Tea party activists ending national protest tour with rally in the capital it loves to hate

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Tea party ending tour in capital it loves to hate

WASHINGTON — Tea party activists rallied in the capital they love to hate on Thursday, carrying signs that read “Don’t Tread on Me” and “Follow the Constitution.” The close of their spirited cross-country tour fell on tax day, a dark marker for the conservative anti-tax movement.

On a sun-splashed morning and serenaded by patriotic songs, the protesters streamed to Washington’s Freedom Plaza to hear exhortations against the political order. The slogans were biting, sometimes raw: “We Want Regime Change,” ”Save a Seal, Club a Liberal,” ”Down with the Gov’t Takeover,” ”End the Fed” and “Waterboard Bernanke.” Some American flags waved upside down in the breeze.

Tea party activists in Oklahoma, Ohio, Wisconsin, Hawaii and Georgia also organized rallies coinciding with the April 15 deadline to file federal income taxes.

The movement opened its tour nearly three weeks ago with a Nevada rally that drew at least 9,000 and heard from one of the few politicians embraced by the tea party, Sarah Palin. Palin also starred at a tea party gathering of 5,000 on Wednesday in Boston but was not scheduled at the finale in Washington. Radio host Neal Boortz was among the listed speakers.

In Madison, Wis., some tea party members angry over the planned appearance of former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson decided to boycott the event. They expressed worry their grass-roots movement may be co-opted by the Republican Party.

“It is a big problem for a lot of us,” said Tim Dake, organizer of the Milwaukee-based tea party group the GrandSons of Liberty. “Tommy is representative of the old boy network way of doing things.”

Dake said: “This is part of the problem that has led us to where we are now.”

Dake said he heard from about six tea party groups from around the state that decided to boycott the event.

Elected Republicans and candidates as well as party officials have been a mainstay at tea party rallies all over Wisconsin in the past year but no GOP candidates or office holders were on Thursday’s agenda.

AP writers Scott Bauer and Philip Elliott contributed to this report from Madison.