It was a melting pot of grassroots activism today as Colorado citizens protested Obama’s campaign stop for U.S. Senator Michael Bennet at the Fillmore Auditorium. The two largest groups were Democratic grassroots activists supporting Andrew Romanoff in his bid for the U.S. Senate seat and the ever present Tea Partiers fighting to preserve the Constitution. Yet, that was not all who stood on Colfax Avenue waiting for the presidential motorcade to drive past. Pro-lifers, 9/11 truthers, health care reformers, environmentalists, medical marijuana proponents, and anarchists were there as well. One Tea Partier, Lisa Karres, noted, “Everybody has their issues.”
Like most Obama visits across the country these days, Tea Partiers were there to greet him in their fight to preserve liberty and to stop government overspending. Martina Odonoghue was there to fight against socialism. “I grew up in a socialistic country, and it sucks. It breeds mediocrity. I will fight it with every fiber of my being.”
However, unlike other protests of the past year, the left and the pro-liberty protesters stood side by side, albeit not with a lot of warm conversation between the two groups. The Democratic grassroots activists were there to promote their candidate Andrew Romanoff, who they advocate as a proponent for education based on his voting record in the state legislature. These activists pointed out that Romanoff is refusing to take corporate funds, while Bennet at a debate earlier this week did not answer questions regarding his campaign donations.
Publicizing the grassroots groundswell for Romanoff and his lead in the polls, the activists questioned the upper echelons of the Democratic Party’s support of Bennet. “It’s very peculiar that Ritter picked Bennet when the base is behind Romanoff,” stated Diane Hansen. These members of the Democratic Party feel that Obama should not involve himself in local politics until after the primary elections in August. “He’s going to lose fans. There’s an agenda here that we don’t know and don’t see, and we’re not privy to,” said Bernie Rogoff of Aurora. However, the Romanoff supporters were optimistic in the outcome for their candidate. “He’s going to come out ahead,” said Hansen. “Grassroots Democrats are definitely behind Romanoff.”
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