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Sunday, March 13, 2011

Comparing the Madison and the Tea Party rallies

ThinkProgress » Madison Rally Bigger Than Biggest Tea Party Rally
Police estimated up to 100,000 people turned out in Madison, WI yesterday to protest Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) assault on unions, making it bigger than any protests the city has witnessed, even those during the Vietnam War....But yesterday’s rally in Madison is noteworthy because at 85,000-100,000, it was bigger than the biggest tea party protest, the September 12, 2009 rally in Washington, D.C., which turned out only an estimated 60,000-70,000.
I can think of at least one other reason that the 100,000 people is noteworthy. There are about 300,000 public sector workers in Wisconsin, so even if you assume all 100,000 at Madison on Saturday were directly affected by Governor Walker's budget repair bill, then 2/3 of people who had their pay cut didn't bother to protest at all.

I don't actually believe these folks are happy about having their pay cut. In fact I'm sure they are not, but I wanted to make a point about the ridiculous framing of the crowd size in this post by Think Progress.

The left in this country has basically spent two years in the enthusiasm wilderness, after dominating that category in 2008.  It is understandable that they would be invigorated by the Madison protests.  The quote above demonstrates that even as they pull away in this category, they can't help looking over their shoulders at the Tea Party.  An indication that even the left sees any gains in momentum from the Madison protests as tenuous.

The Tea Party was motivated by spending and debt, problems that even now may remain a generation or more away to really have meaningful consequences for America.  The Madison protests, by contrast, involve a cut in pay effective in the very near future.  These are two very different movements, not only in political leanings, but in the time horizons that are moving them to action.

When Think Progress draws this comparison, I can only conclude that the Tea Party still matters and that given the immediate nature of the consequences, the Madison protest aren't as large as one might expect.

7 comments:

capper said...

Point of order!

The protests you are seeing in Madison are not about money, but about workers' rights. It is sad that you, like so many other conservatives, are so obsessed with money that you cannot imagine that there are really more important things in life.

And for what it's worth, I am disappointed that even one person showed up in Madison on Saturday. I would have much rather seen all these people correcting the wrong that was done and having those that would illegally and unethically take away the rights from a whole group of people taken away.

Dad29 said...

Workers' "rights" consist of being treated with dignity and respect. A decent wage goes along with that.

Super-duper health insurance and guaranteed retirement programs are not "rights" when considering the norm in private industry.

Anonymous said...

Don't count your eggs before they hatch. It was an impressive crowd any way you look at it. However, it comes up short also. It took place in Madison with a huge anti-Walker population, many small children in attendance (they cant vote), busloads of teachers and union stiffs from Minnesota and Illinois (they cant vote either).

You guys can believe your own pr. We aren't sitting back letting the left-wingers act as though this is taking place in a vacuum.

There's a lot of people angry that 14 cowards ran away from their responsibilities. These Democrats are subject to recall also.

capper said...

Daddio, thank you for supporting my argument that the private sector needs to be shored up. There is no reason why the private sector workers shouldn't be allowed to unionize and improve their lot.

capper said...

Daddio, thank you for supporting my argument that the private sector needs to be shored up. There is no reason why the private sector workers shouldn't be allowed to unionize and improve their lot.

Dad29 said...

There is no reason why the private sector workers shouldn't be allowed to unionize and improve their lot

Correct.

But private sector workers do not get their compensation at the point of a gun.

capper said...

If you are not happy with the contracts with the unions, stop voting for incompetent politicians like Scott Walker.