Rally in Madison, Wisconsin Larger Than the Biggest ‘Tea Party’ Rally
Maybe if we get them to wear tea bags on their heads and show up in their Medicare funded Scooters the media will start to pay attention to them — or not. Wisconsin protests larger than any Tea Party rally : Police estimated that more than 100,000 people flooded the streets around the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison Saturday, making the turnout larger than any of the fledgling Tea Party’s rallies. The largest turnout for a Tea Party rally is the estimated crowd of 60,000 to 70,000 people who marked in Washington, D.C. during the group’s September 12, 2009 demonstration. The 2009 Tea Party rally’s crowd size is also notable for the controversy that surrounded it. ABC News published a piece claiming conservative activists had told them that 1 million to 1.5 million people turned out at the rally, when the corrected number was only a fraction of that size. According to ThinkProgress , the protests in Wisconsin have inspired demonstrations in seven other states, with some protesters even wearing “Cheesehead” hats as a nod to their Madison counterparts. Wisconsin Democrats have also vowed to make virtually every upcoming election a referendum on Gov. Walker’s anti-union administration, which they say has made Wisconsin akin to “a dictatorship.” More there so go read the rest. And as they noted at Raw Story, the above video is from ” YouTube user stumptownfilms put together a time-lapse video from footage of one day of protests in Madison last week that shows the impressive crowd sizes.” And as Steve Benen noted, It’s Not Jut Madison : The efforts of progressive activists in Wisconsin have generated considerable attention, and with good reason. But here’s hoping the activism won’t be limited to Madison. For example, you may not have heard about this gathering in Austin, Texas. Thousands of parents, teachers and other education advocates poured onto the Capitol grounds Saturday to rally against proposed state budget cuts that school districts say could force layoffs of thousands of teachers and other public education employees. Demonstrators sprawled across the statehouse grounds, carrying signs scrawled with “Save Our Schools” and “Fund the Future.” Others carried umbrellas to underscore their desire that lawmakers tap into the state’s rainy day fund to help balance the budget. “We hope that being here will make a difference,” said Nicollette Anthony, a 17-year-old from San Antonio. “But even if it doesn’t, they’ll know we tried.” Estimates of the crowd size vary, but I’ve seen some put the number at 12,000 people. (Organizers brought 11,000 stickers to hand out to those on hand, and ran out while folks were still showing up.) It’s a shame events like this don’t get more attention. A year ago at this time, a former half-term governor attended a Tea Party rally in Nevada, drew a crowd of 8,000 , and garnered national media attention, including live television coverage. But 12,000 people take a stand against deep education cuts, and it’s largely an afterthought outside the local media. Read on…
Rally in Madison, Wisconsin Larger Than the Biggest ‘Tea Party’ Rally
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on March 14, 2011. Filed under