U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann has been added as a last-minute speaker at the Defending the American Dream ® Summit in Washington, D.C., Friday night, on the eve of Glenn Beck's controversial "Restoring Honor" rally at the Lincoln Memorial.
Bachmann, who has spoken at the annual summit before, is expected to be one of the few national office holders to attend Saturday's Tea Party tour de force, which has been assailed by some civil rights activists because it falls on the anniversary of Martin Luther King's celebrated "I Have a Dream" speech, also given from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
Friday's summit, culminating with a tribute dinner to Ronald Reagan, includes political commentator George Will, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, Fox News contributor Dick Morris, Americans for Prosperity Foundation President Tim Phillips, and conservative radio host Herman Cain.
A slight international flavor will be added by Siv Jensen, the leader of Norway's Progress Party.
On Saturday morning, grassroots activists will be bused from the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in northwest Washington to Beck's rally on the National Mall, where the Rev. Al Sharpton is organizing a counter-rally to commemorate the "Dream" speech.
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