Does the size of a rally really indicate how the public feels about an issue?

Of course the reason I ask is because of the huge rally Sunday in St. Paul. About 30,000 people marched from the St. Paul Cathedral to the Capitol. The principal reason for the march was to oppose the bill passed by the U.S. House which would make it a felony to be in the country illegally and would impose penalties against churches and other charitable groups for helping illegal immigrants.

On Saturday a few dozen people rallied on the other side of the issue, supporting, among other things, building a fence along the Mexican border.

MPR's Annie Baxter let both sides have their say in her story:

Marlene Nelson, of Owatonna, attended an anti-immigration rally at the Capitol on Saturday, which was organized on short notice and drew fewer than 100 people. Nelson's with a group called the Steele County Coalition or Immigration Reduction and she says immigrants, namely Mexican immigrants, can't all expect a helping hand.

"There's 4.5 billion people in the world more impoverished than the average Mexican. Are you suggesting we open the doors and take all these billions of people here? We can't keep everybody floating. It's not possible. They need to learn to blossom where they are. They need to make their country work for them," she said.

But one of the messages at the pro-immigration rally Sunday was that the workers keep the American economy afloat. James Graves, CEO of Graves Hospitality, said that's true at the hotels he runs.

"Our country, and more specifically my businesses, need dedicated and outstanding immigrant employees. Without them, our businesses and our country would find itself in a shortage of quality and necessary workforce," Graves said.

So because one side turns out 30,000 people and the other side turns out 50, does it mean that there is overwhelming support for one side and almost none for the other. Well, no. It could mean that the one side is better organized, or that it put all its efforts into the rally, or that the stakes just seem higher for that group.

The real question is how much heat these rallies and other organizing out on the politicians. And we'll see how that plays out in the next few weeks.

For the past month or so I've been putting together a podcast of our political stories every weekday. I did it again today, but there's a technical problem with actually getting it out. So if you're one of the few and proud who listen to that thing you'll have to wait until some of our technical people get in before you can get your daily fix.

Update 8:10 a.m. The podcast is there.