protesters at RNC convention

[trippin bily]

during the DNC convention the protesters were put in a cage, YES A CAGE ! and received almost zero coverage on the three free networks or the cable networks.
dont think they had much coverage on this forum.
im saying the coverage on protesters will be far more during the RNC convention. Im saying lead story on the 3 free networks and most of the cable networks.
my guess is 25 -1 RNC protesters to DNC protesters on the news. My other prediction is the RNC does NOT put the protesters in a cage. Any thoughts ?

[nicky g]

Surely how the protestors are treated is a police decision? Are the police biased towards Democrats?

My prediction is that there will be a lot more protestors at teh RNC than there were at the DNC.

[Dynasty]

I'm extremely familiar with the area around the Fleet Center in Boston where the Democrats held their convention. I can confirm what I heard on serveral news reports- there simply isn't any space around the Fleet Center to allow demonstrations.

Behind the Fleet Center, there is a train station and railroad tracks. On one side, there is a highway overpassand onramps. On the other side, there is a large federal building.In front of the Fleet Center, there is the one street which presumably was used for all the convention traffic.

I'm not sure where the actual DNC protestors were. I know there is a fenced in area (cage?) directly in between the Fleet Center and the street in front. There are also a couple small lots within 100 yards of the Fleet Center. Regardless of what was actually provided for the protestors, there definitely wasn't much space available.

[Duke]

[ QUOTE ]
My prediction is that there will be a lot more protestors at teh RNC than there were at the DNC.

[/ QUOTE ]

Look out Nostradamus!

Yes, I'm saying that aging hippy liberal douches have free time on their hands.

~D

[nicky g]

"Look out Nostradamus!"

Hey, I'm starting small and working my way up. By next year I hope to have a date for the end of the universe.

The implication was that there will be a much bigger hooha at the RNC, which will be more newsworthy.

[Garbonzo]

Thoughts:

If they try to put 500,000 people in a cage, New York will erupt in violence.

I will be at the protests, and taking pictues all over New York during the next 7 days, I will post a link to them for those interested.

[adios]

Let's look at a couple things here. The Democrats had their convention in Boston and I think it's fair to say that that is "friendly turf" for them. Think about how things might be slightly different if the Democrats had their convention in Houston, TX for instance. Anyway let's look at NYC. NYC from what I understand has 80% of the registered voters as Democrats. I haven't even heard of Bush campaigning in New York the state with the second biggest electoral college vote count. He's written New York off. I read something about protestors getting cheaper hotel rooms in New York but don't have the inclination to delve into it. Anyway the Republicans are having their convention on "unfriendly turf." I realize that it may have something to do with 9/11 but I read a political analysis yesterday where the opinion was given that this a masterful stroke by Karl Rove. I saw an interview with Karl Rove last night and he referred to the protestors as Democrats. The interviewer even called him on it and Rove more or less side stepped that statement IMO. Rove went on to basically say that he thought having protestors was a sign a healthy democracy and that he had no problem at all with them. The political analysis that I read stated that Rove wants the U.S. to associate the Democrats with radicals i.e. he wants the public to see the protestors and have them actually go nuts and thus have the public associate these protestors with the Democratic party. It seems to me the Republicans have basically put a "target on their back" and stated here we are come protest. The analysis came from a die hard Republican btw.

[riverflush]

adios...

That is exactly why Rove is doing this: to contrast 9/11 and American unity vs. massive, possibly violent and out-of-control protests. He wants to paint the Dems with that brush. Rove is a cunning, devastatingly effective political player. He plays politics, that's his game...and he's an expert at it. He's also the guy who has come up with the Bush "straddle the fence" on the Swift Boat Vets concept...condemn the 527's but "stay above" the Swift Boat story...like nothing is happening. He's successfully steered Bush into an "I'm above all this crap" mindset over the past 16 months and it's been a good strategy politically (IMO). IMO Kerry is too caught up in the mud lately, he's participating in it (threatening lawsuits, FEC complaints, Max Cleeland stunts) and it's making him look bad.

And also...all those folks out there who want to say "see the media didn't cover the protest at the DNC, now they'll play it up because it's the Republicans." This is just short-sided. You can't argue that the Republicans won't inspire more protesting, because they will . Republicans are the primary target of the protest "community" - they stand for all the things that the Moby/backpacks/throw bricks through Starbucks windows/the WTO is evil/we're killing our environment/global warming is real/rich oppress the poor/U.S. is the terror crowd hates. Sure, the Democrats do some bad things, too - but they are at least transparently on their side.

Rove is merely saying "We're cool with that" - because he believes it makes the other side look bad. He sees these folks (the burn GWB in effigy crowd) as way off the charts outside the mainstream and, of course, he's right.

[J.R.]

Anyway the Republicans are having their convention on "unfriendly turf." I realize that it may have something to do with 9/11 but I read a political analysis yesterday where the opinion was given that this a masterful stroke by Karl Rove. I saw an interview with Karl Rove last night and he referred to the protestors as Democrats. The interviewer even called him on it and Rove more or less side stepped that statement IMO. Rove went on to basically say that he thought having protestors was a sign a healthy democracy and that he had no problem at all with them. The political analysis that I read stated that Rove wants the U.S. to associate the Democrats with radicals i.e. he wants the public to see the protestors and have them actually go nuts and thus have the public associate these protestors with the Democratic party. It seems to me the Republicans have basically put a "target on their back" and stated here we are come protest. The analysis came from a die hard Republican btw.


Bingo. Especially because the newsworthy clips will be the most controversial ones, and the peaceful protestors won't get covered while the protestors who get out of hand will get coverage and create a bad image of the protestors. Norman Mailers son, who is apparently a protestor/activist, disucssed this notion on NPR this morning, essentially saying there is a great risk in playing right into the republicans hands by protesting as the republicans have somewhat successfully portrayed the protestors as primarily democratic (which isn't true of many protestors) and if violence and other disruptive/non-peaceful things happen, these images will be presented as the people, actions and idealogy of the democratic party.

[sfer]

Post the links, I'm interested. Critical Mass was a mess tonight, so it's starting.