The base of One HSBC Center played a makeshift Valley Forge late Thursday afternoon for a

dozen and a half local tea party activists who descended on downtown Buffalo to continue

efforts they are billing as the &#8220Second American Revolution.&#8221

The target: Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

But he didn't show, even though he was the headliner for the $2,000-per-head fundraiser.

Silver, D-Manhattan, was supposed to attend the fundraiser on

the 31st floor of the city&#8217s tallest building to benefit the Erie County Democratic

Party.

That alone was enough to keep tea party advocates hot despite the frigid environs. The

13-degree temperature with 30-mph wind gusts whipped snow into their eyes as they scanned the

wintry terrain for any sight of Silver.

Those attending the pricey affair couldn&#8217t be seen from the

tea party encampment, but that didn&#8217t stop protesters from carrying signs depicting

pitchforks and anti-Silver slogans like &#8220Stop Giving Cash to This Clunker&#8221 and

&#8220Silver: Change You Can&#8217t Believe In.&#8221 All the while they serenaded him with

derisive songs.

&#8220Every single time he has an affair like this, we&#8217re going to be here,&#8221

promised Rus Thompson of Grand Island. &#8220Here he is coming into town for $2,000 per plate.

What is that for, to kiss his ring? He&#8217s a dictator.&#8221

Many consider Silver to be part of a three-man power team that governs Albany and the cause

of many of the financial problems of New York State, especially upstate.

&#8220He&#8217s on top of a totally corrupt system that drags this state down,&#8221 said

James Ostrowski, a Buffalo lawyer active in the anti-tax tea party movement. &#8220So

he&#8217s a perfect target.&#8221

Ostrowski claimed that the modern tea party movement has its origins in Buffalo, has spread

nationwide and is gaining serious momentum. He expects the upcoming midterm elections to be

&#8220one of the most monumental of the century.&#8221

&#8220We believe in peaceful change,&#8221 Ostrowski said. &#8220It&#8217s the second

American Revolution without the bullets. We don&#8217t need the bullets, we&#8217re using our

minds ... and our votes.&#8221

Tony Fortunato of Sloan, who is associated with the &#8220Get Out Of Our House!&#8221

organization, which is launching a nationwide effort to defeat House incumbents, said he can

feel the groundswell of support from Americans fed up with politicians.

&#8220I&#8217ve seen elderly, the young, stay-at-home mothers, businessmen, businesswomen

with us,&#8221 Fortunato said. &#8220We are real Americans with real cares that really care

for this country.

&#8220It&#8217s time to give the government back to the people, for the people and by the

people.&#8221

The tea party protesters, whom some lump with fringe groups, staged a similar event outside

the Buffalo Chop House for Senate Democrats last summer at the height of the Senate coup that

ground Albany to a halt for almost a month. They also held tax protests at Erie Canal Harbor

last April and on Independence Day in Niagara Square, drawing 200 people who complained about

the state&#8217s &#8220dysfunctional government.&#8221

But their anti-tax sentiments and rebellion against some incumbents has taken on a much

more centrist hue in recent months, and they were credited with forming a significant portion

of Republican Scott Brown&#8217s plurality in his recent victory for the late Sen. Edward M.

Kennedy&#8217s seat in Massachusetts.

Ostrowski said picketing a fundraiser charging $2,000 per ticket is a &#8220perfect way to

send a message to the politicians.&#8221

&#8220We&#8217re asking people why they would donate to the same politicians who have

caused 50 years of decline,&#8221 he said.

Thompson, another organizer of Thursday&#8217s event, said his group was particularly

incensed because Silver came to Buffalo immediately after blocking Gov. David A.

Paterson&#8217s attempt to secure $710 million in federal education funding by expanding the

number of charter schools in New York.

&#8220For him to single-handedly stop it was an absolute slap in the face to parents,&#8221

Thompson said, &#8220especially minority parents who want to put their kids in charter

schools.&#8221

Now, Thompson said, the state has lost the significant funds provided by the federal

&#8220Race to the Top&#8221 program.

&#8220Instead of Race to the Top, we&#8217re racing to the bottom,&#8221 he said.

Silver declined an interview request from The Buffalo News.

Erie County Democratic Party Chairman Leonard R. Lenihan, whose organization benefited from

the fundraiser, said the event traditionally draws top New York Democrats like Sen. Charles E.

Schumer, former Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton or former Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer.

&#8220Any prominent Democrat who comes in &#8212 no matter whether it&#8217s federal, state

or local &#8212 the tea party people are there,&#8221 Lenihan said. &#8220They were there at a

[Rep.] Brian Higgins fundraiser, and I think most people think Brian Higgins is a pretty good

guy.&#8221

The chairman made no excuses for inviting Silver to headline an event that pays the rent

for Democratic headquarters as well as salaries and other operational expenses.

&#8220I feel great about it,&#8221 Lenihan said. &#8220He&#8217s the most powerful Democrat

in the State of New York. People like to beat up Shelly Silver all the time until they need

something. But there&#8217s not an institution in Buffalo in which he has not played a key

role in obtaining funding.&#8221

The fundraiser was held at the Phillips Lytle law firm in the HSBC Center.

With several anti-Albany candidates preparing to run in this year&#8217s elections &#8212

including party primaries &#8212 it appears that 2010 may rival 1992 as a year embracing a

&#8220throw the bums out&#8221 mentality.

Even President Obama acknowledged the mood Wednesday in his State of the Union address,

noting that &#8220change has not come fast enough&#8221 for many Americans.

&#8220Some are frustrated; some are angry,&#8221 he said. &#8220They don&#8217t understand

why it seems like bad behavior on Wall Street is rewarded but hard work on Main Street

isn&#8217t, or why Washington has been unable or unwilling to solve any of our problems. They

are tired of the partisanship and the shouting and the pettiness. They know we can&#8217t

afford it. Not now.&#8221