Spontaneous rallies are carefully staged
By Doris Bloodsworth
of the Sentinel Staff
Published in The Orlando Sentinel on December 06, 2000
"These people are not just numbers; they are
red-blooded Americans who exercised their right to
vote."
-- Larry Dale
Republican mayor of Sanford
It was a protest made for television -- literally.
The small crowd outside the Sanford courthouse three
weeks ago was hastily called together by the Central
Florida AFL-CIO. Union officials prepped the group on
where they would march. They inspired them with fiery
rhetoric. The only thing missing was signs -- and those
arrived almost on cue when a car rolled up to the curb
and the driver retrieved a dozen home-made placards
from the trunk.
So goes Post-Election 2000, where, like more rallies
planned today in Tallahassee, the war to shape public
opinion is being fought with the same tenacity as the
courtroom battles over pregnant chads and
absentee-ballot applications.
To be sure, grassroots frustration and anger exist on
both sides by people who feel their votes have been
discounted. But a close look behind the scenes shows
that the people pulling the strings are often party officials,
union leaders and members of other special interest
groups.
Today`s protest du jour begins in Tallahassee at 1 p.m.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who has put himself in the
middle of protests, and U.S. Rep Corrine Brown, a
Jacksonville Democrat, will lead a "Fairness and
Democracy Rally." Busloads of Gore backers will join
them.
The buses are courtesy of Brown and Jackson`s
PUSH/Rainbow Coalition. The AFL-CIO, state and
U.S. congressional leaders, women`s groups and the
NAACP are supporting the rally at the State Capitol.
The rally coincides with the trial starting today that will
determine whether all 15,000 Seminole County absentee
ballots will be thrown out, swinging enough votes to give
Gore the presidency.
The Republicans are not to be outdone. They are
matching the Democrats bus for bus. The state GOP
rented three buses -- bedecked with banners that read
Seminole County Absentee Voter Express -- to take
voters to Tallahassee on Tuesday. A boisterous,
flag-waving group of Republicans held an afternoon rally
before a host of TV cameras.
"These people are not just numbers; they are
red-blooded Americans who exercised their right to
vote," said Sanford Mayor Larry Dale, a Republican
who helped lead the delegation.
These carefully orchestrated media events have included
everything from rallies with theme music to GOP officials
who drove souvenir-filled motor homes from one protest
to another. Anyone who watched the street scenes in
West Palm Beach saw the crowds that gathered behind
TV reporters, chanting passionately. What they didn`t
see were the crowds falling silent once the TV cameras
turned away.
At a Sanford church rally Sunday, 1,000 churchgoers
and political activists gathered at Calvary Assembly of
Praise at a rally organized by Jackson and Brown. Near
the beginning of his "Everybody matters, every vote
counts" speech, Jackson urged the crowd to organize
car rides or buses to attend the rally.
"I urge you to take a day," he said. "It may be worth a
century."
By the end of the hour-long pep talk, Jackson
announced that buses would be provided. All the faithful
needed to do was sign up.
Of course, the buses had already been arranged
beforehand. And there would be a bus out of Orlando,
as well.
The day before, Republican officials were present at a
rally where flag-waving Bush supporters had protested
the lawsuit seeking to throw out Seminole`s absentee
ballots. Some of those attending said they found out
about the rally through the Internet or word of mouth.
Many came after a Republican phone bank sent out a
call the day before.
The Liberty Counsel, attorneys representing Seminole
absentee-ballot voters who don`t want their votes
tossed, also notified people.
Those phone banks and public-address system that had
been provided, playing the song "You`re Still the One"
blared before the rally, showed the organization behind
some of these displays of public outrage.Republican
officials were loathe to say who planned Saturday`s
event. Organizers kept deferring questions. Even as they
spoke they punched 202, the area code for Washington,
D.C., on their cellphones.
A public-relations consultant acknowledged the state
Republican Party had helped.
Some of the same state Republican officials were at a
news conference Sunday led by Sanford Mayor Dale.
While Dale spoke out about a newspaper article linking
the Gore campaign to the absentee-ballot lawsuit,
Republican officials passed out supporting
documentation on state party stationery.
After a few questions from reporters, one of the officials
stepped in and tried to end the news conference.
The efforts closely mirror those in South Florida where
Republican strategists reportedly parked an RV stuffed
with "Don`t Be Had By A Chad" T-shirts outside the
Palm Beach County Emergency Operations Center.
Bush volunteers were given a simple mission: Hand out
T-shirts and protest signs and then blend into the pack
and lead chants, one of the hired workers told a
reporter.
The infamous RV with its pro-Bush props showed up in
Broward County as well. Republican staffers handed out
George W. Bush baseball caps and Al Gore crying
towels.
Now that the decision of who will be president focuses
sharply on Central Florida, the tempo has turned from
the South Florida party atmosphere to hand-to-hand
combat.
Bob Poe, chairman of the Florida Democratic Party,
and Jim Stelling, vice chairman of the state GOP, readily
acknowledge the party`s involvement in the rallies.
"That`s what parties do," Poe said. "They have the
infrastructure to do these things."
Stelling said the Republican Party helped with the rallies
and the buses to Tallahassee, but said the party is just
being supportive.
"People are madder than hell, and they want to be
heard," he said.
John Kennedy, Amy C. Rippel and Gwyneth K. Shaw
of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report.