By Gwyneth K. Shaw | Sentinel Staff Writer Posted January 20, 2005
WASHINGTON --
The Billionaires for Bush will be out in force today, mingling with the thousands of well-wishers and party animals celebrating the president's second inauguration.
But President Bush won't be spending any time with the likes of Lucinda Regulations and Phil T. Rich. Despite their top hats and tuxedoes, they're not his type.
The Billionaires for Bush, a street-theater group with tongues planted firmly in cheek, have much more in common with the Revolutionary Communist Party, which also will be recognizing the president's big day in the District of Columbia.
They'll be among the groups protesting and lining the parade route when President Bush returns from being sworn in for a second term. Instead of applauding, they'll be carrying signs with messages such as this: "I don't like you very much!"
Others will turn their backs on the president.
Tonight, as Republicans celebrate the promise of the next four years at swanky balls and fancy dinners, an eclectic group of naysayers -- from plain old Democrats to members of the communist party -- will fan out for events of their own. Some of the parties are serious protests; others are tongue-in-cheek, and still others are essentially an effort to kick off fund raising and organizing for the next round of elections.
What none of them will be is quiet.
"We are not running, we are not hiding -- we are organizing," said Josh Galper, a board member for NEXT, a liberal political-action committee expecting 400 to 500 people at its "Blue Ball" tonight.
The party, at a sleek bar and restaurant only a few blocks from the White House, is part of the organization's "Paint the Town Blue" campaign. For weeks, volunteers have been passing out blue signs, bumper stickers, T-shirts and light bulbs to promote Washington as a "blue" town, reflecting the city's overwhelming support for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.
"In some ways, what we are going to be doing is celebrating on our own -- it's our night, too. It's not about protesting the inauguration," said Galper, who admitted he left town for Bush's first inaugural.
For many of the other groups, however, protest is what it's all about. Above a carwash on New York Avenue, activists have been painting signs and making papier-mâché puppets, including an effigy of Bush.
Marchers will begin at three separate locations this morning -- outside the security perimeter established for the inauguration -- and make their way down to the parade route.
The protesters' political agendas range from opposition to the war in Iraq, to supporting women's rights, to anarchy. Many of the groups represented have clashed with D.C. police during the past several years and are hoping for smoother interaction this time around.
Though tickets were sold for bleacher seating areas on the parade route, parts are open to the general public. Adam Eidinger, a local activist, said police asked the groups for plans for their marches. They have refused, he said.
"For them not to reveal their plans doesn't mean they have anything sinister in mind," said Eidinger, who boasts that his unsuccessful campaign last fall for the District of Columbia's shadow congressional representative still got more votes (25,000) than Bush did here (21,000).
Many of the efforts are symbolic. For example, political activists in Massachusetts have organized a petition to support an anonymous e-mail circulating around the Internet calling for "Not One Damn Dime Day" -- encouraging people not to spend money today to protest against the Bush administration.
Others use humor to register dissent. The Billionaires for Bush dress as old-fashioned robber barons and take pun-filled names to protest what they think is an administration that has tilted the playing field in favor of the wealthy.
"It's important to be just right upfront with the message that this is government for the rich, by the rich and of the rich," said R. Laws, a k a Glenn Marcus, dressed smartly in a tuxedo amid the wool sweaters and boots worn by most other activists.
Laws, a documentary filmmaker and professor in his regular life, and his "billionaire" buddies plan to set up near the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial this morning and "auction off" Social Security and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
"They're just better in private hands," Laws said, perfectly deadpan.
The group planned a protest outside one of the marquee events of this year's inaugural: the "Black Tie and Boots" ball thrown Wednesday night by the Texas State Society. Tonight, Billionaires for Bush will host a "Re-Coronation Inaugural Ball" at a Washington nightclub.
Then there are the long-established groups -- the true iconoclasts who have spent a lifetime working to persuade Americans to reconsider their form of government.
Carl Dix, a national organizer for the Revolutionary Communist Party, said that with the eyes of the world on Washington this week, it's important to represent the people who said no to Bush in November.
"The millions who are now agonizing about the future are open to a different system, and that's what keeps us going," he said. "We feel there needs to be another side out there, in opposition to this, and we're going to be out there providing it."
Florida's elected Democrats, for the most part, are avoiding the scene. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson will attend today's swearing-in ceremony and then head for the Senate floor, where several votes are expected today, including one to confirm Secretary of State nominee Condoleezza Rice.
U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, a vocal critic of the president and voting problems during the 2000 and 2004 elections, is in her district this week, spokesman David Simon said.
Galper, though, said he and others involved with NEXT see last fall's election as proof that grass-roots organizing can work and hope to use that to motivate the next round of fund raising and activism.
"We're in a different time than four years ago. We all realize that it is possible to mobilize the electorate in a major way. We obviously were not successful in mobilizing enough to win this year, but that doesn't mean we should leave town," Galper said. "We need to stay and start planning and start organizing."
Gwyneth K. Shaw can be reached at gshaw@orlandosentinel.comor 202-824-8229.
