51 CAPITOL MARCH CHECK-IN HERE - TELL US HOW YOUR STATE DID:

[meganmonkey]

I was in Lansing, Michigan. It was colder than a witches titty, and there were about 60 people there at peak. We had several speakers, highlighted (IMHO) by an attorney and someone who ran for state congress - neither of whose names I remember. Some decent speeches, a few were pretty far off-topic (and a few people who didn't seem to have their facts straight). There was one cameraman and reporter there - I think from a local TV station.

Of course, the capitol block in Lansing is totally deserted on a Sunday afternoon, so I doubt it had much impact on anyone that wasn't there on purpose. Except maybe the local sports bar that many folks went to after. Some good networking there, I met a couple of DUers (hi, guys) which is always fun.

So tell me about your state!

[LiberalAndProud]

1. Nebraska

13 people, ranging in age from 1 year old to 83 years old, cared enough to attend the rally at the State Capital building in Lincoln today.

We got several people to indicate support by honking, waving, thumbs-up, and in several instances an emphatic nod, for Election Protection and for Counting the Vote.

I was holding a sign which simply said "Count the Votes!" when I got a thumbs-down from one lady.

When did counting the votes become a fringe liberal political issue?

[eowyn_of_rohan]

57. Well , you 13 people can feel mighty good about what you did today

Which has nothing to do with the extremely poor behavior of the rest!

[texpatriot2004]

90. Really, is it so "liberal" to want all the votes counted? I am so

proud of those who showed up everywhere, but today, after our Texas protest was over we got news that 17 people showed up in Nebraska. 13? 17? Whatever, I thought you were very brave and I was so grateful that you went. Those few people in Nebraska who showed up, indicated that they care about their right to vote and to have that vote counted. I thought that 13 or 17 was better than none. I know it's discouraging that people here aren't in the streets in huge numbers, like the Ukraine, but today, you, and whoever else was there, stood up for yourselves. You have power. You did not give that power away. You did not cower and sulk about the state of our Democracy, you showed up. You made a sign and you showed up. Good for you. Good for us all. I hope that your numbers will multiply. Thanks for being a patriot and for rising up today. :yourock:

[katinmn]

2. Minnesota - cold here, too!

At least 100 people braved the cold temps (and wind gusts of 35 to 60 mph!) to demand fair elections.

Speeches focused on the recount in Ohio, and why we must not give up on fair elections. Speakers were Annie Young - Mpls Green Party office holder and leader with the Cobb-LaMarche Recount; Lance Henderson and Michelle Werlich – Citizens Alliance for Secure Elections (CASE-MN); and Gerald Ganann, state coordinator for 51 Capital March.

We circulated a petition that will be delivered to Minnesota's electors tomorrow asking them to not cast their votes until the Ohio recount is completed, provided we can get a state representative to present the petition for us.

The electors were all in town and going in and out of the capitol. One of them asked for a copy of the petition and thanked us for what we were trying to accomplish. A good sign I hope.

The Star Tribune had a reporter there. The St. Paul Spokesman- Recorder plans to run a photo. There was some radio coverage this morning.

[catgirl]

13. Great until...

I was there too. Everything was going great until one of the speakers started screaming about the "neo-fascists"...then it started sounding like a fringe radical rally. I don't think this helps any. We left at that point.

[katinmn]

17. some of us are more outraged than others. n/t

[catgirl]

41. That's my truthful answer.

Your self righteous angrier than thou response is exactly my point. It doesn't serve to help anything. Angry? I stopped working for weeks in order to volunteer to get the vote out. I'm sure you've done a lot too, but I'm not making judgements or comparissons about you.

[katinmn]

43. I'm not angry at all. It was a great day! And I don't blame any of

the speakers for expressing their outrage.

Neither did I criticize your point of view.

[catgirl]

44. Cool. Let's go get justice.

[katinmn]

58. Yeah! This was a beginning.

:thumbsup:

[carlos3k]

100. Patriotism, Pepper, Professionalism

We have to be bold enough to confront them for what they are. Neo-Fascists....

I brought a sign with a middle finder (UPC tatoo'd on the back of the hand). The upper class R looking crowd that gathered to the left stared me down. One lady requested that I not show the sign I brought because there were children in the area. I told her quite simply.... "No." I said that if you think this is indecent, you're mistaken. FRAUD is indecent. They scowled at me...

A good portion of the crowd came because of Air America or Mike Malloy in some way.... We are not afraid to call them what they are...

Nazi's!

enter Godwin

[kk897]

120. Mr. Show fan, eh? n/t

[dzika]

105. You guys generated lots of media today.

I've tried to collect links to stories, pics, video the this thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x144470

You have really made a big difference! A lot of people are going to see these stories in thier local papers and local TV. In addition, ABC and MSNBC are follow the story.

Hopefully, as people see these reports, they will begin to understand that there is more at stake here.

Great Work!

[atxryan]

3. Austin Sucess!!!

The Austin rally was absolutely AWESOME. Kip and I estimate that we had between 300 to 400 people show up! The speakers were great, especially David Van Os... Even Alex Jones gave a great speech and didn't go off on one of his tangents. After the rally, we all collectively marched down Congress with a police escort to the Austin-American Statesman. The response from motorists was supportive with honks, cheers, and waves.

I feel so empowered right now! Let's keep up the good work and keep the fight going!

-RYAN JOY
r at joyserve.net

[katinmn]

6. Congratulations, Ryan and a big cheer for Kip! He's the man! n/t

[Melissa G]

59. Kip Is great! I was at the Austin Rally

With my daughter. It started late and we had to leave by 2 so we missed the walk down Congress but we made it to the Statesman in spirit!:toast:

[SmileMaker]

85. Interesting that Texas beat my blue state of NJ by more than 10-1

It makes you wonder how much padding might have gone on there. In NJ it was not well publicized by the normal activist networks and I only recognized one of my peace activist friends - all the rest were new faces. We all signed onto a mailing list so that we can stay in touch. So, small turn out might blossom into bigger gatherings once the reality that this could change things sinks in.

I will hand out flyers about vote fraud issue at our annual peace vigil this week.

[texpatriot2004]

94. Hi atxryan, it's texpatriot here...so nice to have met you all today.

Hey Hey Ho Ho Electronic Voting has to go.
Hey Hey Ho Ho Electronic Voting has to go.
Hey Hey Ho Ho Electronic Voting has to go.

What fun it was. So powerful to take action. To stand up for what I/we believe in. What a great day. My first protest and already I am a dissident, me and all the other patriots.

"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism." Thomas Jefferson

How bout that ya'll.





:yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock:

[jbond56]

106. link to pics

http://photobucket.com/albums/v601/jbond56

my personal favorite

[bowens43]

4. North Carolina

About 70 people. All ages. Mostly Democrats although one of the speakers was an outraged Republican. Some music , some speakers a beautiful day and an important mission.

The speakers:
Joyce McCloy, NC Verified Voting - www.ncvoter.net
David Allen, Black Box Voting - www.blackboxvoting.com
Cecil Bothwell, The Progressive Project - [e-mail]
Chuck Herrin ( Republican Computer Security Expert ) - www.chuckherrin.com

[KatieB]

16. Yep I was there in Raleigh, NC - and felt there was unanimy

that this is not a partisan issue. Voter integrity crosses party lines.(The computer security specialist who spoke described himself as a conservative Republican.) But he told us we needed to push for paper ballots and manual recounts throughout the tabulation process. This was met with huge applause and enthusiasm. (We've got legislators determining (recommending) what machines the state will use meeting this week.) He convinced me that these electronic machines are easily hackable and were definitely manipulated. Another speaker pointed out that all the late night surges seemed to only go for one candidate - throughout the nation - and he said that was statistically impossible. You throw a coin and at least 1/2 the time its heads/ 1/2 tails. Bush had more chances of winning the super lotto three times than the probabilities of gaining that surge, as calculated on the exit polls.
No convincing was necessary with this audience. Audience consisted of committed grassroots folks, common people, no corporate presence - - home made signs - women/men of all ages - suburban and urban - children - folks from disenfranchised counties like Carteret, Guilford, Mechlenberg, Craven, but not a whole lot of blacks...
Nice thing was as bystanders who obvously came to church or look at the capitol wandered by, they'd stop and listen for awhile.
Well implemented by leaders. Especially on such little notice. Bravo.

[KatieB]

27. Raleigh, NC probably had media coverage but cdn't see names on cameras

[CantGetFooledAgain]

29. I was in Raleigh NC too

Good group, about the size I expected. Chuck Herrin was probably the best speaker, but I also liked the reporter from Asheville (name?) who "emcee'd" the rally.

Interested in knowing which DU'ers, in addition to those who posted above, were in attendance (if any).

In fact, I wish that at least one of the speakers (David Allen and Chuck Herrin both post here from time to time) had mentioned DU as probably the best available forum for up-to-the minute news and discussion.

[In Truth We Trust]

39. I was there too and pleased to see one media outlet (ABC 11)

The crowd was in my estimation 100 or so. It's a beginning! I encourage everyone who cam to go to the meeting of election officials tomorrow morning at ten. Details can be found on Joyce's website.

[Taming the Shrub]

33. Channel 11 leads with vote fraud story

I just watched the coverage. The lead announced erroneously that tomorrow the electoral college voters were required by law to cast votes according to their state's popular vote, basically saying, by this time tomorrow, Bush will be our new president. Then they showed pictures of the 100 or so protesters in Raleigh. The most coverage was given to a couple of women singing Christmas carols with the words changed. "You better watch out, you better recount" yadayada. Chuck Herrin did get a few good words in the end as the sole Republican on site for the rally. Overall not bad but I don't think it will move many people off the couch.

[In Truth We Trust]

40. I saw that too and ot pissed me off- how freaking INEPT!

you'd think the talking head would know basic election law! Douchebag!!

[kimpossible]

66. Kudos to ABC for giving it lead airtime in the evening news!

Even though I'd contacted all of the local media outlets beforehand to alert them to the event, I wasn't really expecting any coverage. The segment on ABC 11 may not have been perfect, but it was a big crack in the wall of media silence. Publicity like that raises awareness in a ton of people who haven't heard a peep about the issue before today.

And I also would put the peak count at a little over 100 people. Great rally, thanks to the organizers and speakers!

[KatieB]

76. Thanks for the update

[KoKo]

95. I was there today in Raleigh. Great speakers particularly Allen, Herren

and Asheville investigative reporter...although all were great...

[lonestarnot]

5. Arizona Rock'n

Left lots of messages on sidewalks for legislatures to read when they show up Monday. Going back later see if they are still there put some more. Someone from liberal radio other than AAR showed, petition to sign. Orange ribbon distribution. Beautiful day.

[MarkusQ]

23. Very beautful day; about 250 people

We counted/estimated about 250 people at the peak, one local news station (12, which I think is NBC, but I don't watch much TV so I may be wrong), and several print reporters. Several good speakers and a few so-so ones. Lots of exchange of ideas. After about an hour about half the people marched around the capitol square (not the best route, but quite a few cars hooked & waved). Then things kind of wound down to the usual exchange-blog-URLs stage.

--MarkusQ

P.S. Our head count & estimate was just that; during the speakers (when people weren't moving around much) we stood off to the side and counted off a clump of people that looked to be about 1/6 the total; there were 43 people in that group. So there, I released my raw data.

[burythehatchet]

7. A- T - L in the houuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse

back from the protest/gathering at the Georgia capital. Was very happy to see about 40 people there. It was bitter cold so it was a good showing. Catwoman was conspicuosly absent. :hi:

Got to talk to Mike Malloy, his lovely wife, and their incredibly adorable baby girl. Malloy is such a frickin softie with that baby. He doesn't even let mommy hold her. She complained that the only time she gets to hold her is when she is nursing her. Seriously, Mike seems to be a great dad. wonderful comraderie.

I had a fairly "heated" discussioni with the local GA Green guy. Many signs, many fired up people, all ages, all genders :), all walks of life.

My highlight was definitely spending time talking to the Malloy family.

[meganmonkey]

11. Now, how is clear and 50 degrees bitter cold?!

Hey, that's www.wunderground.com speaking.

;)

[burythehatchet]

12. bitter cold may have been an overstatement

but it was cold. Closer to 40 than 50, and windy. 18 years in the South has wussified me as well.

[meganmonkey]

19. Well, I'm glad you folks braved the cold and stood up for democracy!!!

:toast:

[SharonRB]

8. Wish I could have been there...

As you know, the weather was pretty bad here in Michigan today - snow, wind, cold. Better weather may have brought out more than 60 people, but seeing that we didn't have major problems here, I'm glad some people braved the weather and showed up. for those of you who attended, thanks!

[madison2000]

9. Wisconsin- at least 150 people turned out in the bitterly cold winds

in Madison and I am sorry to say I didn't recognize the speakers (but I am new to all this). There was a woman from the Ukraine with her child who spoke and encouraged all of us to keep protesting!

Edit: I spent many hours working on my two sided sign which said "Get Corporations Out of Elections". There were a couple of reporters there and one taking pictures. Also a guy on a bicycle dressed like Paul Revere but he must have been FREEZING because it was so cold and windy!

[katinmn]

15. good idea to invite the Ukrainian speaker!

wish we would have thought of that.

[Goldeneye]

28. Good turnout...Wish I could've gone.

Too far away.

[loritooker]

46. You good Wisconsinites! I just moved to SF from there.

I don't miss the winter. Thanks to Wisconsin for that kind of a turnout!

[eowyn_of_rohan]

56. I was there too! The Paul Revere character was calling

"The Diebolds are coming", riding around and around the capitol square. We also had an elderly lady and her husband who were here from Ottawa Canada --she gave a great little solidarity speech. :)

One group made about 1000 feet of paper "ballots" threaded on string, and the wind was whipping so hard, some were flying off into the void. We all held the string, and walked around until we encircled the capitol building, chanting stuff "What do we want? Fair Elections! When do we want them? NOW!" not too original, but it was a GREAT protest, and I ran into some old friends and we went to a LOCALLY owned coffee house to warm up and talk, afterwards. Felt like I was on vacation.

[madison2000]

61. I've got to meet you next rally, ok?!

[eowyn_of_rohan]

123. That would be fun! -nt - :)

[buddysmellgood]

84. Hey, that was me. I bought a cheesy colonial costume for $25

on Ebay. I was afraid it wouldn't come on time. My line was, "The Diebold's are coming! The Diebold's are coming! One if by Blackwell, two if by chad." Or One if by Black box two if by chad. I thought it would be a good way to expand the reach of the rally. I rode a couple blocks down State Street and yelled to the folks shopping there. I got some really strange looks and a bunch of thumbs up. A lot of people said, "Who is coming?" It just makes you realize how people just don't know what's going on. If you get your news from TV, you don't know democracy is gone.
Every once in a while I'd ride up close to someone and ask them if they knew where the North Church is. They'd try to think and then I'd let em off the hook and tell them I was kidding.
It was windy but not too cold. It's December after all. If it had been a normal December day I'd have frozen.
Glad I made and impression.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

116. Hey, Thanks Buddy!

Your contribution added so much!! :hi: :toast:

[madison2000]

132. I was freezing in a winter jacket

I guess riding the bike kept you warm. Great idea!

[madison2000]

131. And a little media coverage in the Capital Times

http://www.madison.com/tct/news/stories/index.php?ntid=21030&ntpid=1

[seriousstan]

10. Ohio.......SUCKED!!!

The news is reporting 100 but I don't think it ever topped 60. Downtown is dead so I doubt there was much more happening then a feel good moment for us protesters. It would have been better to go to a bar, drink and have a bitch session.

[KerryOn]

18. Also Reporting From Ohio

Man it was cold and windy. I would say that we had about 75 people. I would have preferred a much large turn out since this is where the action is. WHERE WAS EVERYBODY!?

As seriousstan reported it made the protesters feel good, but there was not much happening on a Sunday.

We got supporting honks from dozens of vehicles that passed by. At one point a bus stopped in front of us and some man opened his window and told us to shut up!" We just yelled louder.

We marched in a parade around the State House chanting things like "Blackwell Cheated!", "Blackwell Must Go!", Re vote!" Etc.

We had several good speakers, including Jonathan Simon from Boston. It was a good time, but I was disappointed.

[kk897]

55. also in Ohio

It was really, really cold and windy. I made a sign that said "Getting cold for your rights!" to wave at people, which I alternated with "Honk 4 Democracy" and "Block Blockwell".

Since there were so few people there, obviously I saw you other DUers there...

:hi: and :yourock:

[lizzieforkerry]

77. Man it was COLD in Columbus!

We were there for only about 20 min (sorry guys!) My kids got too cold and started crying, so I figured I better get them warmed up, besides no one could hear from all of the screaming. I passed several people with signs and talked and I convinced the guy at the parking lot that his vote didn't count and he started to get mad, one at a time I guess. Thanks to everyone that braved the cold, I'll do better getting a babysitter next time.

[seriousstan]

31. Here are my photos from Columbus Ohio

http://www.image-dump.com/view.php?m=1&x=24415
http://www.image-dump.com/view.php?m=1&x=24416
http://www.image-dump.com/view.php?m=1&x=24417
http://www.image-dump.com/view.php?m=1&x=24418

[alittlelark]

114. Danm, that bed.... then why are you HERE?????

[seriousstan]

118. Learn to spell and form a clear thought and I will answer your questions.

Until then, I have no idea what you are asking.

[nutsnberries]

14. BOSTON

cold, and got colder... but the speakers & gatherers were heart-warming. :loveya:

i'd say there were at least 200 people there, maybe 300?
(someone else that was there, am i close?)

ALSO, there was a group of people to the side, about 10 people,
that I immediately suspected were freepers!
One was waving an American flag.
As we got closer we read their sign:

YOU LOST. WE WON. GET OVER IT.


thanks, but, uh.... NO!

[whometense]

26. I'm so bad at estimating crowds,

but there were quite a lot of people there at its height. Will Pitt's speech was wonderful.

And we were wondering what the counter-demonstrators' signs said - thanks. We didn't get over there. They sure were waving a giant flag.

[rockedthevoteinMA]

34. Yea cosmicbandita- I'm bad with numbers too,

but I asked my parents and they said probably about 200-300 people.

We saw those guys over there - I didn't even want to guess what their signs said. They looked so lonely...haha.

There was one guy who walked by before it started, crapping all over all of us. He was really rude, and was shouting mean stuff, as the woman in charge was trying to begin. (That part was pretty sad).

Oh btw - I replied to you in the other thread! :hi:

Channel 7 - Boston's NBC affiliate was there in the beginning filming.

[Wiley50]

20. Nashville 50-75 people

organized by DU poster Flybynight.
Speech by Tennesseans for Kerry co-ordinator Alma Sanford
Coverage by ABC and CBS local affiliates
Channel 2 (abc) only sayed about 5 minutes.
But
Channel 5 (CBS) stayed over an hour, shot a lot of videotape and interviewed several key people including retired Vanderbilt University Statistical Analysis professor (Sorry didn't catch his name.) They said expect 90 seconds on evening news.
I'm sure that Flybynight will be posting more to this thread when he gets home and will fill in more details.
Hats off to Flybynight for pulling all of it off with only about 60 hours notice to all.

Wiley

edited:typo

[Fly by night]

35. A bit more on Tennessee rally

Thanks to Wiley for the early post. Here's a bit more information on our successful first Tennessee rally.

We probably had about 90 people at the rally at one time or the other, from about 25 Tennessee cities, including folks who drove 3 hours one way from Knoxville and Chattanooga. Both TV stations showed up early and did one-on-one interviews with me, with the ralliers (and their many colorful and pointed signs) and the State Capital as the backdrop. Then both stations covered the first part of the rally. But the CBS affiliate definitely gave us the most time, staying for (and filming) the entire rally (!!!), interviewing several other people (including Dr. Ernest Campbell, emeritus Professor of Sociology at Vanderbilt and his activist wife Burdell) as well as a female veteran and several other people. Hats off to our CBS affiliate -- I hope they send the tape up the line to 60 Minutes.

As Wiley mentioned, the first three speakers were me, Alma Sanford, the State Coordinator for Kerry/Edwards and Linda Kempler, a regional Buddhist leader. We then opened up to have attendees speak and about 12-15 people stepped forward to speak to the crowd (only one of whom was off-topic with her comments, which must have been a state record for any progressive gathering I've ever been to here). The talks lasted about 90 minutes, then people networked for another half hour.

Collectively, we decided to begin distributing orange ribbons to our friends, neighbors and co-workers; emphasizing that any one of us would be twice as likely to win the PowerBall jackpot as that the results from OH, FL and PA occurred by chance, and over 112,000 times more likely to win PowerBall than the results from 16 states occurred by chance. (Thanks to Dr. Freeman and a DU poster for that info which gave us an easily understood analogy for all Tennesseans.)

We decided to show up tomorrow (Monday) at 9:00 am at the State Capital to witness our electors' charade, to meet again next Sunday en masse at the State Capital again (but at 2:00 pm next time so we can have the churchgoers there) and to work to rid ourselves of our new statewide ES&S voting machines. The recommendation was to dismantle the machines and send the scrap metal to Iraq to help protect our TN troops until we can get President Kerry to bring them back home and to go (back) to paper ballots and have them counted by high school honor society members.

I'll be curious to see how the TV stations edit the wealth of footage they obtained at the gathering and to see if the Nashville Tennessean (our newspaper) was there to cover the event. (If they were, the reporter never identified him/herself.)

With a whole week to get the word out, we hope to have 5-10 times as many people there next Sunday. In the meantime, this event was very successful, the vibes were excellent and we may have finally broken the local news "blackout" about the election theft. We sure hope so.

If any of you attended the gathering and have follow-up comments, or you weren't there but would like to attend the next gathering, please email me ( [e-mail] ). Thanks to Kip Humphrey and her son for your leadership.

[Fly by night]

136. The second Tennessee Gathering to Save Our Democracy is on!!

We are now confirmed to convene a second Gathering to Save Our Democracy rally, on the State Capital steps (east side, on Charlotte between 6th and 7th) at 2:00 pm this Sunday, 12/19/04. We've got the state Dems promoting the Gathering this time and we'll be on a half hour radio talk show to promote the Gathering on two radio stations early Sunday morning (BIG stations which reach from Monteagle to Jackson and from Kentucky to Alabama). We have a half dozen speakers lined up, and my guess is that we'll have even more press attention for the rally this time. Our goal is to have 1,000 people there.

So wear your orange rain jackets, make up some signs and join us. Come from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, north Georgia -- anywhere in the mid South that does not have its own rally planned. We will take our country back!!

[moesse]

50. More on Nashville

Just wanted to add that Flybynight was great! It was truly empowering to have these beliefs and be united with others who share them and not feel crazy. Moreover, when I looked around the group (yeah, as a former reporter, I'd say 90 is a good number), this group was clearly filled with educated, wise and reasonable individuals. We can't (and won't) let the media try to pigeonhole us as kooks, conspiracy nuts or anything other than what we are:

Patriots who love our country and refuse to see the foundation that was laid by our forefathers crumble at the hands of this or any other administration!

Yeah, Nashville checking in... make that: Reporting for duty!

[Wiley50]

53. Even More from Nashville

It looks like we are gonna be the feature on tonights News 5 at Ten. They ran about 15 sec footage on evening news with " Tonight on News 5 at 10, Dozens of Tennesseans were at Capital Hill today to say that George Bush doesn't deserve a second term."
Who-Rah!

Wiley

[Wiley50]

88. NASHVILLE RALLY PIX

[intelle]

21. thank you all

for braving the cold and speaking out against election fraud. Is anyone here from PA? I am wondering how it went in Harrisburg. I couldn't attend :( but want to hear how it went.

:yourock:

[livvy]

22. Hi meganmonkey! I'm still thawing out! livvy n/t

[meganmonkey]

24. Hi livvy!!!

:hi:

I stopped shivering about half and hour ago - but my toes still aren't quite normal...

[meganmonkey]

25. Dupe - self delete

[consciousobjector]

30. Cold...brrrr

Shopping list for northern protesters...electric socks & electric handwarmers (from sports supply store), thermal underwear, "heat packs " from the drugstore (a couple of heatpacks, one on your back, one on your chest helps keep you toasty)

[berniew1]

32. Florida had about 75 people over period of about 4 hours- from all over st

Florida had about 75 people over period of about 4 hours- from all over state; good chance to interact about what happened around the state. Make plans for selective recounts and audits around the state. Speakers, protestors, signs, in front of capital.
Lots of horn honking in support.

[seito]

36. California Rocked

There were about 500 people. It was so great to actually get out and DO SOMETHING. There was one TV news crew filming the event. There were some great speakers and a whole lot of energy. Everyone signed a petition for Senator Boxer to join the House Democrats in challenging the election results. We are marching on the capitol tomorrow at 11:00. I hope we have an even bigger crowd.

:yourock:

[atxryan]

48. yes!

Congratulations California!!!

[indigoblue]

37. Washington, DC on Saturday

We had 80-100 people over three hours (in the occasional rain). Reverend Bill Moss (former Columbus school board member) gave a great speech, and all other speakers were good, too. We were on CNN, and redefeatbush.com will post a video tonight or tomorrow.

[meganmonkey]

38. Moss is a great speaker

Saw him in Columbus last weekend. Very inspirational and rational at the same time. Good balance between fact & faith.

[jamboi]

42. 60+ In Hartford Connecticut!

jazzjunkysue posted in another thread
1. We had 60+ In Hartford Connecticut!



Our 60 in Ct join yours in Ohio in support of the Ohio recount, and the vote investigation. We had great speakers and signs and banners and even a black box with big scary teeth that eats votes! Lol! We were in great spirit, and have formed a group to continue pressuring for honest, open, verifiable voting. "Every Vote Counts! Count Every Vote!"

4 More Wars

[loritooker]

45. Almost 500 in Sacramento

NBC Affiliate was there. Several people videotaped it themselves. It was really exciting to see so many people.

[Silver Gaia]

49. Yay for Sacramento!

Yah! I was there. I thought it was a damn good turnout, especially for a grassroots rally! We did good! I took some pix, and am working on those. I'm glad you noticed which TV station was there. I saw the cameraman, and thought it was Channel 3 (NBC), but wasn't sure. Hmmm... will hafta tune in at 5 and see if they mention us. We're going back in the morning at 10 AM for the other rally when the electors are there.

[SmileMaker]

47. 30 people in NJ! Tons of honks for Kerry, but no news coverage

[KoKo]

96. Glad to hear something went on in Trenton...used to live there in

Lawrenceville, next door. Don't see much here on DU from NJ folks.

Good for you...

[The Bear]

51. Oregon here

Judging from the number of email responses we had received, we were expecting about 500. We didn't make that turnout, but there were probably 250 people in Salem from various parts of the state, mostly the western half (as was expected). We have much work to do on numerous levels in the sparsely populated eastern half of the state. But, seeing as how this thing was pulled together in 5 days, we did pretty good! And kudos to Pete Hamer, the coordinator.

The best part -- it didn't rain! A little chilly -- low 40's? (that's cold for native Oregonians), and a light wind with a bite to it. Being in the shade the whole time didn't help, but overall it was great weather for Dec. Standing up on the "stage," I could at least see the warm sun shining brightly across the street.

We had 4 speakers, with Katy Eymann, a very politically involved native Oregonian (that's important to note, you know, since the number of non-natives outnumber the natives, I think) as the keynote, and a couple different musicians who played guitar and sang political songs. It was great! We then had an open mike for a half hour or so, and those folks had some terrific comments, too.

The Homeland Security/FBI agent must have blended in well as I didn't readily spot him/her (unlike the one with the video camera at the protest in Portland last weekend). The state police had their eyes on us throughout the 2 hours, of course. I'm sure they have to worry about protest rallies getting out of hand, but, as we planned and expected, there were no problems. I thought there would at least be one heckler, but no. It couldn't have gone more smoothly if we'd had weeks to plan.

There were reporters from at least two newspapers, including one from Portland's The Oregonian who didn't mind giving us the distinct impression that he's swallowed the party line about the election hook, line, and sinker. Hopefully he learned something today. There was also a reporter from one of the Portland TV stations, but I didn't catch which one.

In summary, it went great!

*********************************

We Will NOT Get Over It!

We the People Do Not Want Our Country Back --
We DEMAND Our Country Back!

The fight is on!

[Viva_La_Revolution]

91. Thanks Bear!!

And everyone else who showed up for OR! :-)

[jamboi]

52. Even where there was lower turnout it encourages us and practice organizin

g rallies. I noticed that we weren't all that great at some logistical aspects and just getting across our points succinctly so I think having had smaller rallies was good practice for larger rallies to come.

[jdog]

54. Nice positive thoughts Jamboi. n/t

[katinmn]

62. Agreed. I went into it knowing we only had a couple days

to plan and get the word out. We need to get some good networking and cooperation going and we will grow this into something no one can ignore.

It really does feel good to do something.

[JohnnyCougar]

67. Good insight!

I can't wait for finals week to be over. I hope there are more protests, as I was far too busy today to attend. I wanna rent a bus for the next protest in Madison, and get 20 people to come up!

[GregD]

60. Sacramento, CA rally report

Photos here:
http://www.usvip.org/gallery/category.asp?catid=4

We had around 200, one media team (local CH3 KCRA) who got some shots and an interview, then split before the rally formalities got going.

Jim March from BBV, Jody Holder (longtime e-voting activist) and a few others spoke.

Orange ribbons were distributed.

Another rally will be held at the Capitol Monday.

[katinmn]

65. Great pics!!! Thanks. n/t

[Cookie wookie]

63. Atlanta had about 50 people

show up. Weather beautiful.

Have some pictures. Can someone tell me how to upload?

[katinmn]

64. I'm working on doing that, too. n/t

[katinmn]

75. St. Paul pics. We look cold. But it was a great day.. :-)

http://www.image-dump.com/view.php?m=2&x=24466
http://www.image-dump.com/view.php?m=2&x=24465
http://www.image-dump.com/view.php?m=2&x=24464
http://www.image-dump.com/view.php?m=2&x=24463
http://www.image-dump.com/view.php?m=2&x=24462
http://www.image-dump.com/view.php?m=2&x=24461
http://www.image-dump.com/view.php?m=2&x=24460

I didn't get any shots of the whole crowd.

[keepthemhonest]

119. yep 50 in atlanta

good weather. Too bad more people don't care enough to come out.I have not time to read whether we got any media coverage anywhere or not.

[keepthemhonest]

122. hey cookie wookie

I don't know how to tell you to upload.sorry.I did get emailed some pictures but I don't know hot to put them on here either.
Maybe one of these computer wizz's could do if you emailed them the pics?

[meganmonkey]

68. Thank you all for your input on this thread!!!

It's great to hear it! I know the numbers were lower than we hoped, but hopefully we all met some good folks and brought in at least a few new supporters. And remember, a lot of big things are on the way this week, and we should be proud that we are part of this movement!!!!

:bounce:

[ColoradoDemocrat]

73. How they got more numbers in Ukraine

Did youall read the recent article about non-governmental organizations promoting democracy in other countries? Of course they're not helping here-and one is run by Madeline Albright!

But what they focused on was this:
-developing the people;
-developing the alternative communications NOT MSM-for planning rallies;
-GETTING OUT IN THE STREET! That way the MSM can't ignore it and the other people get out too!

I'm a newbie here, but it seems to me we have a lot of movements that aren't coordinated!! Lots of different tiny rallies.

Of course, maybe they had more numbers in Ukraine cuz they're not all on prozac!!

Hey, thanks to everyone who made the effort and withstood the cold!!

[jamboi]

78. How many in Denver? n/t

[intheflow]

109. Denver Post reported 100, I say about 200.

No TV coverage, but at least the Post ran it: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=142x2934

[Siyahamba]

69. I agree on the off-topic aspect

A few of the speakers didn't mention vote fraud once, their speeches were just anti-*. While I agree with their sentiment, the focus should be entirely on fraud, lest the repugs accuse us of just trying to keep * out of office.

[meganmonkey]

70. Hi Siyahamba!!

:hi:

It was nice to see you there! I hope you had fun down by the road!!

[Siyahamba]

72. I sure did!

Great to see you too! We tied a "We Do Not Concede" banner in front of the Christmas tree. We even had a couple from Nebraska pull over to ask what was going on. They seemed very interested. :)

[meganmonkey]

74. Excellent! See you at the next one!!!

[jamboi]

71. Full on agreement! Keep focus on election fraud. Non-partisan. Dems guilt

y too in some cases. Prosecute them too.

[jamboi]

79. There's still a bunch o states to report. n/t

[Fly by night]

80. We all need to gather again next week -- Tennessee will

Since our first Tennessee gathering went very well with less than three days preparation, we will hold another rally next Sunday (2:00 pm) at the same location -- on the east side of the State Capital -- and take the next week to really generate a big attendance.

And if our news coverage tonight goes well (the local CBS affiliate is promoting the hell out of our gathering as their lead story for tonight's 10:00 pm newscast) AND if the Kerry letter story re: 200,000+ miscounted votes in Ohio hits the MSM AND if the Clint Curtis story hits the MSM -- there will be lots of reasons for all of us to gather again next Sunday. 'Cause if we really want to use the Ukraine as our model, we need to wear orange and STAY IN THE STREETS.

So please, if you're in another state that rallied today, consider doing it again next week. Here in Tennessee, I guess we could get 5 to 10 times as many people show up at our next rally, if we work hard this week. Peace, out.

[trudyco]

81. How did Colorado do? -nt

[intheflow]

110. 100-200 people in Denver.

Post says 100, I say 200. Here's my late night posting of the article on DU in the Colorado forum: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=142x2934

[jamboi]

82. What about NY, PA, LA, NV, MD, MO, IL, CO, AR, CT, etc.? n/t

[jamboi]

83. Everyone should give results on RedHandsMovement.com also! n/t

http://www.redhandsmovement.com

[tll]

117. Yes, what happened in PA?

I checked the Patriot News site and nothing but nothing.

[nitetalker]

124. Harrisburg, PA - - ~25

There were about 25 of us at the capitol building in Harrisburg, PA. Nobody from the media as far as we could tell. Encouraging response from the relatively small amount of passing traffic.

[keepthemhonest]

121. New york

My brother was there I believe he said 50 showed up

[Cookie wookie]

86. Images from Atlanta "You Stole My Vote" Rally today

http://www.image-dump.com/view.php?m=2&x=24470
http://www.image-dump.com/view.php?m=2&x=24471
http://www.image-dump.com/view.php?m=2&x=24472
http://www.image-dump.com/view.php?m=2&x=24473
http://www.image-dump.com/view.php?m=2&x=24474
http://www.image-dump.com/view.php?m=2&x=24475
http://www.image-dump.com/view.php?m=2&x=24476
http://www.image-dump.com/view.php?m=2&x=24478

Great crowd - we wore orange/orange armbands.

[katinmn]

93. Great pics!!! Thanks. n/t

[billie_]

99. awwww, i see Mike Malloy & baby Molly :)

Great Job guys!
The dLIEbold machine protester was awesome.....thanks for the pix & thanks for going!!!!!

billie

[keepthemhonest]

133. thanks great pics

I got you emails also.Thanks .
I'll see If I can upload mine.i do have some overall group shots,but i don't think there was fifty when i took the pics.

[meganmonkey]

87. One last Kick before bed!

We still haven't heard from lots of states!

[Blue_In_AK]

107. Alaska?

I don't know if anything happened in Juneau. It's hard to get to the capital for most Alaskans. We have to either fly there or drive hundreds and hundreds of miles and then take a long ferry ride. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

[wildflowergardener]

89. I went to Ilinois

I am really horrible at estimating number - should have counted. I'd say 30 - 40 or possibly less. I am actually from missouri, but went to Illinois because it did not seem anything much was going on in Missouri - and Springfield, IL is closer.

Meg

[Catamount]

92. There were about 120 at Olympia

With a range of good speakers-we could have done without the guy who said "all the other worlds in the galaxy were watching and ready to intervene. "Luckily there was no media coverage of this!
There were strange carols sung by the LaRouche choir, but generally a great feeling of hope.
My first protest ever, I think it was worth it!
When we got home, there was all this good news about our man Kerry!

[CupaJoe]

97. Yes, Olympia WA was both good and weird

For my purpose, it was very productive. We got at least 25 people signed up to volunteer with letter writing to the media to raise awareness of the recount and associated issues. Rallies are great, but we also have to keep our nose to the grindstone.

And I was quite surprised to learn that the LaRouche people have their own chorus. They were actually rather good. The guy who said he was from another galaxy was a little unnerving, especially when he ripped off his human mask and there were all those tentacles and stuff. ;-)

[regularjoe]

112. Edit: silly mistake

When was the choir? I arrived about 12:20 and never heard a choir. I also don't recall the anyone talking about other galaxies. Strange. And I estimated the crowd in Olympia, WA to be about 60 for the time I was there (12:20-1:30)

regularjoe

Edit: Silly me. I went on Saturday and forgot you are talking about the Sunday rally. oopps.

[eridani]

113. Not bad for the short notice--

--there were two groups--the organizers were definitely not on the same page, as one event was Saturday and the other Sunday, both organizing on a couple of day's notice.

[Kip Humphrey]

98. EMERGENCY CALL TO ACTION FROM 51 CAPITAL MARCH

I am calling a national call for action:

Its time for DUers to shine!

I need your help. We need protesters to picket the 88 COUNTY ELECTION COMMISSION offices in Ohio daily demanding the release of all voting records and machines and full compliance with the manual recount.
To do that I need the following:

- Location addresses and directions to every one of the 88 Ohio election commission offices - post it here

-I Every email address in Ohio to receive:
emails:
Describing the problems with voting in Ohio
Describing the threat to our democracy
Explaining there is a citizens movement to stop the theft of our
rights and our votes
Calling to action the citizens of Ohio to take back their voting power with the first action being daily, picketing of the 88 election commission offices to stop resisting and start assisting the recount and the fraud investigators.

Spammers and email harvesters, give it up for our democracy. We need Ohio email addresses. Distribute among willing DUers who volunteer here.

-Good concise email composers/writers to compose the emails to Ohio - post compositions here.

-Everyone who knows anyone in Ohio or knows someone who knows someone in Ohio, tart a email chain - ask the Ohioans to get in the picket line and spread the word to neighbors, co-workers, family, friends; ask them to get in the picket line and spread the word....

THIS NEEDS TO HAPPEN NOW!

-Start posting your availability and resources here. Let's get coordinated and get going: THIS NATIONAL CALL TO ACTION NEEDS TO GO OUT ACROSS THE NET NOW:

-Someone to organize here on DU

-EVERYONE: SEND OUT THE FOLLOWING NATIONAL CALL TO ACTION TO EVERY ACTIVIST ORGANIZATION YOU THINK WILL RESPOND POSITIVELY:


EMERGENCY NATIONAL CALL TO ACTION

PICKET ALL 88 ELECTION COMMISSION OFFICES DAILY DEMANDING THEY STOP RESISTING AND START ASSISTING THE RECOUNT AND FRAUD INVESTIGATIONS NOW.

CONTACT ALL OHIO RESIDENTS: ADVISE THEM OF THE SITUATION, CALL THEM TO THE PICKET LINE, AND ASK THEM TO SPREAD THE WORD.

ANYONE WHO CAN, GET TO OHIO AND START PICKETING.



DUers, please help.

Kip Humphrey
51 CAPITAL MARCH

[Kip Humphrey]

102. Message Board on 51 Capital March set up for info

Please post or copy all info to 51CapitalMarch.com's message board.

http://www.51capitalmarch.com

Kip

[Kip Humphrey]

104. Nix the spam part: we do this by word-of-mouth emails

Forget the spam part. I got too excited!

Kip

[saracat]

101. Beautiful day in Phoenix. !

Great speakers. Lots of Press! 200 + maybe more, protesters! I was interviewed by the Arizona Republic. They asked why I was attending. I said I was protesting a stolen election and voter fraud. They asked what I would say to those who say it is over and Bush won. I said "if they are so sure Bush won , they shouldn't object to a reacount! Counting the votes shouldn't be a Republican or Democratic issue. No one should be uncertain that their vote counted." I also pointed out that Deibold had made voting machines with a paper ballot for Soth America but couldn't do it for the United States and voters should ask themselves why. They said my quote would be run in it's entirety! And I was very cheered by the Democratic presence. I found five of my fellow chairs also believes the election was stolen. As I have been beaten up over this issue and treated as an idiot, this was very heartening. Thank you ,Phoenix!

[intheflow]

111. Here's the link to the article:

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/1213protest13.html

They didn't put the part in about Diebold, but they got the rest of your quote. Good job!

[saracat]

125. Ticked me off that he altered the quote though! He delected anything

about fraud and Diebold!It wasn't originally called the Arizona Republican for nothing!

[garybeck]

103. Vermont - 5 very cold people

it would have been nice to see more people there, but most people driving by seemed to be supportive of us.

[jamboi]

108. Now THAT is true patriotism! n/t

[GetTheRightVote]

115. Washington, DC, we were there too

We had about 50 people off and on thru out the day, it was cold but not as cold as some of you had to endure today, thank you for hanging out for Democracy and us. We had many cars go by and honk, etc. as well, it was heart warming to see those we did today. We enjoyed ourselves with chats and companionship. We swapped emails to stay in touch. We are also returning next Sunday to the Capital to renew our vows for a free and correct election, come and join us and share in the conversation, you are more then welcome. We were there from noon until five pm but my soul is refreshed and I can face another day.

[jamboi]

126. One from Arkansas reports couldn't find demonstration yesterday.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x151625

[liberal43110]

127. NOTHING in Arkansas

I am visiting my mom in a small town in Arkansas, so yesterday I drove two and a half miles to the Little Rock capitol.....to find no demonstration. Of course, I was disappointed. I was even more disappointed because I live in Columbus, Ohio, and would have met some like-minded protesters had I been home!

[noamnety]

128. Michigan Rally pics

From livvy, I'm just hosting them. Gosh it was cold! We had more people than the photos show, but they were taking shifts warming up in the area under the stairs. We passed lots of cars slid off the road on the way, and my larger local group planned to go, but bailed - I think from the blizzard on our side of town.



more here:
http://www.ideamouth.com/politics/dec12MIrally/rally.php

[livvy]

134. Thanks, lwfern! livvy n/t

[AmyCrat]

129. Also post how your state did at RedHandsMovement.com!

don't forget to post your follow-ups and info on how many attended, how the rallys went, etc. at www.RedHandsMovement.com!

[AmyCrat]

130. Also post how your state did at RedHandsMovement.com!

don't forget to post your follow-ups and info on how many attended, how the rallys went, etc. at www.RedHandsMovement.com!

[jamboi]

135. Milloy reported NM 100 (? I think) and NY 30. n/t

[Griffy]

137. DC here.. only a few, but lotsa tourists to talk to!

Only a handful of ppl stood with me in front of the capitol bldg, but many ppl saw us, some spoke to us, some gave peace signs or honked as they drove by... We need you all... be in DC on the 6th to support the dems in the capitol to stand up for truth... if we dont have 50-100 thousand or more ppl on the mall.. bush will be pres. so make plans, tell friends, be here!