Politics

The challenge of converting the Tea Party in Connecticut from political theater to campaign muscle was embodied Friday in Kevin Childs of Bristol, one of the colorful throng at an anti-tax rally outside the State Capitol.

Childs stood between a pony-tailed man holding the Stars and Stripes and a woman in dark glasses waving the familiar yellow Gadsen flag, a snake slithering over the legend, "Don't Tread On Me." None of them ever has volunteered on a political campaign.

"You can vote in as many people as you want," Childs said, but nothing changes.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy endorsed budget revisions Thursday that would shift some of his $1.5 billion in proposed tax increases from the middle class to wealthier residents, a major step toward the passage of a budget next week by the legislature's Finance and Appropriations committees.

A progressive coalition's campaign to nudge Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the General Assembly towards a bigger tax increase and a new 8.95-percent tax bracket for multi-millionaires quickly was branded a non-starter Wednesday.

The legislature is likely to adjust the governor's tax plan by adopting a slightly more progressive income-tax structure than Malloy's top rate of 6.7 percent, but there is no serious support for a tax increase beyond the $1.5 billion proposed by Malloy, legislative leaders said.