"Hey Wisconsin, you all started this!” was a constant refrain for us yesterday at the Occupy Wall Street Community and Labor march, where the Job Party and Democracy for New York City teamed up to form a ‘Cheesehead contingent.'

Indeed, as exhibited when you talk to Occupy Wall Street-ers, the sense of solidarity between Wisconsin and Wall Street is very real. Moreover, as the latest and largest events precipitate, New York City is truly having a ‘Madison Moment’.

Not that this wasn’t expected. At the start of our day, Wisconsinite super star activist Jenna Pope and myself explained the inherent connection between the movements in the Cheddar and Empire states to Laura Flanders on Free Speech TV:

This was further made manifest during the march, where the Wisconsin-esque enthusiasm and tactics bodes for so much more to come. Likewise, our Wisconsin gear was praised with a genuine and emphatic sense of appreciation.

In the thick of the rally, Jenna reacted to the constant ‘thanks you’s’ she was receiving, and to the burgeoning Madison / New York City movement relationship at large:

Although our cheeseheasd and blue-fist shirts always elicit a positive reaction, this time it was different---not only in terms of the number of comments, but the degree of gratitude as well.

Yesterday, tens of thousands of New Yorkers discovered the sheer democracy-inducing glory of taking part in a true-blue movement. They now not only have a sense of a kindred spirit with Wisconsin, but of a shared experience as well, as seen in the photos from our Flickr set of the march.

It’s often said, but bears repeating: this is all but a building thing. It has never felt so true.