Yes there were 600 people there for the Convention and a couple of hundred additional for the banquet. There has already been posts on FR showing where Sarah Palin has doled out money to numerous conservative candidates across the country.
I have no reason to doubt Judson Phillips until someone prove he's a phony, until then he ran a great event that brought real tea party folks together for an informative event.
Thanks for your added info - posts - on this thread.
total banquet was 1044 paid seats and another 178 media registered
my wife asked one of the floor managers