ENID — Even sweltering heat, with the temperature reading 102 degrees at David Allen Memorial Ballpark, couldn’t keep the crowds away Saturday to hear U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, speaking at a rally for limited government hosted by the group We the People of Oklahoma.

About 200 people sat in the stands, fanning themselves, eating hot dogs and drinking lemonade early Saturday evening during the rally.

The rally began with the pledge of allegiance and the singing of the national anthem, lead by Josh Phelps. Michael Carnuccio, president of Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, introduced the organizer of the rally, Paul Allen, founder of Enid’s Advance Food Co. and founder of We the People of Oklahoma.

“We the People of Oklahoma was started here by local people concerned with the direction the government was going,” Allen said. “Our group believes if we can educate people about what candidates think, we can get people into office to stop the overspending and overtaxing mentality. We are not here to bash one party or the other. We want to educate the voters.”

Allen encouraged the crowd to vote in the fall for people they thought would be the right choice.

Following Allen’s address to the crowd, Phelps lead everyone in the state song, “Oklahoma!”

Carnuccio then introduced Coburn.

“How many of you are tired of people in Washington who won’t tell you anything? Or tell you one thing and do another?” Carnuccio asked the crowd. “He does not do that. He went to a group of senior citizens when he was running for office and told them we couldn’t afford everything and things would be cut and if they didn’t like it, to not vote for him.”

Coburn addressed the crowd about where the government is today and what the future holds if it stays on the same path.

“We have a government that is out of control and overspending on things we don’t need. And we allowed it to be that way,” said Coburn. “Where we are today is from us taking our eyes off the ball and stopping paying attention to the highest reaches of leadership in our government.”

Coburn does not like the path the government is on but believes it can be changed.

“I have faith we can change any problem in front of us in our country into something positive. Our problems are very, very serious,” said Coburn. “Our debt will swamp our children. We must hold everyone, down to the lowest office, to be truthful, to be present and to be available.”

Coburn said the country’s inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are in jeopardy.

“There is not a problem in front of us we cannot fix, but it will require leadership, sacrifice and discussion. It will be hard but our children are worth it,” Coburn said. “We stand at a dividing point in our government. We will either fix our problems or we will go the way of every other republic. By the way, the average length of a republic is 200 years. We will not fail.”

Coburn then took questions that were submitted by the crowd.

The first question asked Coburn if Obamacare could be stopped, amended or repealed.

“I will not stop until we have reversed it,” said Coburn.

The next question addressed the budget deficit.

“I am only in my position because I am afraid not to be. I am only one of a few people who say no. The budget deficit is so bad, we have only a short time to fix it,” said Coburn. “It is deadly serious.”

The next question concerned the best way for citizen to take back their country, besides voting.

“Stay informed. Don’t believe just the hard right or the hard left,” said Coburn. “You need to be sure everyone you know is as worried about the government as you are. They need to know what you know.”

The next question was, “how do you feel about term limits?”

“I love them. Term limits are great for us. It puts limits on the arrogance of leaders,” said Coburn. “There is a good way to enforce term limits: Vote everyone out after two years.”

The final question of the evening asked why the Congress did not rein in the president and why he needs so many czars.

“Congress is run by the president’s party and very few people will say no,” said Coburn. “I don’t have a problem with the president hiring people to help him or her but I don’t like when they put in people who make policy decisions.”

Coburn concluded by reiterating all the problems with the government could be fixed with work.

The rally concluded with door prizes.