Bay State liberals shun Barack Obama’s visit
By Edward Mason and Hillary Chabot
Friday, October 23, 2009 - Updated 2d 4h ago
E-mail Print (124) Comments Text size Share Buzz up!President Obama blows into the bluest state today facing a cold shoulder from once true-blue admirers, as gay rights activists, anti-war protesters and vexed environmentalists vow to picket a fund-raiser he’s headlining for Gov. Deval Patrick - a marquee event that hasn’t even sold out.
As of last night, liberals who once braved frigid temperatures to behold Obama were shunning tickets to the fund-raiser at the posh Westin Copley Place featuring the president, sources told the Herald. And despite campaign denials, Patrick operatives reportedly were pushing the ducats - between $500 and $6,000 - by e-mail up to the last minute.
“He’s reaching the point in his presidency where not only has the honeymoon ended, but the fighting has begun,” said Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia presidential scholar.
Among the groups planning to dog Obama during his scheduled afternoon swing through Cambridge and Boston:
Anti-war activists CODEPINK, who are irate with the president for backpedaling on promises to withdraw from Iraq and weighing a surge of U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
“It’s disturbing and very upsetting,” said Sarah Roche-Mahdi, the group’s Greater Boston coordinator.
Donning bright-pink wigs and hats, these anti-war women said they’ll shadow Obama from MIT, where he’s slated to give a speech on the environment, to the swank Westin Copley fund-raiser.
Environmental coalition 350.org - which has soured on Obama’s efforts to curb global warming - plans to protest the MIT address. They’re also taking out a full-page ad in the MIT student paper questioning Obama’s commitment to the green cause.
Gays and lesbians are furious with Obama for forsaking campaign vows to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and the ban on gays serving openly in the military.
About 150 members of gay marriage advocate Join the Impact-MA plan to converge on the Hub hotel to give the commander in chief an earful.
“I voted for him because of his speeches and rhetoric and his promises,” said Paul Sousa, the group’s co-founder. “I thought he’d act on those promises.”
Meanwhile, several unions - peeved with Patrick for threatening their jobs and angry with Obama for wavering on health care reforms - backed off protest plans, sources told the Herald.
As some grousing liberals were plotting their protests, tickets were moving slowly for the posh private hotel gathering where Obama is slated to shake hands and pose for photos at $6,000 a pop.
Add it all up, and liberal ire with Obama is close to the boiling point, said Princeton University political scientist Julian Zelizer.
“Clearly they’re in his corner, but they’re not as happy as they once were,” Zelizer said. “Frustration could accelerate and descend into something worse.”
bostonherald.com |
