Right Nation 2010 drew thousands of supporters Saturday night as Fox News host and conservative firebrand Glenn Beck rallied conservatives for the Fall mid-term elections.
Beck urged attendees to vote on election day, and mocked Michelle Obama's campaign to get people to eat healthier. He also chided attendees for Illinois being President Barack Obama's home state.
"Will you do me one favor? Will you all raise your right hand and swear you will stop sending politicians to the rest of us? Please! Until you get it right, stop sending them!" he said to laughs and applause.
He continued his criticism of the mainstream media, saying they are misrepresenting the Tea Party movement.
"The biggest unreported story in the history, possibly, of this nation is who is showing up. It's not racists. It's not people that are just angry," he said. "They are good, decent, hard-working people who are frightened for their country, frightened for their children. They are smart people that understand you cannot continue to spend the way we have been spending for generations."
The event was sponsored by the United Republican Fund, with proceeds intended for various conservative campaigns.
Ticket prices started at $77, though some attendees paid upwards of $1000 for a chance to meet Beck in person.
The rally at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates also drew gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady, his running mate Jason Plummer, former House Republican leader Dick Armey and Rep. Aaron Schock. Brady asked voters for their support on election day, saying the party would be up in the polls but that he needed everyone to think like underdogs.
Mark Kirk, a Republican moderate in a close race with Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias for President Obama's former Senate seat, did not attend.
A line of speakers railed against health care reform, the bureaucracy of education, and Chicago's history of corruption, the latter being a favorite conservative rallying cry in a historically moderate blue state.
The event was not without its detractors, however, as hundreds of protesters convened outside the event, yelling that Beck "spews hate." Conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart got into a verbal altercation with the protesters, countering that they were "union-controlled" and didn't know what they were actually angry about.
The protest was organized by local religious group Arise Chicago.
Last month, Beck led a controversial rally at the Lincoln Memorial on the 47th anniversary of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.
