MoveOn.org protests

Honking car horns and hearty yells bounced across the intersection of Rogers Street and Kirkwood Avenue during an hour-long rally Wednesday afternoon, next to the Circle K gas station.

About 15 people participated in MoveOn.org Political Action’s National Day of Action for an Oil-Free President, waving signs, offering pamphlets to drivers at the light and telling them to “vote for Obama.”

MoveOn.org enthusiast Steve Mascari was willing to spend the entire hour baking in a suit and George W. Bush mask, pretending to chug a bottle of gasoline and lurching drunkenly on the traffic corner.

“I couldn’t get a (John) McCain mask, but I think enough people realize that McCain is the next generation of the Bush dynasty,” Mascari explained, admitting that the costume was “extremely hot.”

He said he chose to dress up because he wanted to attract as much attention as possible. He said he hoped to get the message across that McCain will be beholden to the oil companies, just like Bush.

“(McCain) will not move forward in terms of policy and alternative energy. But Obama will. With Exxon in charge of the White House, there will not be other alternatives explored.”

MoveOn.org is a progressive network that boasts more than 3.2 million members and seeks to “bring real Americans back into the political process,” according to its Web site.

With the general election approaching this year, the organization, which is “not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee,” condemns the Republican candidate as being too tied to the oil and gas industry to offer “real solutions” to high gas prices and environmental concerns.

“This is the most important election of my lifetime,” said Ginny Ghattos, 65. “I’m thinking of my children and my grandchildren. I am actually fearful that we’re going to lose what this country has been great for.”

Meanwhile, across the street, Brett Volpp, a local artist was taking advantage of the sunny weather to continue painting a traffic box, which was turning out to be an illustration of an elephant. Volpp is one of the artists for the Bloomington Entertainment and Arts District’s endeavor to make downtown Bloomington more tourist-friendly, and he said he would leave his elephant open to interpretation.

“It’s great that people are out saying what they have to say,” Volpp said of the people across the street. “It’s a little too much horn honking for me, but that’s alright.”

He expressed indifference regarding both major party candidates and their role in the economic and environmental issues being vocalized nearby.

“Oh, it’s a problem,” he said of oil lobbying, “but I don’t see either candidate as being much different. I think Ralph Nader is a great alternative – the only alternative we have anyway.”

Wednesday’s event was one of the first rallying events for MoveOn.org’s Bloomington chapter, and turnout was better than expected.

“The turnout was great. I thought there were going to be six people,” said Sandy Washburn, who helped organize the event in Bloomington. “I think the passersby were very receptive. We got a lot of horn honks. Almost everyone took a flyer and people seemed very positive.”

Employees of the gas station were not authorized to comment on the events taking place on the sidewalk, but Washburn said there were no problems between the group and the station.

“Management just came out and gave us their policy,” Washburn said. “They were, you know, nice. They just didn’t want us on their property.”