For conservatives in America, these are heady times.

Buoyed by Republican Scott Brown’s victory in the Massachusetts Senate race — a win that snagged the late Ted Kennedy’s seat away from the Democrats — and riding a rising tide of unhappiness with the presidency of Barack Obama, area conservatives attended a spirited rally inside the old Menard’s store in the Town of Sheboygan for a Constitutional Rally, sponsored by the Sheboygan Liberty Coalition.

Organizers say about 1,100 people were in attendance.

The message: People want their country back from the government. And lower taxes, too.

“I think they are mad about what’s going on with the United States and they want to learn as much as they can about being empowered,” said Oriannah Paul, 51, of Oostburg, chairman of the Sheboygan Liberty Coalition.

Paul said the election of Brown, which broke the Democratic Party’s filibuster-proof 60-member majority in the Senate, lifted the spirits of many conservatives and energized the Republican Party.

“I believe it gave people some hope that there’s a possibility we can make some changes and I think it’s going to give a lot more momentum to the TEA Party movement and to those who are fighting for their rights,” said Paul, referring to the organization called Taxed Enough Already that stages organized rallies for conservative causes around the country.

Linda Hamann, 62, of the Town of Mosel, wearing a hat adorned with several U.S. flags, said the country needs to go “back to basics” and get away from big government policies.

“I think people are starting to see through the transparency, supposedly, of Barack Obama,” Hamann said. “They’re realizing that during the campaign for that presidency, every time he spoke he kept talking hope and change, but he never talked about what he was going to change. He never gave explicit details.”

The building was decked out in plenty of red, white and blue, a big stage was in the middle for the speakers and the 400 seats set up were filled up quickly.

 “There’s good people here, they’re average everyday neighborhood people,” said George Marthenze, a Sheboygan County supervisor.

A large number of vendors were in the house, selling buttons with phrases such as “Nobama Care,” and a wide array of T-shirts, bumper stickers, books and even boxes of Cracker Jack for $1, “with a Nobel Peace Prize inside,” a less-than-flattering reference to Obama’s winning the award last year.

“People love them,” said Jake Speed, 50, of La Crosse, who was selling T-shirts with quotations from historical American figures. “One of the things they really like is they’re sayings from our Founding Fathers — Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, Abraham Lincoln. We’ve got some stuff from Ronald Reagan.

“They’re 200-year-old quotes and they’re still good today,” he said.

Speed has attended several TEA Parties around the state and said he senses a real engagement among conservatives against issues such as national health care and the loss of their freedoms.

“There’s definitely a change in the climate,” he said. “A lot of people are waking up that really didn’t pay that much attention before, but they’re paying attention now.”

Several politicians attended the rally to shake hands with attendees and pass out literature for their campaigns; among them Rebecca Kleefisch, who is seeking the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor and was heartened by the energy of the people who are making themselves heard at TEA Party-style events.

“The movement is growing, no doubt about it,” Kleefisch said. “And for every one person here today, there are 100 more at home who feel the same way. People are frustrated and it’s time for us to take our government back.

“It’s time we rein in spending and allow businesses in Wisconsin to grow and prosper.”

Reach Bob Petrie at bpetrie@ sheboygan-press.com and 453-5129.