“I think everything that’s happened in the past few months has them worried,” said Kimi Ishikawa, a Madison-area teacher who attended the counter-rally. “I think they now know we are going to keep going and not let up.”

According to Capitol police, about 6,500 attended the rallies. Officials could not say which was bigger, mainly because the counter-rally protesters spent as much time jeering the tea party event as they did listening to their own speakers. Most observers agreed, however, that both crowds seemed roughly equal in size.

Palin was joined Saturday in the tea party rally by radio personality Vicki McKenna, Wall Street Journal columnist John Fund and controversial conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart, who at one point told the loud counter-protesters to “go to hell.”

Palin spent much of her 16-minute speech criticizing President Obama but started with praise for Walker. Noting that she has many teachers in her family, and is a former union member herself, Palin said Walker understands that a state must be solvent in order to take care of its public sector workers.

“He’s not trying to hurt union members, he’s trying to save your jobs and your pensions,” she said.