I've been hard on the protesters lately, so I want to be sure that I acknowledge that the latest protest by Americans Against Escalation in Iraq was about as well-run as any protest I've seen in the last year.
AAEI's protest was more of a press conference, but it managed to avoid a number of the pitfalls of the last event in Bath. First, the organizers emphasized that all the participants were from the 29th district. Second, their press conference/protest occurred after AAEI tried to get a meeting with Kuhl through proper channels. It was only after Kuhl wrote back to AAEI saying that he was unable to meet with them that they decided to hold the press conference.
The effectiveness of the latest protest was also clear from the weakness of the response from Kuhl's office. The best Kuhl's spokesman could manage was that the protesters should call the office for a meeting -- in other words, they should do what they've already done.
The inability of Kuhl's spokesperson to respond with anything but a non sequitur shows that AAEI gave Kuhl's office no room to quibble. This protest gave AAEI a media window that was almost entirely sympathetic, and they did so without anyone getting arrested. AAEI showed that you don't have to re-live the 1960's to get your point across.
Comments
I think the protestors will earn more respect from the right and middle by handling the protest they way they did. I was impressed myself.
Well, you're a tough audience, so that says something.
The reason someone protests is because they've exhausted all other means of communication -- it's a last resort. This protest made it clear that those means were exhausted.
I disagree somewhat - they have already communicated with Randy Kuhl through the media. The real purpose of any protest is to get TV time and newspaper space. But when they do it wrong, it makes them look bad - this time they did it right.
I've said it before and I'll say it again.
Protesters: you're going to be on TV. Dress for success. Suits, ties, leather shoes, flag lapel pins, jewelry, haircuts, etc. You are upstanding members of society, dress the part.
I give the AAE protesters a B+ for fashion sense. Some ties, some dresses. But some sandals and shorts, too. Beards scream "old hippy"
Thankfully, no dreadlocks, tie-dyes, or bongo drums...
I do think that fashion does matter. The southern tier and many Rochester suburbs are very conservative, and a protest by a bunch of people who look like hippies would not be as well accepted as people who are wearing jeans and t-shirts.
Itchy/Elmer - I agree that dress is part of the issue, but it is also methods. I think the relatively conservative Southern Tier audience doesn't appreciate civil disobedience, and AAEI showed there was really no need for it.
Also, Elmer, you're right that the "communicating" with Kuhl is a bit of a pretext - Kuhl knows what they're going to say. But, tying it back to the methods: it is legit for a group of local residents to ask politely but insistently for an audience with the local congressman. They can make their point without occupying his office.
Two things –
The first is that if I were Randy Kuhl I would have met with the protesters, given them some time (like he would any other district resident that did not want to talk about the war) and ended everything right away. He would then be in the position to tell others that he had already had an audience with war protesters and there was really no need to talk any more.
The second is a warning about George Winner. He has the point on the Spitzer investigation and could very easily be moved into Kuhl’s spot if Kuhl either decided not to run or the party didn’t want him to run. I think Winner would bear Massa, not easily, but a win is a win.
I've seen Winner in action once - prior to the Bath debate last year. He seemed OK, nothing great, but yes, even an OK Republican would give Massa a hard run in the 29th.
I don't think Kuhl will retire, though.
"Audience" ?! This terminology is medieval! Randy Kuhl is an elected representative, not some monarch or the pope!
In representative democracies the power resides with the people. Always! Everywhere! I wish you'd read the Declaration of Independence and take it to heart and quit playing patty-cake with each other--all this self-congratulation is such a waste of time, makes you look adolescent, guys...all the half-baked rhetoric, nitpicking, ...
It makes me laugh to read the way you critique the protestors' appearance, as if there is a dress code and you're going to dictate success or failure from your lofty positions as anonymous "bystanders".
...I am tempted to advise you to get real lives for yourselves!
Trees, the Declaration of Independence was followed by another document, the Constitution. Part of that document was something called the Bill of Rights, one of those rights being the freedom of expression, which we're exercising here.
Using that freedom, a few commenters have noted that the appearance and behavior of protesters affects the way they're viewed by the people they're supposedly trying to influence. If your real agenda were to influence others via your protests, then perhaps you'd take those comments seriously.
If, on the other hand, your agenda is to feel morally superior because you're out there protesting, you might lash out at those who point out that a smug feeling of moral superiority won't convince anyone of your position. I think we're seeing evidence of this in your recent comments.
I think if anyone is being smug here it's you guys, and, yes I realize that you have the right to express yourselves in any way that you care to. I just wish the level of discourse was more focused on the heart of the matter and less on personal biases. This is my first experience with blogs and I see so much potential here, but not if people use this as a forum for venting spleen and preening.
Trees, I haven't seen anything but namecalling from you in every comment you've made so far. Instead of calling people names, why don't you address the underlying issue? A couple of commenters said that they thought that war protesters should try to project a more professional appearance. Can you express why this does or doesn't make sense without calling someone else a name?
How people choose to dress is not an issue as far as I am concerned. Just as you have pointed out, folks are free to express themselves in any way they deem appropriate. My intention in visiting Kuhl's office was to register my concern about the war! It was NOT at all about trying to convince anyone or persuade anyone to adopt my point of view.