Last Wednesday, the St. Louis MoveOn council joined over 200 other cities in holding a Rally for an Oil-Free President. The event was designed to highlight the close connections between John McCain and Big Oil. Right now, McCain’s campaign is being run by 33 former oil lobbyists and has already received over $1 million in donations from the oil industry. We held a rally outside the Shell Station on the corner of Delmar and Skinker, and had a great time!
You can find a really nice description of the event here. Join me over the flip for some photos of the event…
Here are some photos from the event (thanks to Shelly for taking pictures). You can click on the images to get a better look:
It’s standard operating procedure for any campaign. Volunteers and low level staffers (well, all staffers) get it drilled into their heads that they do not speak to the media because they do not speak for the campaign. Period.
When I got my first media credential (at the Harkin Steak Fry in Indianola, Iowa) the crowd of campaign workers and volunteers swarming all over everyone planting their candidate’s stickers on every one else parted when they saw those red press credentials. They avoided us like the plague.
As I waited outside the venue for the Michelle Obama event in Kansas City I heard the head volunteer brief the volunteers at their sign-in location to “not speak to the media”. That’s a good sign of a disciplined campaign. Because, we all know, you can’t trust the media.