At last, an honest assessment of Tea Party attendees

Well, isn't this refreshing; a report on the Tea Party movement from someone who attended and gets it!

Columnist Patrick McIlheran shares his experiences from the July 4th Taxpayer gatherings in A coalition of normal has a rally.

McIlheran attended the Fort Atkinson Tea Party on July 4th and found what any of us who actually attended one already knew: the people attending are just normal, everyday folks. They are not all "grouchy, graying cranks." (Pictured: one normal woman and man from the April 15th rally in Milwaukee.)

They certainly are not the Possible American extremists according to Homeland Security's Secretary Janet Napolitano.

Back to McIlheran's editorial:

"Tea parties were held in about 21 towns across the state Saturday, follow-ups to the convergence of about 7,000 people on Madison in April. The nonpartisan but conservative Americans for Prosperity, which assisted local organizers, guesstimated they drew 6,000 or so people. If you can draw 6,000 Wisconsinites to hear hours of politics on a day everyone else is grilling brats, you may have a movement. So who were these people?"

"They weren't especially grumpy nor graying. Crowds were salted liberally with the first-time voters of 2024 and parents holding them. In Mayville, a 22-year-old spoke to roughly 200 people standing in Foster Park as teenagers actually listened. Youngsters waved signs reading things like, 'Give me liberty, not debt.'"

...

"This, then, is the constituency for an alternative to Obamaism. It's the coalition of normal: People reasonably happy with their lives, families and country. They are not ideological so much as in favor of a government that knows its place and respects theirs."

"Which is, when you think about it, a pretty Fourth of July idea."

AMEN!

Past Posts:

Taxpayer Tea Parties, as American as Mom and Apple Pie

The Tea Party report & phots: local, state, and national

Links:
Practically Speaking, Fairly Conservative, Betterbrookfield, RandyMelchert, CNS News, Jay Weber, Mark Levin, Vicki McKenna Jay Weber, The Right View Wisconsin, The Heritage Foundation