AP Top News at 5:53 p.m. EDT

more images

more images

AP Top News at 5:53 p.m. EDT

Palin to tea party rally: Don’t sit down, shut up

SEARCHLIGHT, Nev. — Sarah Palin told thousands of tea party activists assembled in the dusty Nevada desert Saturday that Sen. Harry Reid will have to explain his votes when he comes back to his hometown to campaign. The wind whipped U.S. flags behind the former Alaska governor as she stood on a makeshift stage, holding a microphone and her notes and speaking to a cheering crowd. She told them Reid, fighting for re-election, is “gambling away our future.”