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East Bay | Government & Elections

Thousands Mob Clinton In Berkeley
by Z
Tuesday Jun 29th, 2004 7:26 PM
There was a rock concert parking lot feel to downtown Berkeley Tuesday as thousands camped out to get Clinton to sign prebought copies of his book. Several protesters played "Love me I'm a Liberal" on a boombox and yelled at the crowd about how Clinton's policies while in office were as bad as Bush's but the crowd chanted down the protesters wanting to endulge in nostalgia rather than think about government policies. Clinton signed books from around 12:300 until 4:00 at which point he came out and worked the crowd.
1_bill0.jpg
1_bill0.jpg

A mixture of Arsenio Hall style woofing, high pitched screaming and chants of "we love you" gave Clinton's appearance the feel of a rock concert more than a book signing by a political figure.

There were a lot of signs about defeating Bush, people engaged in voter registration, and some antiwar signs. But, there didn't seem to be much interest in Clinton as a politician as much as Clinton as a symbol of a pre 9/11 world and perhaps even Clinton as an Elvis like sex symbol.

Almost all the crowd reacted negatively to talk of Clinton's shifting of the American political discourse to the right and his bombing of Iraq, Serbia and Sudan. But its likely that many in the crowd disagreed with Clinton and was either engaging in lesser evilism or just wanted to treat seeing Clinton as an excuse to think back to a world without a Patriot Act, an Iraqi Occupation and constant fear mongering about terrorism.

With an election comming up things will get interesting with the "anyone but Bush" camp starting to get traction backed up by real anger. Gore probably would have done most things Bush did but tell that to the new "anyone but Bush" camp and you will likely get a rock thrown in your face. People want to forget the last four year. While Clinton's foreign policies were in places just as bloody as Bush's, the public had an easier time ignoring it. The radical-left has an uphill battle.
Streets Shut Down
by Z Tuesday Jun 29th, 2004 7:26 PM
2_street_shut.jpg
2_street_shut.jpg

Codys
by Z Tuesday Jun 29th, 2004 7:26 PM
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3_codys.jpg

Crowd Camped Out
by Z Tuesday Jun 29th, 2004 7:26 PM
4_crowd_camped_out.jpg
4_crowd_camped_out.jpg

Clinton Convoy
by Z Tuesday Jun 29th, 2004 7:26 PM
5_convoy.jpg
5_convoy.jpg

Going In
by Z Tuesday Jun 29th, 2004 7:26 PM
6_going_in2b.jpg
6_going_in2b.jpg

Going In
by Z Tuesday Jun 29th, 2004 7:26 PM
7_going_in.jpg
7_going_in.jpg

Protest Signs
by Z Tuesday Jun 29th, 2004 7:26 PM
8_protest_signs.jpg
8_protest_signs.jpg

Secret Service
by Z Tuesday Jun 29th, 2004 7:26 PM
9_secret_service.jpg
9_secret_service.jpg

Secret Service
by Z Tuesday Jun 29th, 2004 7:26 PM
10_secret_service2.jpg
10_secret_service2.jpg

Secret Service?
by Z Tuesday Jun 29th, 2004 7:26 PM
11_roof_cop.jpg
11_roof_cop.jpg

Democrat Signs
by Z Tuesday Jun 29th, 2004 7:26 PM
12_copvcia_dnc.jpg
12_copvcia_dnc.jpg

$200 Signed Books
by Z Tuesday Jun 29th, 2004 7:26 PM
13_signed_books.jpg
13_signed_books.jpg

Comming Out
by Z Tuesday Jun 29th, 2004 7:26 PM
14_comming_out.jpg
14_comming_out.jpg

Clinton Works Crowd
by Z Tuesday Jun 29th, 2004 7:26 PM
15_bill_n_crowd.jpg
15_bill_n_crowd.jpg

Clinton
by Z Tuesday Jun 29th, 2004 7:26 PM
16_bill4.jpg
16_bill4.jpg

Clinton
by Z Tuesday Jun 29th, 2004 7:26 PM
17_signing.jpg
17_signing.jpg

Clinton
by Z Tuesday Jun 29th, 2004 7:26 PM
18_bill3.jpg
18_bill3.jpg

Secret Service Annoyed By Clinton
by Z Tuesday Jun 29th, 2004 7:26 PM
19_uncomf_ss.jpg
19_uncomf_ss.jpg

more stock Clinton pics
by Z Tuesday Jun 29th, 2004 7:27 PM
20_bill1.jpg
20_bill1.jpg

more stock Clinton pics
by Z Tuesday Jun 29th, 2004 7:28 PM
21_bill2.jpg
21_bill2.jpg

more stock Clinton pics
by Z Tuesday Jun 29th, 2004 7:29 PM
22_ear_surgery.jpg
22_ear_surgery.jpg

another stock pic
by Z Tuesday Jun 29th, 2004 7:52 PM
book_signing_pic.jpg
book_signing_pic.jpg

I need to purge these from my camera so I figure might as well post them. This one kinda captures his lust for attention.