Nothing says revolution like well-behaved politicians in sport coats

This morning, about 200 people descended on the Capitol to yell and wave signs of anger about deficit spending in Washington at the Jefferson City Tea Party.  It was a far cry from the "thousands" predicted last week, but was a decent crowd for a cold morning at the Capitol.

I was really curious to see how the event would be set up to look like a "grassroots" movement, but was pleasantly surprised to see that lobbyist Carl Bearden didn't even bother with creating that illusion. Bearden orchestrated the whole event on behalf of Americans for Prosperity, and emceed the hour-long program -- it was his Tea Party, start to finish. 

Missourinet's Steve Walsh described the roster of speakers as "primarily Republicans" -- by which he means "entirely Republican" -- none of whom could credibly be called regular dudes.

• Carl Bearden -- lobbyist, former legislator, state director of the very conservative Americans for Prosperity
• Lt. Gov Peter Kinder
• Sen. Carl Vogel (R-Jefferson City) speaking on behalf of Rep. Roy Blunt (R-K Street/Georgetown)
• Sen. Gary Nodler (R-Joplin)
• Sen. Kevin Engler (R-Farmington)
• Rep. Mark Parkinson (R-St. Charles)
• Rep. Jim Guest (R-King City)
• Rep. Scott Dieckhaus (R-Washington)
• Rep. Kevin Wilson (R-Neosho)
• Rep. David Day (R-Dixon)
• Novelist Thomas N. Tabback, plugging his book Samuel Wurzelbacher Joe the Plumber: Fighting for the American Dream.

The railing against government spending, mocking of "Queens in Congress" and outrage at any government program that helps poor people was all pretty typical archconservative stuff. With the rise to power of the socialist Obama, government has become evil again, etc.

The most fascinating exchanges on the lawn (for me, anyway) were the few moments focused on Roy Blunt and his surrogate, Carl Vogel (Blunt was not in attendance, but sent Vogel to read a letter on his behalf). Bearden had just finished railing against Republican complicity with the Wall Street bailout (supported by Blunt), and then had to introduce Vogel in a way that wasn't too critical of Blunt's role in supporting some of the spending that inspired the whole tea party campaign. The crowd was loud, and enthusiastically responded to Bearden's speech -- up until the moment that they were asked to cheer for Blunt. There was a polite applause, but the muted response was obvious. Only after Vogel had finished and Bearden retook the podium (immediately reminding the crowd that he didn't endorse Blunt in any way) did the cheers return to full volume.