Anti-war activists interrupted a campaign fundraiser for U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., on Wednesday night, thwarting some of the evening's scheduled events.
The senator presented his campaign platform for the upcoming November election at the Orpheum Theatre, 216 State St., in front of a sizeable crowd of Democrats. Before Kohl even had a chance to speak, anti-war activists seized the podium, demanding the senator to sign a petition that would put a timeline on the war in Iraq.
The crowd was agitated by the activists' actions and chanted 'Let Herb speak' over and over again.
Joe Wineke, chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, witnessed some of the disgruntled protesters.
'I think there are many people that are just terribly upset with the Iraq war, and some of that pent-up demand came out today,' Wineke said.
According to Wineke, the anger was misdirected.
'When it comes downs to it, Senator Kohl didn't create this war, President Bush did,' Wineke said. 'A number of the people there were not from the right, they were from the left, and to tell you the truth, I was a little disappointed.'
Kohl touted his clean campaign image regarding election finances at the fundraiser.
'I might be the only person in Washington who doesn't need to solicit money,' Kohl said. 'My special interests are the people of Wisconsin.'
Kohl is the third-wealthiest senator in Washington.
'He used the tagline 'Nobody's senator but yours,' basically saying, 'I don't have to raise a lot of money from interest groups, I'm not beholden to people who are contributing money, because I largely fund my own campaign,'' said David Canon, a political science professor at UW-Madison.
Canon said Kohl's wealth helps maintain this image through showing how he is less corruptible by special interests because the majority of his campaign is self-financed.
'He turns what potentially could be a liability of people thinking why should he be able to buy a Senate seat into an advantage,' Canon said.
Bob Reuschlein of Peace Economics and Jo Ann Oravec, an associate professor of Information Technology at UW-Whitewater, were among those attending the fundraiser. They said one of their major concerns was the war in Iraq.
'We [Wisconsin] have a 20 percent higher casualty rate than the rest of the nation,' Reuschlein said.
