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August 24, 2004

Open versus staged campaign events

Edwards literally did 100 town halls during the New Hampshire primary. He was great at it and got better as he went. It could make a difference for undecideds.

From the Racine Journal Times in Wisconsin:

RACINE - Sen. John Edwards held a town hall meeting Monday at Memorial Hall, where the Democrat spoke to hundreds of local people and answered questions, bouncing from issue to issue at high speed....

Here's a list of ten memorable items from this varied day:

1. FROM PURPLE HEART TO HEART.

Army Veteran Richard Williams, 74, of Caledonia, sat in the front row, waiting for the town hall meeting to start. The Purple Heart recipient said he dislikes recent criticism of Kerry for having been awarded three Purple Hearts for reportedly superficial wounds.

"You don't have to lose a leg or a limb to get a Purple Heart," said Williams, who volunteered for service and served as a Korean War rifleman. "It's for military merit and they're tearing him apart."

2. NO WALL-TO-WALL CAMPAIGN PEOPLE.

The Journal Times approached at least a dozen people in line before the event at random to see if they'd been planted by the campaign. It was no scientific survey, but the results were interesting. Most said they'd learned about the town hall meeting from the media and had no activist ties to the Democratic Party or Edwards.

Tim Anderson, 20, said he and his mother, Nancy, 47, called for a ticket and came down because they saw something in the newspaper. Tim, a California college student and former Green Party fan from Mount Pleasant, said he's grown increasingly unhappy with the president. "Now I really think he has to go," he said.

Everyone interviewed was from the local area and most appeared to be Kerry-Edwards supporters or at least tilting Democratic, which made for a jubilant atmosphere during Edwards' speech. But there were exceptions ...

3. THE SECOND AMENDMENT T-SHIRT.

On the back was the entire Second Amendment. On the front was the word "Freedom" and, in small print, a Republican Web site.

"You could see what my issues are," said Duane Michalski, a 37-year-old Caledonia truck driver who said his key issue is the right to bear arms.

Michalski said no Secret Service or any other officials had quizzed him because of his T-shirt. Nobody gave him trouble on the way into the building and he said he didn't plan to cause any kind of ruckus anyway.

"I just want to hear what the man's got to say," he said. He did.

Now, compare that to a Cheney event:

Some New Mexicans who wanted to hear Vice President Dick Cheney speak in Rio Rancho were refused tickets Thursday unless they signed a pledge to endorse President Bush.

Bush campaign spokesman Dan Foley says it was a security step meant to avoid a disruption of Saturday's speech.

Foley says some Democrats were screened after calling from a line that self-identified as America Coming Together -- an activist group that supports Kerry.

Two men who sought tickets said they were required to give name, driver's license number, address and other information. They were presented the pledge of endorsement when they arrived to pick up the tickets.

Sounds like a PR problem for BC04 if you ask me. But what isn't?

Posted by Mike at August 24, 2004 02:10 AM

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