Occupiers Crash The Primary

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by Thomas MacMillan | Jan 9, 2012 9:11 am

(12) Comments | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author

Posted to: Politics, Presidential Campaign, Campaign 2012, Occupy Wall Street

Thomas MacMillan Photo Manchester, N.H.—As the first-in-the-nation presidential primary approached, some of the most visible action on the main street here came not from candidates or staffers, but decidedly non-Republican activists swarming into the state from Connecticut and as far as Nevada.

With dancing, speeches, skits and “mic-checks,” the group Sunday had Occupy the New Hampshire Primary going strong, the latest manifestation of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

They gathered in Veterans Park on Elm Street in Manchester in response to a call from Occupy New Hampshire, which organized Occupy the Primary to capitalize on a moment when the nation’s attention is turned toward the Granite State. The goal is to continue to draw attention to corporate greed and income inequality, the cause upon which the Occupy Wall Street movement was founded.

The protest is also meant to bring the Occupy message directly to the Republican candidates, said organizer Wendy Rogers. Part of that message is, “You are so out of touch we can’t believe it,” she said.

One occupier, who traveled to Manchester from Brooklyn, said Occupy the Primary will follow the election action to North Carolina and then around the country.

The occupiers hope to seize a national stage previously dominated by the conservative-leaning Tea Party, focusing election-year public debate on alleged misdeeds of banks and corporate-bought politicians, for instance, rather than on alleged ills of government spending to address social problems.

Rogers said she’s putting up four out-of-state Occupiers at her home in Franklin, N.H. Other occupiers are sleeping in a church or at other homes. Although there are tents set up in Veterans Park, no one has slept there since October, when police evicted campers, Rogers said.

While official posted GOP campaign signs filled the traffic islands on Elm Street in the state’s largest city Sunday afternoon, occupiers like Floyd Brock waved signs of their own to passing cars.

“Fancy Bologna”

Brock, who came down from Biddeford, Maine, to join Occupy the Primary, offered the cryptic slogan “Fancy Bologna.” He wasn’t selling gourmet meats, he explained, but characterizing the political spectacle on offer in New Hampshire: the Republican primary.

Cassie Johnson (pictured), a warmly dressed 22-year-old UConn student, said she arrived on Saturday with two other members of Occupy Hartford. She said she was there to “share solidarity” just as she had done by visiting Occupy outposts in New York, Boston, and New Haven.

Johnson said the Occupy the Primary message is not about either the Republican or the Democratic part. “It’s about the people, not one party. ... Getting people to open up and wake up.”

She said she was happy to see that Republican supporters at the Saturday night debate responded well to her and other Occupy protestors.

One Newt Gingrich supporter told her, “I’m part of the 99 percent and I know that,” Johnson said.

Tea Two?

On Sunday afternoon, Bob Pletschke (pictured) showed up at the Manchester park dressed in Revolutionary War garb, apart from a pair of sporty hiking boots. He carried a flag with 13 stars and a sign on his back bearing the quote: “Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.”

Such outfits are more often a feature of Tea Party rallies, as well. Pletschke, a Vietnam vet, said he is a proud member of the Occupy movement. The costume is a tribute to his revolutionary heritage, he said. His ancestor, Ebenezer Fitch, fought in the Revolutionary War, he said.

“I find them very extreme,” Pletschke said of Tea Partiers, who were a major force in the presidential election four years ago.

Rogers drew a different line between the Tea Party and the Occupy movement. While the Tea Party is “political,” she said, “this is much more spiritual in nature.”

Yoni Miller, an 18-year-old from Brooklyn, said he came up to New Hampshire with a group of 16 from the Occupy Wall Street mothership in New York. He said Occupy is an international social movement, whereas the Tea Party was purely political.

A New Hampshire voter named Tara passed by the park with her dog. She said she doesn’t think the Occupy movement will become a major political force like the Tea Party. “Too many weirdos,” she said in a stage whisper.

Scenes

A group of fat-cat 1-percenters “stole” the mic from Pletschke while he was reading the Declaration of Independence.

They then sung an ode to wealth accumulation, in four-part harmony.

The Hay Ball made the trip from Portland, Maine, to Manchester.

An Occupying force turned out Sunday night as well, for a Mitt Romney campaign rally at a Exeter high school, where New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie appeared with the presidential candidate. Occupiers lined the pathway from the school to the parking lot, forcing Romney supporters to run a gauntlet of chanting 99-percenters as they left the event.

Ted Feng, a UAW union organizer, from Danbury, CT, was among the chanters. “Things have to change. People like Mitt Romney are not the answer,” he said.

Occupy protestors also made a splash inside the event.

Previous coverage of Occupy New Haven and Occupy Wall Street:

• Occupation Winterizes
• “Occupy Garlic” Crop Going In
• Next Move: Occupy Foreclosed Homes?
• Bulldozed Elsewhere, Occupy NH Marks 2 Months
• 3 Arrested At Occupy New Haven
• Occupation Rejects “Victory” Declaration
• New Haven Occupiers Clash With NYC Cops
• Who’s In & Who’s Out At The Occupation?
• “I Knew It—He’s A Scumbag”
• “Occu-Pies” Arrive
• Occupation Weather(ize)s Its 1st Storm
• Clergy Bless The Occupiers
• Occupiers Eye Clock Factory
• In New Haven, “Occupiers” Embrace The Cops
• Midnight Drug Warning Sparks Soul-Searching
• Emergency Session Poses Democracy Test
• The Password (The Password) ... Is (Is) ...
• 1,000 Launch New Haven’s “Occupation”
• Klein: Occupation Needs To Confront Power
• Whoops! Movement Loses $100K
• New Haven’s “Occupation” Takes Shape
• Occupy Branford: Wall Street Edition
• Anti-Bankers’ Dilemma: How To Process $$
• Labor, Occupiers March To Same Beat
• Protests’ Demand: A “World We Want To See”
• Protesters To Occupy Green Starting Oct. 15
• Wall Street Occupiers Page Verizon
• New Haven Exports “Free”-dom To Occupiers

Comments

posted by: Edgehood on January 9, 2012 12:25pm

Thank you Occupiers…!! You are true patriots…!! America needs a good kick in the butt to get back on the right track. ‘Bought and paid for’ politicians and the out of control corporations that sponsor them can’t last too much longer in these days of instant communication, anyway. More power to the occupiers to hasten thier demise…!!

posted by: John A on January 9, 2012 12:54pm

There is no “occupy” movment. Tell Obamam and his “hitmen” from the unions to stay home.
This is all union bull! The “media” needs to step up and tell the truth about these loosers!
But most of them are funded by the Obama money machine as well…....Wake up America before it’s too late!!!!

posted by: GetReal on January 9, 2012 2:02pm

Yes, the tea party people are “very extreme”. Unlike the Occupiers, they don’t ... don’t leave litter and dismay for others to pick up after they leave, and they stand for less government involvement in all US Citizen’s live—that’s “very extreme”?

The occupy movement (which is far from the majority of the 99% of us in this class of people) has some valid points, but most of the 99% do not support socialism, redistribution of wealth allowing for more lazy, and unmotivated people, and the extreme environmental outcries that permeate the group.

As a 99%-er, I will choose to follow less radical groups with a better message than OWS.

posted by: Truepatriot on January 9, 2012 3:26pm

John A and Getreal - Firstly, they are protesting against Obama as well. They are mostly against the NDAA which he signed into law just over a week ago. That’s your civil rights being affected too.

I don’t agree with everything I hear from them, but haven’t heard any of them talk of socialism or anything that sounds like it. I believe that’s a lie that you’ve been told by the media - which are of course owned by the very people they are protesting against.

What both the Democrats and the Republicans support is socialism for the rich. This ain’t a democracy we’re living in, and I support anyone actively campaigning for one. About time we all got real.

posted by: Brandt Hardin on January 9, 2012 4:03pm

The Occupy Movement is NECESSARY for our citizens to expose the corruption which Big Business has infected our Government with. Every single person occupying the streets and protesting Corporations is a hero and a patriot. I was compelled to lend a hand and create some new posters for the movement which you can download for free on my artist’s blog at http://dregstudiosart.blogspot.com/2011/11/propaganda-for-occupy-movement.html

posted by: Curious on January 9, 2012 4:58pm

“Every single person occupying the streets and protesting Corporations is a hero and a patriot.”

People who fight and die for this country are heroes and patriots. Don’t belittle their status by granting it to the Occupiers for having done far, far less than real heroes.

posted by: Truepatriot on January 9, 2012 5:14pm

“People who fight and die for this country are heroes and patriots. Don’t belittle their status by granting it to the Occupiers for having done far, far less than real heroes”

I don’t think the poster you quoted was saying that soldiers who fought in just wars were not heroes. Many people perceive non-violent people, such as Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Jesus Christ as heroes. The Occupiers may not have yet achieved as much as people who have laid down their lives for a just cause or people such as the other people I mentioned. But in their own way they are standing up for equality, justice, democracy and standing against greed, and I am proud of them for doing this.

posted by: William Kurtz on January 9, 2012 5:27pm

Curious wrote,

“People who fight and die for this country are heroes and patriots. Don’t belittle their status by granting it to the Occupiers for having done far, far less than real heroes.”

So this is the new litmus test? No one can be patriotic without blood being shed?

posted by: Occupy This on January 9, 2012 8:43pm

Anyone can be patriotic. Hero is a word that has been so misapplied that it no longer has any meaning other than to lard more hyperbole on whoever is being discussed (soldier, cop, fireman, linebacker, guitarist, actor). That said, camping out on the Green with the permission of the city and police protection is an outing, not heroism.

posted by: Get Real on January 9, 2012 9:01pm

@Truepatriot—you are very incorrect. I watched Youtube videos of OWS-ers in NYC. Like I said, I think they have some valid points (the educated ones—the uneducated leftists stand out loud & clear), but they have also been infiltrated by radical leftist groups trying to hijack the movement. Are you going to deny this too? Their socialist views included redistribution plans, increased entitlement programs for those currently on any assistance, etc. Apparently you are not as “in touch” with your group as you think. ... Provide me a link that clearly denies any socialist movement.

posted by: ldjfldj on January 10, 2012 11:29am

I’m blown away. There must have been 5 people there!

posted by: cba on January 10, 2012 1:19pm

I wonder how many of these Occupiers are strolling around doing their annoying protests t while getting extended unemployment benefits. Perhaps, it is time to curtail benefits and get these individuals back to some meaningful employment albeit it ever so humble.

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