10年内美国至少变成2个国家,这是不以人们意志为转移的

Thousands of people marched in downtown Washington Saturday to protest what they call out-of-control government spending.

The conservative activists from around the country are seeking to continue their momentum in shaping the national debate on everything from health care to White House staffing.

The line of protesters stretched several blocks, with people chanting "enough, enough" and "we the people." Others were waving U.S. flags and holding signs reading "Go Green Recycle Congress," "I'm Not Your ATM" and "Obamacare makes me sick."

Some men were dressed in colonial costumes with tri-colored hats, and the protesters planned to march to the U.S. Capitol.

The event came on the heels of antitax gatherings, dubbed tea parties, in April, and a series of congressional town-hall meetings nationwide last month that elicited angry criticism of health-care proposals favored by President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies.

"I can't figure out to save me what [Mr. Obama and the Democrats] are trying to accomplish, unless they want socialism," 73-year-old Joseph Wright, a retired paper-mill worker, said this week. Mr. Wright rode from Tallahassee, Fla., to Washington on one of the many chartered buses bringing in demonstrators from states as far-flung as Massachusetts and Arkansas.

Saturday's rally came just a few months after Mr. Obama's victory seemed to have left the conservative movement in disarray. But in recent weeks, critics of the administration's programs and spending have succeeded in putting Mr. Obama on the defensive, threatening his health-care drive, prompting parents to boycott a routine presidential speech to schoolchildren and forcing the resignation of a White House adviser with a left-leaning past.

While the movement has gotten considerable attention, it is unclear just how broad it is.

White House officials on Friday professed to know nothing of the planned demonstrations. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs queried reporters about the planners and their issues. "I don't know who the group is," he said with a shrug.

Other Democrats suggested the protesters are embittered, fringe conservatives fueled by radio and TV talk-show hosts. "There's a lot of energy, but it's negative energy," said Democratic strategist John Lapp. "At the end of the day, Republicans are left with bomb-throwing, screaming, frothing and a lot of opposition."

For their part, Republican leaders have been grappling with whether to embrace or distance themselves from the mounting protests. Most of Saturday's scheduled speakers are little-known activists. But Sen. Jim DeMint (R., S.C.) and Reps. Mike Pence (R., Ind.), Tom Price (R., Ga.) and Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn.) will address the crowd, as will former Texas Rep. Dick Armey, now president of FreedomWorks, a Washington-based group advocating smaller government and lower taxes that took the lead in organizing the event.

The 54 riders on the Tallahassee bus provided a window into the new conservative energy. On the road, they listened to reminiscences of President Ronald Reagan's life, including his battle against Soviet-style communism. It is a fight they say must now be waged at home, against an administration and Congress that is inserting government deeply into banking, car making and, perhaps, health care.

"There really should be a smaller role for the federal government, and a larger role for the state government and local governments," said one rider, Mary Mangan, 24, who owns a baby-sitting company in Tallahassee. "Keep it simple. Keep it constitutional."

Forty-four of the riders identified themselves as Republicans, with eight independents and two Libertarians. The average age was 56 years old. Fifty-one said they voted for Republican John McCain in his White House bid last year, though several said they did so to support his running mate, then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. The remaining three riders said they voted for Libertarian Bob Barr.

In interviews, they gave an almost uniform diagnosis of the country's problems: The Obama administration and congressional Democrats are spending too much money on programs that insert government too far into people's lives. And Washington, they say, ignores or vilifies those who object.

"This is not about being anti-Obama, even though I personally dislike his policies," said Constance Campbell, 58, a retired state administrator who organized the Tallahassee bus. "It's about a feeling of powerlessness in We the People."