Political rallies are usually a place for people to come and either cheer on their candidate or gather information on a candidate they might want to vote for. If the President is involved, then you get people who want to see the President, just because the President has shown up in your town.
Every so often, you will get the occasional heckler, but usually candidates just laugh them off or say something about how wonderful it is for people to express their opinion.
But not so with the Bush/Cheney campaign. Nina Totenberg of National Public Radio did a fascinating report on how the campaign has screened anyone who had Kerry paraphanalia or a pro-choice t-shirt. Secret Service was used to keep these people away from the rallies. Some of these people were registered Republicans.
Now, if this was something using campaign dollars, then the campaigns can invite anyone they want. But, many of these stops are presidential visits, meaning they are funded by the people and subject to first amendment protections.
So, why is the campaign doing this. My partner here at the Moderate Republican, Mark Kittel could not have put it any better:
"I don't think it's just because they want the media to see people who are 110% behind Bush, to give others in America the impression that it is futile to support Kerry because no one disagrees with the president, although that is part of it.
I think it's also because they don't want the president to have to face that dissent, to face Republicans and previous supporters who nevertheless disagree with his agenda. He simply can't face it. That was apparent on last week's debate. For the first time in a very long time, Bush had to face someone who didn't accept everything he said at face value. He had to face his opponent, he had to face Jim Lehrer (who I very much doubt likes Bush at all) and he had to face a silent crowd, who could not and would not carry him with rabid cheers at every "hard work" sound bite. He had to appear in front of over 60 million people without anyone to cheer him on.
I understand now why Rove didn't want the debates in the first place. Rove knows what Bush's weaknesses are and has worked hard (there's that hard work again) to prevent the exposure of those weaknesses. In his mind, as we well know, any sign of weakness is an assurance of defeat."
If a President can't handle a few hecklers or a pro-choice t-shirt, you have to wonder how is he going to handle tonight's debate.
The Bushies have to start realizing that the President represents all 300 million Americans, not just a chosen few.
Just another reason that Bush has disappointed me.
I'll amplify your shameless plug Mr. Higgins
Control of the Republican Party has been gradually wrested from the kind of righteous conservative we used to respect and admire and has been given to a new breed of political animal that doesn't think or act the way good Americans ever think or act. The straightforward analysis: bad people are running the country. If you look, you can see that the nation is going downhill by degrees. And it's not just nature and circumstance causing the decline; it's orchestrated. There are observable reasons for our country's ills and they center on poor leadership. The wrong kind of people are in charge, and they don't really work for the average American's benefit. Nor do they work for the average conservative's benefit. They work for themselves!
See http://thecab.blogspot.com/ for what real conservatives are thinking.
Posted by: dorsano at October 12, 2004 12:04 AMReal conservatives can't stand this stuff. Now we're supposed to be groupies for Bush. This by invitation only stuff is so false. It reminds me of the crowds of screaming women they lined up to cheer Hitler. No dissent allowed. No impure views tolerated.
I will not vote for this man. He is not a good conservative nor a good Republican nor does he represent anything of value to real conservatives. His first administration has been a failure. The base methods he is resorting to demonstrate that he doesn't deserve another.
See http://thecab.blogspot.com/ for what real conservatives are thinking.
Posted by: Thomas B. Higgins at October 11, 2004 11:19 PMExcellent, that was really well explained and helpful
Posted by: 賭け事クラブ at October 11, 2004 10:09 AMThat last mike wasnt this mike. I may have to start posting under another name. Anyways...
The Democrats have used the secret service for the same thing. This has been documented this capaign season as well.
I think its a shame that both sides politicize this group but they do.
Posted by: mike at October 10, 2004 10:11 PMWe have seen evidence again and again that this is one of the most close-minded administrations in human history. Not even Nixon or Reagan were this closed off. Story after story of people in DC turned away at the door unless they were of the Inner Circle. Report after report of science and financial experts being ignored regarding policies on the environment and the deficit. Any possibility of criticism blocked at the gate to where it's practically a rarity to get any form of heckling or unscripted response (there's been one (just one!) instance, where a woman who lost her son in Iraq confronted Laura Bush at a rally). Remember the 'protest zones' they set up so that only (ONLY!) the anti-Bush protesters were thrown into a fenced-off area blocks if not miles away from where the Presidnet would be?
This is an administration that wants only Yes men (sorry, gender specific) catering to their every whim and project, no matter how reckless and ill-planned they become. And you look at Iraq and Afghanistan, and you look at the deficit, and you look at the poor job growth, and you wonder: just how can they think we want four more years of this sh-t?!?!
You all probably have seen this by now as it got some play in the national media. JibJab has a new piece that's just as hilarious as the first (if not more). You can find it here:
http://atomfilms.shockwave.com/content/goodtobeindc/frameset.html
Posted by: dorsano at October 9, 2004 08:58 PMLet me know what you think.
Nice job Mike - Another Karl Rove or Frank Luntz in the making - God help us all :)
May your efforts always be directed to keeping the nation balanced.
Posted by: dorsano at October 8, 2004 11:32 PMHey Dennis,
I was inspired by the debates to get involved and created this site in honor of intelligent thinking democrats and republicans:
http://www.flipfloptokerry.com
Let me know what you think.
Mike
Posted by: Mike at October 8, 2004 11:19 PMI got my secret decoder ring from www.johnkerry.com today. Now I can decrypt the code words in his speeches.
It works!!! I figured out what Global Test means.
I turned the top part of the ring to the Global Test slot, pressed the green button and it pointed me to the people at Tom Bihn, at http://www.tombihn.com/ - a small American company based in Seattle that does business in Europe and the Middle East.
Sewn into their products is an English/French washing instructions label that reads (if you have a decoder ring)
That last part is where you need the decoder ring. Visit them here at http://www.tombihn.com/page/001/CTGY/CARELABEL and see if your ring works!!
- Hand wash warm water.
- Mild soap line dry.
- Do not bleach.
- Do not machine dry.
- Do not iron.
- We're sorry our president is such an idiot. We didn't vote for him.
Now that's American ingenuity for ya - and one reason why American business is so competitive around the world.
Posted by: dorsano at October 8, 2004 06:22 PMJust another in an growing list of once-great-institutions to lose credibility thanks to dubya. He will defifitely be remembered by history (or we will be doomed to repeat it).
Posted by: William Bollinger at October 8, 2004 09:54 AMWhat appalls me is that they've got the taxpayer funded Secret Service doing their dirty work!
Posted by: Brian at October 8, 2004 09:45 AM