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Protesters Get Anti-Bush Message Out to Media, Not President "
By Dennis LaRue YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- In the end, the protesters unhappy with George W. Bush's policies left Youngstown State University this afternoon with the feeling they had made their unhappiness known to the media if not the president and his local supporters."Somehow I think Bush got the idea some people are opposed to him," said one middle-aged man, full of satisfaction, as he walked up University Plaza as the demonstration broke up just before 2:30 p.m. His intended understatement was echoed by several others as they walked away.Others expressed satisfaction knowing they had let the president's supporters know they were vastly outnumbered and outshouted.Of the 250 or so who showed up for the protest of the visiting president and his policies, about a third were curious onlookers. Of the remainder, 80% carried placards and streamers denouncing Bush, 20% to show their support. Indeed, young women carried a hand-lettered streamer proclaiming, "There are Republicans in Y-town for George W. Bush."And a gray-haired, middle-aged woman carried a pole with a large U.S. flag in her right hand and a hand-lettered placard in her left that said, "God bless George W. Bush." Still another carried a cardboard sign on which she had printed, "We love you, Mr. President." Ten or so young Republicans, apparently YSU students, carried white and blue "Bush-Cheney '04" signs over their heads. Neither the president nor his audience heard so much as a murmur -- pro or con -- inside Bliss Hall, where he conducted a discussion on community healthcare centers, said Thomas Humphries, president of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber and a member of the audience.Organized labor, led by the United Steelworkers, IUE/CWA and the United Autoworkers, recruited its members to meet in front of Jones Hall, corner of Wick and Lincoln avenues, at 1:30 p.m. These unions, plus the building trades, the Service Employees International Union and AFSCME, put the word out to their rank and file to meet at Wick and Lincoln after being told that site was the closest they could get to Bliss Hall, about a tenth of a mile north on Wick."They know about it," said Harold "Nick" Nichols, organizer for the IUE/CWA, at 12:45p.m. when asked how many he expected to show up. "We've asked all the people who have enjoyed great contracts [and had the day off]. And we expect the retirees to be active."Nichols, who served in the 101st Airborne from 1962 to 1965, wore a yellow baseball cap with the division emblem, a screaming eagle sewn on and a Kerry button pinned on. He is angry at Bush for not sending more soldiers to Iraq. "We feel he's [Bush has] been incompetent in listening to his advisers" about trying to prosecute the war on the cheap, the union leader said, which has resulted in the high rates of casualties.As he spoke, Gary Steinbeck, an organizer for the Steelworkers union, arrived with a delegation of his members wearing blue T-shirts with yellow letters declaring their support of Sen. John Kerry for president. Jim Graham, president of Local 1112 of the United Autoworkers, was also on hand there and across from Bliss Hall. The three took reporters' questions about their unhappiness with Bush.The Valley Coalition for Peace and Justice asked its members and sympathizers to meet outside the Kilcawley Student Union before marching to University Plaza and Wick.Besides the local press, out in full force, an Associated Press reporter from Cleveland, a radio reporter from WKSU in Kent, TV reporters from stations in Cleveland and Columbus and the national networks were on hand outside Jones Hall and inside and outside Bliss Hall.About 1:15 p.m. the protestors from organized labor walked up Wick only to discover President Bush had arrived three minutes earlier and used the rear entrance.The anti-Bush chants, "No more Bush" and "Outsource Bush," rose in volume and hand-made signs, placards and banners outnumbered printed pro-Kerry signs. One woman carried a large green sign that had but one word, "Liar," printed by hand in black. Others said, "Free America, Not Iraq," "War Begins with Dubya," "Stop Bush" with a swastika replacing the s in Bush, and "Bush Sucks and I Approve This Message." Others opposed to Bush Administration policies, including the League of Conservation Voters and Planned Parenthood, carried professionally printed signs and scrolls.YSU biology professor Tom Diggins prepared a large placard carried by Jamie Boggs, a second-year graduate student in biology, and Erin Pfeil, a junior majoring in biology and anthropology. Resembling a large sheet of postage stamps, it had some 75 flag-draped coffins above which was printed "George W. Bush, Class of 2004" and beneath which read, "800 strong."Diggins created the poster. "It was my idea," he said. "I got it when someone lost their job [at the Air Force base in Dover, Del.] for taking photos of 20 coffins."Peter Koval, age 24, with the Steelworkers union in Pittsburgh, led the anti-Bush cheers, alternating with Nichols. Koval, born in Cleveland, earned his baccalaureate in political science at Brown University and said he's always been interested in politics. Originally a supporter of U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt, he -- like much of organized labor -- transferred his allegiance to Kerry when the congressman from Missouri bowed out of the race for president. The demonstrators were enthusiastic in their contempt for Bush -- loud and sustained -- not nearly as enthused or as long when Nichols, using a bullhorn, led chants of "Ker ree, Ker ree, Ker ree."Do you have a question or comment about this story? To reach Dennis LaRue, click here."