Some For, Some Against
by Ken Van Doren
Madison, WI – “The Tea Party movement is for real,” said former WI governor Tommy Thompson to the loudest cheers of the event, and then proceeded to castigate Democrats for their spendthrift ways. Thompson, who later in his speech announced he would not be a candidate for office this fall, was the only present or former state official to speak. Despite this, some of the crowd chanted repeatedly, “Run Tommy Run.” Several local Tea Party organizers from around the state were given an opportunity to say their piece, along with a few radio personalities. All in all the speakers addressed standard issues of the movement, big spending, attacks on our liberties, assaults on the constitution. Perhaps summing up the somewhat diverse group collected on the capital square, Kim Simac, of Eagle River, representing the Northwoods Patriots stated, “We may not be united on every issue, and every movement has its warts, but one thing we all agree on is the need to protect the constitution and our bill of rights.”
Perhaps the most inflammatory words spoken at the rally were those of Reverend David King, a black minister from Milwaukee who is running for Secretary of State. King said of a “photoshopped” picture of Dr. Martin Luther King and Obama that it was a Republican with a Democrat, said the favorable comparisons of King and Obama were in error, and that the picture was like having a picture of Christ with Judas.
The temporary stage and related sound and video equipment were indeed impressive and apparently expensive, as approximately 4500 attended the Tea Party on the Square. Signs were in abundance, including those saying, “Ayn Rand was right,” “Abolish the IRS,” “IRONY is asking the government to fix problems it created,” and more. The crowd was mostly in a good mood, and it was obvious that many acquaintances reestablished. Many Republican and a few other politicians plied the crowd with literature and their presence. A few groups had booths sporting literature,andafew,mostlyRepublican,legislators walked through the crowd, occasionally striking up a conversation with “partiers.” 
There were a few folks in obvious disagreement who wandered through the crowd, who would occasionally makecomments that revealed they werenot friendlies, but therewereno incidents of disorderly conduct, no arrests were made, and when all was over, the grass was maybe a bit trodden, but otherwise the grounds were no worse for the wear. There was a truck circling the Capital Square repeatedly that had so many anti-Tea Party messages on it that it was impossible to read in one, two, or even three passes. I heard one heckler passing in a vehicle say, “Pay your taxes,” and one Tea Partier responded, “Get a job.” There were about a hundred fans on the other side of the street, carrying pro- Feingold signs. The counter-protest was apparently orchestrated or at least signage provided by the Feingold campaign. (see related story.)
There was however, one fairly strong undercurrent of disagreement among the Tea Partiers. The former Wisconsin Governor sparked great enthusiasm among most of those nearest the stage, those further from the stage were obviously less enthusiastic. Some in the crowd actively expressed their displeasure. Peter Kolar of Baraboo, who came with his two sons said, “I did not know Tommy was speaking until I got here. I came to protest the unconstitutional Federal Reserve and the income tax, and wound up at a Republican pep rally. The neoconservative wing of the Republican Party has completely co-opted the movement.” Others objected, even if less harshly. Tim Dake, Franklin, chair of WI Grandsons of Liberty and one of the speakers said of Tommy’s appearance, “ I was disappointed. A number of groups who planned on coming backed out and many individuals who planned on coming did not show up.” One “patriot” offered that he thought having the divisive presence of “big government” Tommy Thompson cut attendance by as much as half. One fellow carried around a sign that said on one side, “Tommy= Big gov’t, Part of the Problem,” and on the other, “Repent Tommy Repent.” He got almost as many cheers as jeers. One man told him ”get your own TeaParty,” and the sign carrier responded, “Why? I promoted the heck out of this one, and I just want to save it” At another point, a couple young men held up signs that said, “liberal plant” with arrows on them, to point at said “plants,”and the sign carrier said, “see that man over there?” pointing to Thompson, “THERE is your liberal plant.” Later the man told reporters from a Madison TV station, “Tommy symbolizes what is wrong with the Republican Party. There are too many elected officials who say one thing and do another. Thompson pretended to be this fiscal conservative, yet he rapidly grew the size and cost of government, and left the state a $4 Billion deficit at the end of his last term.”
Other than the disagreement on the issue of Thompson’s presence, the crowd seemed fairly united. The task now ahead of the Tea Party movement is perhaps summed up by these two comments:
“We need to maintain this enthusiasm until November,” said Assembly Representative Mark Honadel (R-Oak Creek) as he was passing by.
And during his speech, Michael Dean, of the First Freedoms Foundation said, “Now the hard work begins so that we can get enough real votes to outnumber the many fraudulent ones.” Time will tell if the “partiers” are up to the task.