I keep hearing that there were only 250,000 to 300,000 total in attendance at the tea parties across the country. How can that be? I attended two here in Michigan. Lansing was reported to have close to 5,000 and Troy had around 1,500. There were many more in Michigan alone...
I heard ~ 750,000.
I think that’s exactly why it’s hard to get an accurate guesstimate. It wasn’t like one big mass demonstration in DC. They were held throughout the country. I think the most important thing is that they were a spontaneous grass roots reaction. To me, that makes them more important than a long-planned event with partisan committees just rounding up bodies ordered to participate. It was the real thing - the people speaking out and standing up to be counted!