Sarah Palin rally only draws 6500

She has risen from being a little-known Alaskan governor to the darling of the Tea Party.

But after enjoying three years as one of the most prominent figures in right-wing politics, could Sarah Palin’s profile be starting to fall?Only 6,500 people turned up to see her at a rally in Wisconsin on Saturday, and opponents said that most of the crowd were protesters.After being selected as John McCain’s running mate for the 2008 election, Palin became one of the most talked about women in America.She gave up her job as governor of Alaska and became the face of the Tea Party movement, drawing tens of thousands of people to rallies calling for a reduction in government spending and opposing Obama’s healthcare plans.But in the last couple of weeks she has increasingly been pushed into the shadows as speculation grows that Donald Trump will be selected as the Republican candidate for the 2012 presidential election.At the Tea Party tax day rally on Saturday in Madison, Palin faced hundreds of jeering demonstrators as she tried to defend a polarising union rights law introduced by Wisconsin’s governor Scott Walker.Wisconsin Capitol Police estimated that about 6 500 people were at the event in front of the steps of the state’s Capitol building.But union demonstrators said they made up the most part of the crowd and dwarfed the group of Tea Party supporters who had turned out to see the former governor and GOP vice presidential candidate.’Hey, folks! He’s trying to save your jobs and your pensions!’ Palin yelled into the microphone, as she battled to be heard above the shouts of the demonstrators. ‘Your governor did the right thing and you won! Your beautiful state won! And people still have their jobs!’ she said.But hundreds of labour supporters, who had surrounded the rally, tried to drown out Palin with chants of ‘Hey-hey, ho-ho, Scott Walker has got to go!’ and ‘Recall Walker!’The tea partyers appeared clustered in front of the building, waving ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ flags and signs that read ‘Public workers – the party is over,’ ‘Thank you, Scott,’ and ‘Tax and spend brings the end.’Counter-protesters surrounded them, banging drums, bellowing into bullhorns and ringing bells. – www.dailymail.co.uk

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