I actually did make it to the Saturday rally in Hudson! And although I would have rather have been able to go to Madison instead (Michael Moore made an appearance today at the Capitol!), I still feel that it was really important to have people at the Walkermobile stops to show them how many of their friends and neighbors disagree with the bills.
And there were plenty of friends and neighbors that disagreed with the bills! There was an estimate given of about 500 protesters against the bill. And all while I was there, at least every third car honked in support of us. There were even truckers and cars on the highway honking for us. It was fantastic!
The Walker supporters trickled out of the Hudson House, so it was a bit more difficult to get an estimate on them, but there were at least 50 that I saw and probably a bit more, but not much more.
Everything was very civil. The only problem I saw was that there were so many protesters that they were inadvertently crowding the sidewalk making it difficult, if not impossible for people to get through. I would recommend that in the future the sidewalks be kept clear as some people felt the need to go out into the road to get around.
I was touched that as they were trying to get up the snow bank to get out of the road, a protester put his sign down and offered a hand to them. And after a slight hesitation, the supporter took the offer of help. It was beautiful seeing the setting aside of differences in order to get something done together. To see them come together as people instead of staying separate as sides. It really gives me hope.
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