Nearly a year and a half into the Tea Party movement, the momentum has not slowed.

This was evident by the showing of more than 2,000 area citizens at a Washington County tea party held on county fair park grounds Aug. 7. Organized by Americans for Prosperity, the event drew an enthusiastic group of red, white and blue-clad attendees waving American and Gadsen flags and cheering for personal freedoms, smaller government and adherence to the Constitution.

With Joe Wurzelbacher, better known as “Joe the Plumber,” as the event’s featured speaker, the atmosphere was one of – ironically enough – hope and change.

“Each and every one of us knows how to fix America so why ain’t we doing it?” he asked. “We like coming to the tea parties, we get around other like-minded people, but after we’re done chanting and waving the flags, then what do we do?”

The 36-year-old from Ohio – who became an unlikely icon for conservatives after asking thenpresidential candidate Barack Obama a question about Obama’s tax plan on his plumbing business – did not pull any punches as he delivered a stern, but encouraging message to the crowd.

“Coming to the tea parties doesn’t get a thing done, doing something afterward does,” he said. “You have to be educated and active. You need to take what you’ve learned, get involved and stay motivated.”

Calling the recently-passed health care law “unconstitutional” and saying that the current administration has “made a mockery” of the country’s founding fathers and military, Wurzelbacher said his goal was not to make the crowd feel good, but to “put them in their place.”

“Because I am in the same place,” he said.

Wurzelbacher – dressed in a flannel shirt and blue jeans and using his plain-speak approach – described the Republican and Democrat parties as “big businesses” and urged voters to elect representatives based on their reverence for America.

“(You need to) no longer make (voting) decisions based on a three-minute sound byte or because someone looks good in a suit or skirt,” he emphatically stated. “You must elect people because they care about America.”

Referring to political correctness as “political castration,” Wurzelbacher closed his speech by saying he “can’t stand” abortion, opposes same-sex marriage and owns five guns.

“Also, I have a truck that I drove all the way here, leaving my carbon footprint behind the entire way,” he concluded.

The line up also included several individuals running for office, including gubernatorial candidates Scott Walker and Mark Neumann; U.S. Senate candidates Ron Johnson and Dave Westlake; and Secretary of State candidate David King.

Walker – a surprise speaker who arrived toward the end of the program because he had been at a veterans memorial event in Milwaukee – echoed Wurzelbacher’s battle cry, stating that now is the time to make a lasting difference for the country.

“There are plenty of reasons to be angry, but we’re not angry, we’re motivated,” said the Milwaukee County executive. “(Like our founding fathers), if we stand up, neighbor-to-neighbor and shoulder-toshoulder, we can take back our country, and take it back we will!”

Johnson – the Republican frontrunner in the race for Russ Feingold’s seat – told attendees his “journey began at a tea party in Oshkosh” and the passing of Obama’s health care plan pushed him onto the ballot.

“I saw that health care bill as the single greatest assault on my freedom in my lifetime,” he said, adding that the abundance of government spending is “immoral and must stop.”

“We have to step up to the plate with dedication to repealing the health care law and stopping the spending madness,” said Johnson. “I believe we are losing America and I am not willing to let America go without one heck of a fight.”

Joel Kleefisch – State Assembly representative of the 38th District and husband of lieutenant governor candidate Rebecca Kleefisch – summed up the crowd’s sentiments most succinctly.

“Less government, lower taxes, more God, more family and leave my guns alone,” he said. “Our founding fathers never intended this country to be the land of expected hand-outs.”