Two standout appearances at Chicago’s Tea Party this Monday were familiar faces from Saturday’s Wisconsin event: BigJournalism’s Dana Loesch and Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch.
These two women, working moms who are relatively recent entrants into the political fray, are examples of one of the most underreported stories of the movement: the Tea Party’s empowerment of women.
It is women in particular who have embraced the movement, either in leadership roles or in behind-the-scenes work. The stay-at-home moms and working women who sacrifice family time in order to commit themselves to the movement are inspiring generations of young American females.
Dana Loesch gave a take-no-prisoners speech that had people cheering her on from the furthest reaches of Daley Plaza. And Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch’s appeal to keep in the fight–as she is having to–wasn’t lost on the scores of women who had taken time off work and mothering to travel into to Monday’s Tea Party.
Lt. Gov. Kleefisch, subjected to recall along with Gov. Scott Walker, is facing an uphill battle. While Gov. Walker’s plight has caught the attention of national media–and donor’s wallets–Kleefisch is having trouble getting noticed in the shadow of the Walker spotlight. A defeated Kleefisch would leave Walker alone in the State House; in her place would be the president of the Wisconsin Firefighters Union.
So Kleefisch–and Loesch–and countless women across the country (Toby Marie Walker’s Waco Tea Party comes to mind as a particularly feisty and effective bunch) are fighting on. In doing so, the story of women and the Tea Party grows more prominent–and more difficult to ignore.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY
