Thursday, August 19, 2004
Afraid of the people?
President Bush's team exerts close control over admission to his campaign events. Dissenters and would-be hecklers are turned away, campaign officials say. On several occasions in recent weeks, Democrats who have gotten in have been ejected because they wore pro-Kerry T-shirts.
The Bush campaign billed his visit to Beaverton as a chance for ordinary citizens to pose questions to the president.
But first, his audience at "Ask President Bush" heard a 21-minute speech from Bush. Then there were 22 minutes of testimonials on his domestic policies from four supporters. After that, Bush moved into a second speech lasting 24 minutes on terrorism and Iraq, along with a few comments about his meetings with world leaders.
His audience did not mind waiting more than an hour for the question-and-answer session. This was no town hall appearance before a cross-section of citizens. Bush-Cheney re-election headquarters had instructed Oregon campaign officials to distribute tickets, so the school gymnasium was filled last Friday with 2,000 passionate Bush backers.
By contrast, most of Kerry's events are open to the public, though there have been some town hall events that are invitation-only. For certain appearances, the Kerry campaign has distributed tickets to the local party, unions and other supporters.
Go here to read some of the "questions" asked at Bush's pep rallies.
posted by chris at 11:50 AM
------------------
|
