea party groups have been invited as all well as all of the GOP presidential contenders. Rep.
Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., has already indicated that she’ll be in attendance.
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a Republican, said the jamboree could play an important role in the GOP presidential nomination process.
“We don’t have a well-defined presidential field,” Kobach said. “We don’t have a presidential candidate who’s clearly assumed the mantle of speaking for the tea party. All of these things can crystallize in Kansas City…That’s why I think you’re going to see some important things happening at this festival.”
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