Although many in the crowd of around 2,000 in St. Paul said the event was the beginning of a more vocal anti-tax groundswell, detractors dismissed the gathering as little more than a rehash of resentments fanned by talk radio and TV pundits.
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After Barb Davis White, a former congressional candidate spoke, a woman came up to her and gushed: "I pray for you and Michele Bachmann," a Republican congresswoman from Minnesota.

But tax day brought out defenders of taxes as well. At a noon news conference at the Capitol, one group, the Alliance For A Better Minnesota, announced an "It's Patriotic to Pay Fair Taxes" campaign. The purpose: to remind taxpayers of roads and teachers funded by their taxes.

Tea Party detractors said powerful national conservatives had tried to confer upon tax protests that often erupt at the filing deadline the kind of patriotic cachet of the Boston Tea Party, a pivotal event before the American Revolution. "It's [just] a different wrapper. It's the same bitter group," said John Van Hecke, executive director of Minnesota 2020, one of several self-described progressive groups that were dubious of the rallies.