SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Tea party activists have gathered in cities on each coast and in between to demand smaller government and focus their political movement on pivotal November congressional elections.
 

Several thousand people marched along Pennsylvania Avenue from the Washington Monument to the Capitol on Thursday.  Many carried signs bearing such slogans as "Congress You're Fired" and "Let Failures Fail" and "Impeach Obama."  Many attending the Washington, Sacramento and St. Louis rallies wore red, white and blue clothing and carried yellow flags with the picture of a snake coiled above the inscription "Don't Tread On Me."
 

Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey of Texas runs a nonprofit, conservative advocacy group FreedomWorks that helped organize the Washington rally.  He says the tea partiers have shaken up the Republican party and gotten attention from lawmakers.