Friday, August 20, 2004
Kerry Rally
This is where I spent my birthday on Friday the 13th along with 50,000 other Oregonians. We scored a spot under the tree to Kerry's right, out of the range of this picture, so we didn't get burnt to a crisp like most of the crowd.
The interesting thing was that Bush was making an 2 appearance in Portland at the same time. Only he would not tell the newspapers or broadcast media where he was going to show up for an "ask the president session" in this swing state. At the 11th hour a memo from the Secret Service to the media detailing where to be and when, was leaked and appeared on the internet. I thought about trying to go to the high school in suburban Beaverton where Bush was hiding (I mean facing the public), the problem was in order to gain entry you had to volunteer to staff a Republican phone bank for 3 or 4 hours in order to maybe get permission to ask the president a question. I decided to add my body to the 50,000 in downtown Portland on the riverfront, many of whom burned up a vacation day to attend the event. I missed an 8 year old asking Bush how he could help him get reelected president. Isn't that precious? That 8 year old better have made 3 hours of phone calls or I am going to be pissed!
It took two hours for the crowd to file in to the fenced off waterfront and then another hour before any speakers took to the stage. Leonardo DiCaprio was surprisingly eloquent, Bon Jovi mercifully only played two painfully bad songs. The right wing media attack dogs tried to say that Portland was so flaky and wierd that we all really took the day off to ogle these two celebrities. These idiots don't know Portlanders very well. In 2000 ten thousand people paid $7 each in Portland to hear Ralph Nader rail against both parties. We don't need so-called celebrities to get us fired up. Kerry was good but not great which is what we have come to expect and accept. If Kerry came again next week he would get the same crowd back. People are that desperate to unseat Bush.
Could there be a more marked contrast between the public support these 2 candidates enjoy here? Of course the Secret Service began referring to Portland as Little Beirut during the first Bush administration so that may give you an idea of how unpopular W is here. Despite this I do not believe that there is a city in the US that would have 50,000 supporters of Bush take a day off of work to cheer him.
I have great hope that he will be soundly defeated in November.
This is where I spent my birthday on Friday the 13th along with 50,000 other Oregonians. We scored a spot under the tree to Kerry's right, out of the range of this picture, so we didn't get burnt to a crisp like most of the crowd.
The interesting thing was that Bush was making an 2 appearance in Portland at the same time. Only he would not tell the newspapers or broadcast media where he was going to show up for an "ask the president session" in this swing state. At the 11th hour a memo from the Secret Service to the media detailing where to be and when, was leaked and appeared on the internet. I thought about trying to go to the high school in suburban Beaverton where Bush was hiding (I mean facing the public), the problem was in order to gain entry you had to volunteer to staff a Republican phone bank for 3 or 4 hours in order to maybe get permission to ask the president a question. I decided to add my body to the 50,000 in downtown Portland on the riverfront, many of whom burned up a vacation day to attend the event. I missed an 8 year old asking Bush how he could help him get reelected president. Isn't that precious? That 8 year old better have made 3 hours of phone calls or I am going to be pissed!
It took two hours for the crowd to file in to the fenced off waterfront and then another hour before any speakers took to the stage. Leonardo DiCaprio was surprisingly eloquent, Bon Jovi mercifully only played two painfully bad songs. The right wing media attack dogs tried to say that Portland was so flaky and wierd that we all really took the day off to ogle these two celebrities. These idiots don't know Portlanders very well. In 2000 ten thousand people paid $7 each in Portland to hear Ralph Nader rail against both parties. We don't need so-called celebrities to get us fired up. Kerry was good but not great which is what we have come to expect and accept. If Kerry came again next week he would get the same crowd back. People are that desperate to unseat Bush.
Could there be a more marked contrast between the public support these 2 candidates enjoy here? Of course the Secret Service began referring to Portland as Little Beirut during the first Bush administration so that may give you an idea of how unpopular W is here. Despite this I do not believe that there is a city in the US that would have 50,000 supporters of Bush take a day off of work to cheer him.
I have great hope that he will be soundly defeated in November.
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