Parading a fiberglass elephant is fine, but who got more earned media . . . more useful attention . . .
Challenging the populace should not go unappreciated
No free ride for Hillary
This is a tale of the value of protest
Organizer Ralyn Schraceo at right in Hilary mask, Davenport participant Kathi Kelly at left. More photos below.
Hillary Clinton’s appearance yesterday at the Salute to Labor Chicken Fry in Illiniwek Park in Hampton (noted suburb of Silvis) was met by a group of protestors from the Illinois LiberTEA Fest and a few others. The LiberTEA Fest group led by Ralyn Schraceo did a good job of logistical preparation and effective graphic presentation. They got a lot of bang for their persistence (see embedded video below). There should have been more spontaneous participation, and we believe there would have been, had more awareness been generated by the organizations with the built-in reach, enemies of the same enemy, the Scott County Republicans (SCR) and Rock Island County GOP (RICOGOP) organizations. Neither appears to have mentioned Hillary’s appearance, first announced ten days ago, on their web sites. The former as expected, the later an uncharacteristic disappointment.
To their credit both organizations sponsored participation in Labor Day parade events (both organizations have large fiberglass elephants for people to walk behind). Such activity is important but participation in both would not have been a conflict for individuals so inclined as the Hillary event was foretold well in advance to stretch past 3:00 PM. Republicans can walk in a parade and chew on the opposition as well. Mentioning something such as a protest by another group is not an endorsement and in the particular case not a conflict either.
Ms. Schraceo relied on her own limited time and contacts to get a few people out, aware as well that there ought to be spontaneous arrivals, which she was prepared for. I believe Rock Island Republican leadership would have allowed mention on their web-site of an independent group’s event such as hers, had they received notice. Reviewing the RICOGOP web site, providing such courtesies seems to be something they are willing to do. However, I doubt that Scott County leadership would have, given their track record. It is the nature of the leadership of the two organizations, respectively — ally friendly vs insular; willing to challenge the opposition vs rarely doing so.
Our cursory survey of the media coverage of Republican Labor Day parade participation and the Hillary Clinton protest is that the Labor Day parades received zilch, neither print or broadcast, but the Hillary protest received excellent broadcast coverage from one, possibly two TV stations (KWQC as shown, also available here).
To be sure individual parade entrants gets noticed to some extent by the audience, but honest objective analysis would admit it is of a pretty superficial depth, even barely noticed among the other participants as to effective message, a big elephant notwithstanding. It is good to do, but has no punch. The media is not likely to single out a Republican parade entry, and from our survey did not. The number of viewers of an individual entry depends on the weather, the town, and the reach of the hosts of the parade event. People lining the streets may number from a few hundred to perhaps as many as a few thousand. But with unlikely media focus, the bang for the organizational effort of folksy parades is worthwhile but modest.
A protest at an event, with pithy graphics focused on the vulnerabilities of the key celebrity, gets noticed “more memorably” by the targeted event’s participants, even if only through irritation. If it is a major event and the protest organizers position themselves boldly, they will receive notice by some portion of the attendees, probably numbering in the hundreds as in the Hillary / Hampton case. Non-participant passers by at such an event, this one was near a local highway on a high travel day, also perhaps number in the hundreds.
However, while the media may well be out in full force for generic coverage of a parade, no participant is predictably going to be singled out for their message content. By comparison, a major local political event will receive extensive media coverage, and a protest at the event has a good chance of being deemed newsworthy, especially if the event is so partisan that it affords the media the opportunity to conveniently add some balance to their report.
Certainly not all the media present will provide protestors the time of day, so to speak. Most won’t. But there is a likelihood that one or more outlets will. It is an angle worthy of pursuing, and the Illinois LiberTEA folks did so effectively. By the way, they are also the folks responsible for the overpass messaging above I 74 in the Illinois Quad Cities. On that score, with well done signage, we believe it is more effective than an expensive billboard along that busy corridor during the period of their presence. The media is not likely to cover that sort of repetitive protest however, but it is a worthy effort.
One dedicated fellow provided a jab at Hillary and her fans. “Satan” found some shade but the mask and dark clothing were still hot!
Not every day you can pose with “Satan” and not worry about falling into his clutches. An attendee with his young son (on left) appreciated the humor and maybe agreed! He did not ask that his face be blurred but we thought it best to protect the innocent
Illinois LiberTEA Fest organizers arrived early, got a very strategic spot, set up a shade tent, cooler of water and even a camp grill for hot dogs. They had extra signs for spontaneous protest participants
Protestors stationed themselves right at the main entryway to the event. It was next to both the tram shuttle to the main parking area and along Illinois Route 84, which had extra traffic due to the holiday.
The theme (it is useful to have such a focused theme) was Hillary’s corruption, criminal negligence, and lying ways.
While others took a break from the sun, Kathi K took up the slack
Two itinerant Hillary protestors
The Argus-Dispatch report printed the Democrat Party provided attendance figure of 5000. Based on the parked cars we observed (we did not pay to get into the event to count heads) we are confident the figure is greatly exaggerated. Allowing an average of four people per car, probably generous, there would have had to have been over twelve-hundred cars. There is no way there were that many. We would guess the attendance at maybe three thousand people for the picnic including those who did not stay to hear Hillary. We doubt there were 2000 to hear Hillary. It was a union promoted family picnic event with low priced food, and there were many children in the number.
There were far more cars observed leaving in the 2:00 to 4:00 period, than arriving for the predictably late Hillary speech at 4:00. As it was Hillary may have arrived about the time we left but her motorcade used a different entrance. The good LiberTEA folks stayed for the duration. We would be interested in any follow-up report from them.
The position of the protest was next to police officers directing traffic on IL Route 84, so otherwise predictable responses from attendees to the protest message may have been subdued … or . . . they were not inclined to argue or comment. The non-attendee cars passing by frequently gave us a thumbs up, 1 or 2 in 10 perhaps, which isn’t bad considering how oblivious people often are as they drive. The attendees, when they responded, used a different finger, or the usual epithets.
Congratulations and thanks to the LibertTEA folks for their efforts. Keep up the good work!
R Mall
