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Tea Party activists rally in D.C.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Thousands of enthusiastic Tea Party activists rallied in Washington Sunday, vowing to have a major impact on the midterm elections in November.

"They say a storm is coming," the Los Angeles Times reported conservative activist Virginia Thomas told the cheering crowd organized by FreedomWorks, a Washington advocacy group. "They ain't seen nothing yet. Nov. 2 will be a storm!"

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The Times said Anne Forgey, a 69-year-old retiree from Huntsville, Ala., expressed a common anti-Washington -- particularly anti-Democrat but not exclusively -- theme of those at the rally.

"I'm worried about the direction we're headed," Forgey said. "I believe they are trying to take away our freedom."

The Tea Party members marched from the Washington Monument to the Capitol, chanting "Vote them out!"

U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., told the Tea Party faithful the November elections will be a watershed, The New York Times reported.

"If we do not succeed in November, all that once was good and great about this country will be gone," said Pence, who heads the House Republican Conference. "But we will remember in November. Let's give them a November that they never forget."

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Dick Armey, a former Republican House majority leader and FreedomWorks chairman, said the Tea Party aims to shake up the establishment.

"I believe we've got the Republican Party's attention -- we've been beating the establishment all over the country," Armey said. "It's time we give the same lesson to the other party."

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