"Well, Sheriff, you've got this crowd gathered here, and that's half my job,
so I figured I'd just do a little business..."
GOP primary candidate David Benning, one of several campaigning in the GOP primary to run against Henry Waxman, attended the April 15 San Fernando Valley Patriots Tea Party tax protest in Woodland Hills on April 15th...
... or rather, he graciously decided to let them attend him. According to attendees at the rally, marchers were called away from the demonstration along the road for what was described as a speech by the party organizers. Instead they were 'treated' --briefly, before most walked away -- to an aborted campaign speech by Benning, whose supporters apparently decided they could call the Tea Partiers away from their scheduled, announced activity in mid-event to listen to their candidate. Benning was subsequently conspicuous from his absence among the marchers.
Several of the marchers attending loudly expressed the opinion that they had been disrespected by Benning and his staff.
Other GOP politicians have reached out to the Tea Party movement in Los Angeles, among them Ari David, also running to run against Waxman. Most other candidates however, see the sense and good manners in walking among the demonstrators and acting like a guest at their event, rather than assuming they are its point.
It was a weirdly tone-deaf gesture on the part of the Benning campaign; Benning himself has managed campaigns for other candidates and should have known better. But it is a useful indicator of character for GOP voters come the primary.
