Michigan Tea Partiers Boycott Detroit Auto Show Protest

The message delivered at today's tea party protest of the Detroit Auto Show: protecting American jobs beats telling Democrats to "keep their hands off" the economy.

A group of Michigan tea partiers successfully shut down a protest of the Detroit Auto Show arranged by the National Tax Payer's Union today on the grounds that it was more important to protect American jobs than it was to condemn the government bailout of the auto industry. The AP was on the scene at the protest and found just two tea partiers in attendance. That's despite a national call for a rally at the show by the National Tax Day Tea Party last week.

The organizers of the rally hoped to place hundreds of angry tea partiers in the face of White House officials and prominent Democrats like Nancy Pelosi, who visited the show today. Instead, they ran into an online campaign to shut down the protest from Michigan tea partiers who called it an affront to the thousands of Michiganders who rely on the auto industry for a paycheck.

The Michigan Messenger reported Michigan tea partier and ex-GM employee Joan Fabiano's Facebook posting urging her fellow protesters to stay away:

"In conclusion it is my opinion that this protest is ill-conceived and quite frankly an attempt at attention grabbing grand standing by those outside and unfortunately inside of Michigan. ... Why must some Americans boycott G.M. and throw INNOCENT people, such as myself, out on the street trying to find another job in this economy? Did I do something wrong? Would you like to see yourself out of a job if your company's leadership made the errors and you had NOTHING to do with it?"

As the Messenger reported, Fabiano, like most tea partiers, is opposed to the government bailouts of banks and the so-called "out of control spending" in D.C.. But when it comes to General Motors and Chrysler -- two companies bought out by the government in the depths of the economic downturn -- Fabiano said the protest could hurt the business climate in the one of the worst states for unemployment in the country.

Fabiano took credit for the minuscule turnout at the protest in Detroit in an interview with the AP:

"I'd like to think I had something to do with that ... I think it was ill-conceived. It only hurts fellow Michiganders and Michigan commerce. Businesses are already hurting."

The National Taxpayers Union told the AP the low turnout was partially due to the bitterly cold Detroit weather, but acknowledged that Fabiano's campaign shut down their plans. NTU government affairs director Andrew Moylan:

"This is a sensitive issue. This is a sore spot for a lot of people. This is really close to home for a lot of folks."