In front of historic crowd on the Mall, Beck makes plea for spiritual renewal and self-government

The crowd itself was overwhelmingly white, to the point that one participant in the rally remarked about the presence of one black man among the few thousand up front near the stage on the south side of the Reflecting Pool.

“The courage by this black guy up here to come out is unbelievable,” said Adam Washburn, of Oceanside, California, who said he was “honored” to have African-Americans participating in the rally.

Washburn, a 47-year old plumber, said he was concerned about racial tension – “I’ve seen more tension recently than I’ve seen in my lifetime” – and said he thought Democrats have taken advantage of the black vote.

“The whole Democratic and progressive movement has lied to them and tried to destroy those people, and keep them under their thumb,” he said. “If you create a welfare state, you’re ruining those people’s lives.”

Washburn was part of a small group of attendees who were first to show up on the Mall for the rally, almost 48 hours beforehand. The group spent two nights sleeping under the stars on portable camping chairs. They did not seem surprised or disappointed, even beforehand, that the event looked to be more of a multi-faith tent revival than a red meat political rally.

“I think [Beck] reached deep into our hearts and past money and politics to where God dwells,” said Katherine McArthur, a 58-year old retired real estate agent and mother of two from Newport Beach, California. “It has to do with God, not Obama, not government.”

McArthur, who said she tapes Beck’s show and watches it nearly every day, echoed many of his points about a nation in crisis, and said her generation allowed it to reach such a state of affairs.

“We grew up with so much freedom. We were handed freedom without a lot of work for it. Everything has come so easy to us. Now, there’s the recognition of the potential of losing it,” she said.

But McArthur did express some uneasiness at the prospect of a religious rally led by a Mormon.

“I wrote [Beck] an e-mail. Talk about revisionist: what about Joseph Smith?” she said, referring to the founder of the Mormon faith.

Tom Jones, who owns a small landscaping business in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, said an awakening has occurred in the country, though he described something more civic and cultural than religious.

“We were all up on our cloud nines. Had our flat screens. God bless America. Support the troops. We didn’t know nothing. We didn’t read our Constitution,” he said. “Then things started going awry, during the Bush administration. Then Obama came in.”

“We’re going to pray and build this ship back up from the foundation,” he said.

As for politics and the approaching midterm elections, none in the crowd had much good to say about either political party. Jones said Democrats such as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, of Nevada, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, of California, are “the enemy within.”

But as for the Republican Party, Jones said: “If the Republicans don’t do what we say, we’ll vote them out too.”

“RINO’s beware,” Jones hollered, referring to the common term used now among the Tea Party: Republican In Name Only. “We’re going RINO-hunting!”

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