Surefire way to "shut down" the protestors who are dogging John & John

[SoCalDem]

They should stop speaking, and ask the handful of loonies to step forward...come up on the stage, and "say their piece"... then have them sit right up front, next to security people...facing the audience...

They are very brave when they are "in the crowd"..hooting and hollering..

It would only take a few minutes, and it would shut them up... Kerry or Edwards could then proceed to disect their "points" ,and go on with their prepared remarks.. It would show both of them as "caring what the other side has to say"..and it would be done with them having the opportunity to speak.. The vast majority of the crowd is pro Kerry-Edwards, so they would "help"...

By "ignoring" them, it only allows them to continue to interrupt, and might egg on an audience member or security person to hassle them...which is what they are really after :)

[grannylib]

1. Not a bad idea - God knows the Chimp has neither the balls nor brains to

try that (like the SS will allow any dissent within earshot of the little coward...)

[Octafish]

18. That was my question, too. Where are all the anti-Bush protesters?

They're herded into the "Free-Speech Zones." King Chicken George only appears at "ticketed" events that keep track of every single participant. Who cares what they think.

[Blue Gardener]

26. The Dubuque Kerry rally only had three wingnuts protesting

Just three! They made a bid issue out of it on the evening news. It was great.

[GainesT1958]

2. Either that, or, if they DON'T come up...

It will show them to be every bit as big a coward as the AWOL coward they support!:D

:kick:

B-)

[SoCalDem]

4. Exactly... and IF they open their mouth they will PROVE

their ignorance..

remember...MOST people fear public speaking.. Make them speak..

The audience could use a laugh :)

[Elidor]

3. Good idea, SoCal

You're a fount of common sense. One such incident would greatly lower freeper motivation across the board and would show K&E to be very magnanimous.

It'll never happen.

[joanne]

5. I love that!

And of course I would hope Kerry and Edwards would BE SURE to point out that no dissenters are allowed near the Chimpster.

[PsN2Wind]

6. They should also tell the disruptor's

that enlistment papers are available along with a notary to confirm their X.

[WLKjr]

14. lol, funny you say that

because every time I see a fundy young male about my age I ask why he hasn't went to iraq to serve and get one of his arms blown off. You know the ones that walk around in your face with the bloody dime chopped up fetus posters that are like 6x9. You yell it in their face when they come by you in the line or group with their megaphone and watch what they do.


que head explode..................

[bluestateguy]

7. Humphrey did just that in 1968

Hump was badgered by left-wing hecklers over the war for months in the campaign, more so that Nixon or Wallace. Finally, HHH asked one of the hecklers to come up and address the crowd, and the heckling eased. In fact, once HHH came out against the war a group called "Hecklers for Humphrey" was formed made up up students who used to heckle HHH at his rallies.

Kerry could do this, but it would be a risk, and I promise you the consultants would not like it, but it could be spun as an example of how our side does not marginalize dissenters or attack their patriotism.

[SoCalDem]

10. It would MAKE NEWS.. and he needs FREE coverage..

It would show him as the "bigger man"..not afraid of some rowdy disruptors.. It would also make them look VERY foolish.. How would YOU feel if, all of a sudden, you were thrust onstage infront of 15K hostile people...and told to SPEAK :)

They would then be given the "royal treatment"...front row seats...no slinking off to the edges to yell some more..:)

[Bernardo de La Paz]

24. Yes, Mental Judo

Yes, whenever possible, apply mental judo. If they push, pull them so that you help them on their way and you are there to let them down easy because they don't know how to fall.

When they've parroted the two minutes of script they've memorized, then Kerry or Edwards can take them apart. But there would be yet more ways to apply mental judo. Having a recruiter there is a good idea!

[Sugarbleus]

11. Your piece is EXCELLENT... Good idea from SCD too!!

I wonder if the K/E team has time for such distractions in scheduling? It sounds like a wonderful thing to do, at least every so often. Brilliant...who's going to tell them about this idea? :P

[Cha]

8. Or just take them out and throw them in jail like the

bush cartel does? }(

Sounds like something our Johns would do!

[blm]

9. I like it. But then, you know how confrontational I am. ;)))

heheh

[mark11727]

12. Reminded me of an incident a long time ago...

...there was some guy doing stand up at one of the small local comedy clubs. He was pretty good, but there was a jerk in the middle of the audience tat wouldn't stop heckling him (you know "YOU'RE NOT FUNNY!" that kind of thing).

The comedian could've gone back and with this loser, but instead he took a different tack. He walked up to his table, had the spotlight turned on him so everyone could see, and handed over the mike.

"Well, you don't think I'M funny, so maybe you should take a turn. Go ahead. Be funny. Right Now."

Kept his fat mouth shut for rest of the performance.

[eridani]

13. They might be able to turn some of the protesters under some conditions

They should consult with Kucinich on this.

http://www.folkmusic.com/archive/z_kucinich.htm

Tim started with a song, DJK spoke. He was in rare form…quoting Shelley, Yeats, Decartes, Emerson…drawing in the crowd with wide-ranging references to physics, metaphysics, literature, history and art. Having listened to him, in order, address a union audience that morning, a religious audience that afternoon and a college audience that evening I was struck by his ability to present ideas that were intelligent without being elitist, compassionate without being corny, bold without being batty and spiritual without being sectarian. He answered complicated questions directly and clearly, drawing roars of appreciation even from those who expected him to be evasive. In fact, a group of Bush/Cheney supporters lamented near the end of the Q&A that they weren’t registered to vote in the primary because they would have liked to have cast theirs for Kucinich.

[drdigi420]

15. awesome idea, lets take it one step further

lets hire actors to pretend to be bush supporting protesters, then have them get on stage and expose the positions they take for the greedy, bigoted, and counterproductive policies that they are

[SoCalDem]

16. We don't need to hire people.. They seem to be motivated on their own

and just as we do not freep polls, we can't take a chance on having someone tell the press that they were "hired" to pretend for us..

[bossfish]

19. Sort of like that TV show "Crossballs"...

But we don't really have to do that...

I'm sure the goons could muck it up on their own...

[democrat_patriot]

17. I completely agree!

Make sure to bring up the "Oath for * SUpport" or whatever the correct term is.

Something like:
"You know, if you were acting this way at the * rally, you would either get arrested, or be forced to a Free Speech Zone. I'm not like that, I actually care. Would one of you please come up so we could discuss the issues like the adults that we are?"

[LunaC]

20. But....but....but.....we don't give in to "terrorists"

Remember?

[rumguy]

21. I know how to shut them up

:nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke:

[tkmorris]

22. Hey, that could work!

Like someone else said, it's a gamble but the potential gain is worth it IMHO.

The beauty of it is that it dovetails nicely into the Kerry/Edwards idea that the Repubs seek to divide the nation, to pit us against each other while the Dems are seeking reconciliation and togetherness. Doing this would show that they really mean it, that it's not just an empty slogan.

Furthermore Bush would be tempted to try to top it (y'all see him eating raw Iowa corn earlier today?) and man oh man would George blow that one.

[drmom]

23. But it would only work once...after people knew about it,

the protestors would prepare speeches, which could turn into LONG diatribes if they knew they would have a captive audience. But I agree it would be fun to watch the first time!

[Dem2theMax]

25. I LOVE this idea.

First, it would give Kerry a chance to answer them directly. He could take their 'misinformation' and tell them the truth - something they don't hear from THEIR candidate. Also, it shows respect for another person's point of view/opinion. It would freak these people out. That Kerry would take the time to talk directly to them, to answer their questions - Kerry would totally diffuse the situation and in the process, I bet he'd gain some votes from these right wingers. I'd do it more than once too. Boy would this make Kerry look even better and * even worse. * couldn't do this on his best day. Unless all they asked him about was baseball, alcohol and DUI's. :)

I say send the idea on to Kerry's campaign!