Thread: At Bush rally, no 'liberals' allowed

This is my local newspaper. I won't make too many comments, initially. I'll just let the article speak for itself.

At Bush rally, no 'liberals' allowed

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09/30/2004

Two Bowdoin College students, initially cleared to attend President Bush's Bangor rally last week, are ejected because they support Kerry.
BATH — Two Bowdoin College students who traveled to Bangor last Thursday to see President George W. Bush speak at a campaign rally were ousted from the event after another Bowdoin student recognized them as supporters of Bush's opponent, Sen. John F. Kerry.

Bree Dallinga, a junior from New York, and Ashley Cusick, a senior from Texas, are both active and outspoken liberals, but they insist they did not go to last Thursday's rally to cause a disruption. At most, they considered revealing T-shirts they were wearing that read "Empires Fall" and "Another Proud American Despite Bush."

The T-shirts were not visible when the duo was forced out of the event.

Bowdoin junior Dan Schuberth, who is taking a semester off from college to work on the Bush campaign as the chairman of Maine Students for Bush and Maine College Republicans, picked them out of a crowd of people filing into the rally at a hangar at Bangor International Airport, and had them expelled.

Schuberth said the girls were flagged as people who were likely to disrupt the rally.

"I'm amazed that we made it through a background check, all these security checkpoints, through presidential security, and then some kid from our school has the power to kick us out," said Cusick Wednesday. "Whether or not I support Bush, it's not very often that we get the chance to go see our president speak."

Dallinga, who works for the Kerry campaign as a member of the Bowdoin Women's Association, said she and Schuberth have often found themselves at political odds during their time at Bowdoin.

"Dan knew that I vehemently disagree with the president," said Dallinga. "We were walking in when I saw him. He said 'Those two girls. They're not getting through.'"

Security officers informed them that they had been identified as "suspicious characters" and would have to leave. The young women said they pleaded their case to more than one person before being escorted out of the airport complex.

"For a girl who went through her entire educational career without even being called to the principal's office, being called a suspicious character was a little shocking," said Dallinga. "Then they threatened to call the police, which to me was even another step toward ridiculous."

Schuberth, the student who kicked Dallinga and Cusick out of the rally, said they are "widely recognized liberals" who are known to protest and voice their opinions at many events. Several people at the Bangor rally had already recognized them and notified the organizers. Schuberth — who was stationed at the last security checkpoint — was looking for them.

"It was up to me to make the final call," said Schuberth, who is originally from New Jersey but who now lives in Hallowell. "This was a private event ... it would have been unfair to our guests and the people putting the event on for them to cause a disruption."

He questioned whether the girls lined up the reporter from the Bowdoin Orient, Bowdoin College's weekly newspaper that published a front-page story about the incident the following morning, in advance.

"They went straight to the paper," said Schuberth. "Their mission certainly was accomplished."

Schuberth said there were more than 200 college students volunteering at the event, including six from Bowdoin College, and he was "disheartened" that the two who were thrown out received all the attention.

Dallinga and Cusick said they did not have the reporter lined up ahead of time. After being expelled, they joined a group of protesters in a "free speech zone," and Dallinga said she attended a dance class in Brunswick before returning to campus to find messages from the Orient on her voice mail.

Cusick secured two tickets for the Bangor rally through Bush's Web site. She was required to give her name, date of birth, Social Security number, whether she is registered to vote — and who she supports in the upcoming election. She said she was truthful on everything except the final question, to which she replied "Undecided."

The incident has found its way to several Internet Web sites.

On www.RightNation.us, the story was posted under the heading "When Liberals Attack..." There were three responses from the Web site's readers, including "of course they planned to interrupt the event ... just removing the outer shirt and exposing their anti-Bush tees would have been a disruption. (They) wished to disrupt the event and be forcibly removed in front of cameras ... this would have guaranteed air time and they could claim that their civil rights had been violated."

The Bowdoin Orient story was also posted at www.amsam.org, the American Samizdat Web site. Here, the only editorial comment was "Now the department of precrime includes preprotest."

Jesse Derris, a spokesman for the Kerry campaign in Maine, said this incident reveals something about the incumbent president.

"George Bush's campaign believes that only people who agree with him can see him," said Derris this morning. "This seems profoundly un-American for a president who is fighting a war that he says is defending our liberty. If people come to our events and ask for a ticket, they're given a ticket."

Randy Bumps, executive director of the Maine Bush/Cheney campaign, said this morning that rally stops are designed for Bush supporters and undecided voters.

"Any (presidential or vice presidential) visit is aimed at supporters and folks who are undecided about the race and who are interested in learning more about the president's agenda and accomplishments," said Bumps.

Cusick said she went to Bates College in Lewiston on Wednesday to hear Bush's daughters speak, but was again denied entrance. She said the whole situation has her wondering whether she's on some sort of blacklist that will interfere with her rights in the future.

"It does concern me whether I'm on a list or not," she said. "I'll be interested to see if I get stopped next time I go to the airport."