In this presidential horse race, it seems like the last thing economic justice and social activists would want to do is bring more publicity to the nomination of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., for president. Yet, this week, over 10,000 protestors at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., have done just that.
After the McCain campaign called Sunday for a bare-bones convention to focus national attention on Hurricane Gustav, political pundits across the board marked the natural disaster as disastrous for the campaign, as well. The Washington Post stated the McCain campaign needed a highly publicized and dynamic convention to match the high-profile, action-packed Democratic National Convention last week. With a hurricane again threatening the Gulf Coast, however, the Republicans had little choice but to step aside and direct national attention toward the storm.
Protestors directed it back. Swelling the streets of St. Paul Monday and Tuesday, almost 300 protestors were arrested before the police used tear gas and pepper spray to break up the crowd. These rowdy protestors definitely made a point - but did
they make it for the wrong party?
Although peaceful protests can be an effective way to make a statement, these demonstrators - touting token Democratic issues - may have caused more harm than good for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Often the independents and on-the-fence voters, whose vote both sides are heavily courting this election, are turned off by such noisy, partisan behavior. The protests, which could be interpreted as disrespectful during a national disaster, may have pushed this important group of voters further right.
Besides the political damage, activists lost a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help facilitate economic justice instead of just calling for it. With national attention split between the Gulf Coast and the convention, these protestors should have used their numbers, energy and visibility to raise awareness and aid for the Gulf Coast states, where economic injustice was so visible in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
The failure of the protestors in St. Paul to take action while accusing those in power of the same sin, gives activists everywhere a bad name. These demonstrators should have left mixed-message sending to the candidates and gotten down to business.
