What Happened at the Kerry Rally
Jane returned late Thursday night, exhausted from her stint as an Interceptor at the Kerry rally at the Metrodome. I could tell she had a story about the evening, and here it is.
But first, to recap: Jane’s job was to minimize the impact of Bush supporters who might show up at the Kerry rally. She wasn’t to harass them, merely to make sure they weren’t harassing other people, as well as minimize their visual impact by surrounding them.
Despite 30,000 people showing up, things were pretty quiet for Jane’s group through most of the evening. But then they noticed two women wearing Bush/Cheney shirts standing nearby. Jane’s group took notice and started to keep an eye on the women. But they only observed them; they did not approach the women.
After continued observation, Jane's group noticed a man and woman with small videocameras taping the women from a distance. Jane’s group knew something was up, but what? The two women eventually wandered over to a different section, with the videocams in tow.
So Jane’s group followed.
Along the way, they ran into another group of Interceptors, whose suspicions had also been aroused by the trio. This other group saw them all come in together, so it was certain there was some kind of ruse at hand. Finally, a member of Jane’s group approached the camerawoman and asked her what the deal was.
The deal was that the Bush women were either legit, or plants, they couldn't reveal which, and the camerapeople were from ABC News. Credentials were shown and everything. They were working on a story about what happens to dissenters who happen to show up at a rally of Kerry or Bush. Of course, at a Bush rally they can’t just walk in. They have to sign loyalty oaths and all of that.
But they must have made it in to at least some Bush events, because the ABC News people assured Jane’s group they would be very pleased with how Kerry events were portrayed vs. how Bush events were portrayed. They didn’t go into any specifics that Jane recounted to me, but I think it’s a safe assumption that the faux Bush women weren’t treated with the same kindness at Bush rallies that they were shown last night.
In fact, they apparently got Jane’s friend Rhonda on film walking up to the Bush women after they were first spotted and welcoming them. Guess that doesn’t happen at the Bush rallies.
After the rally, they got Rhonda to do an interview with their bigger cameras. No word on whether it was for 20/20, Nightline, or just the nightly news, but the ABC News crew told Jane’s group that they would be very pleased with what they saw, and that it could even impact the election!
Yeah, I know, it seems pretty far-fetched to me, too. But of course, we don’t know what kind of footage they got at those Bush rallies, either. I can think of a lot of things that wouldn’t look too good in contrast to footage of a Kerry rally worker specifically welcoming two Bush supporters to the event.
Coming Next Week: Jane will continue her climb up the political ladder by helping with the John Edwards motorcade next week. That is, if she can pass the background check.
12:12:27 PM 
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