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So yesterday was really sweet.  I went with Renee to the rally for the Democratic Party in Erie.  We spent all day selling buttons and bumper stickers in Perry Square and listening to people like (hopefully) soon to be Congressman Porter and Kerry supporters speak about why George W. Should not be elected again. 

Then at three there was a march to the stadium where King George was speaking, picket signs and all.  There was one really great picket someone made that was more or less a cardboard cutout of everyone's least favorite president elect with a sign reading "Fear Monger" taped to his chest.  There were several ritual mob attacks on the effigy which, I believe, raised everyone's spirits. 

I myself didn't do much chanting or yelling at Bush supporters as they exited the stadium and were forced to walk on either side of our demonstration to get to their cars, but I did have a good time watching it.  It was interesting to see an actual protest in action, since I've never been part of one. 

But there was something about it that made me think that perhaps it wasn't the best course of action to take.  Sure, it was fun.  We all enjoyed standing there and exercising our right to protest.  It should be done, I suppose, simply because it can be done, but something struck me as odd. 

All of the Bush supporters sneered and called us hippies and told us to get jobs and were pretty much equating us to the pinko commies of the sixties and seventies, and I was struck by the question as to whether Kerry supporters were inundated like this when they left his speech...

For the sake of ease I am going to summarize the article from the Erie Times News as it was printed on the goerie.com webpage.  If you would like to see that page, please go here.

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The Bush - Cheney Exclusion Express

The (Unofficial) Report

For those of you who aren't familiar with Erie (as I really was not when I got involved in the march) Perry Square is twenty blocks north of Erie Veterans Stadium, where Bush was speaking yesterday.  If I had been I might have thought twice about marching.  That's not to say I wasn't glad I did it. 

There were over three hundred people at the rally in Perry Square prior to the march.  We got there around 11:30 am but the representatives from the Erie County Democratic Party (ECDP) had arrived around 9 or 9:30 am.  Between then and 1 pm it was more or less just a meet and greet where people could get signed up to vote or to help out with the efforts that the ECDP makes to elect John Kerry this year.  Buttons and bumper stickers were being sold. 

One really interesting thing that happened was about 1230 or so when a couple of guys walked up to our campaign goods table and offered us some things to pass out for free if we wanted.  There were two different bumper stickers that they had printed up themselves that read, "Republicans for Kerry" and "A Village In Texas Is Missing It's Idiot, Let's Send Him Home".  There was also a page full of graphs depicting the loss of jobs since Bush Jr.'s arrival in the White House, among other things.    We weren't allowed to pass the graphs out, of course, because if something should happen to be wrong then we would look like the idiots, but the information all came from the official White House webpage (.gov, people, not .com), so it seemed pretty valid.  I haven't checked it out yet, though. 

The highlight of the rally were the speakers, which I regret to inform you, I missed.  I'm sorry.  I was selling stuff.  And listening to Jason drum.  He's a really good drummer.  But never fear, I have done my research and found out what was said so that I can report it to you, my faithful (three) readers. 

Bob Casillo, chairman of the ECDP made a speech in which he told the Kerry supporters that Bush had come to the wrong place to talk about the economy being on the right track.  This area has lost 9,000 manufacturing jobs in the last three years.  And, as you all know, manufacturing has been a huge part of Erie's employment history - along with much of PA and the Eastern US.  "We are flat on our back, and you have failed us miserably," Casillo chastised Bush, who was at that point 20 blocks away preparing to spread more lies to the American people.

We even had the mayor on our side.  Rick Filippi spoke after Casillo, denouncing the event at the stadium as an "extravaganza" and expressing disappointment that taxpayers were dolling out money for it.

"Where was president Bush when we were losing 9,000 jobs in Northwest Pennsylvania?  Yet he's here to campaign for four more years."

Among his reasons for dissatisfaction with the Bush administration were his neglect of local public service and safety organizations while big business is being boosted, his lack of respect or care for the environment, and his lack of attention to American healthcare.  "We're paying through the roof and taking it up the behind in healthcare," he protested. 

Cherie Nelson, a local Kerry supporter, had her Bush tickets taken away from her at the gates of the stadium after security there had seen bumper stickers on her car supporting Kerry and denouncing Bush.  "I have never been a protester or an activist," she said, but yet she was "labeled a protester by a stranger."  When she asked why her tickets had been confiscated she was told that the Bush event was a private party. 

Nelson said in her speech at the rally that she wants to make informed decisions in November and that yesterday's turn of events was certainly helping her to do that. 

Also during the rally, members of the Allegheny Defense Project denounced Bush and his policies toward the environment, further incensing Kerry supporters, especially environmentalists, before their march and reminding them just what they were marching for.   "As president of the United States, George Bush is not a friend of the environment," Marty Visnosky, head of the Erie County Environmental Coalition.

Finally, it was time for the march.  The crowd of over 300 marched to 24th street, 20 blocks from Perry Square, where the street had been blocked off by police tape, police officers, police cars, police horses and busses.  I didn't get there until about ten minutes before Bush supporters began streaming out of Erie Veterans Stadium, but I think I probably picked the best time to make it there (from a Psych Major's standpoint anyway).  I didn't do much chanting or sign waving, but it was so interesting to just stand there and watch the exchanges between the Bush supporters on the sidewalks and the Kerry supporters in the street. 

While Kerry supporters shouted things like "Two more months," and "What Does Democracy Sound Like ... This Is What Democracy Sounds Like," Bush supporters jeered, took pictures, filmed, laughed, and shouted "Four More Years." 

After the protest the police forced everyone to begin walking back toward Perry Square and we had a police escort the entire way, which is fine and really pretty understandable and reasonable. 

So, do I think we made a difference?  No.  Not in the course of the election, anyway.  What is going to be is going to be.  That can be proven by the way Bush cheated in the last election.  But I think we might have raised the consciousness of some people, particularly those citizens living on State Street where we were stationed.  They really had no choice but to listen.  One resident actually said that they were being inundated not only with the screams and chants of the protestors, but with the cheers of the Bush supporters at the stadium.  Many people who were left outside after the gates to the stadium were sealed tighter than a dolphin's butt hole were swayed to vote for Kerry.  And several pedestrians and passerby were brought in to the rally and engaged in conversation that proved to be provocative and inspiring.  There were several republicans there to support the ECDP, which also brightened spirits and hopes for a Democratic victory this November. 

I met some people at the rally that were from Warren.  I asked them if they would like to sign up to help volunteer with the ECDP and they said no, that they were actually from Warren county.  I told them that I was as well and they seemed, at first, a little disgusted.  "Why aren't you involved in the Democratic Party in Warren, then," they asked.  I told them that I go to school in Edinboro and then they lightened up a little bit.  "Well you ought to get the youth in Warren involved," they told me.  I told them that I knew, but we both agreed that it was enough that I was doing something - anything - where I could.  

So what's my bottom line here?  I don't know.  If I had to come up with one I guess that it would be that although I'm not sure that protests are the best way to exercise political power, at least not in this situation, it did give us all - all 300 + of us - to take part in something that gave us a sense of community, a sense of power, and a sense of camaraderie.  So, yeah....vote for Kerry.  He's still a dirty politician, but he's the lesser of two evils. 

Peace!