SALEM, N.H. (Jan. 7)
[Where presidential candidates go, protestors follow in a final effort to sway voters. WATD’s Election 2008 Reporter Shelly Schwartz tells us how a town hall meeting with Republican presidential candidate John McCain turned into a site of contentious debates.]
Protestors drowned out Senator John McCain during his opening speech in the gymnasium of Woodbury School in Salem Sunday afternoon.
Activists with the Student Global AIDS Campaign chanted and held signs that blocked the view of some of the audience. McCain supporters were not happy.
[Jeers from the crowd]
Andrew Driscoll is one of the AIDS activists. His organization wants candidates to do more for HIV-AIDS treatment. Driscoll says McCain has ignored their attempts to contact him.
[“There are 33 million people in the world living with AIDS, the majority of whom are being untreated. And Senator McCain has not given us a good enough answer on what he plans to do about the epidemic if he does become president.” Andrew Driscoll of Saint Michaels College]
Outside the town hall meeting, more protestors lined the walkway to the entrance. Arnold Alpert of Concord is with the American Friends Service Committee. His campaign calls for ending the Iraq War and spending more money on the homefront.
[“The billions, trillions of dollars paying for this war need to be shifted for healthcare, for housing, for education, for rebuilding Iraq and to make sure we’re taking care of the veterans of the Iraq war.” Arnold Alpert of Concord, New Hampshire]
In a counterpoint to the protestors, McCain supporters boasted their own signs. Sandra Chase of New York is following McCain around New Hampshire. She says McCain is unfairly targeted by the demonstrators.
[“This is America and they’re entitled to be here. But I don’t think they’re at the other campaigns the way they’re at McCain’s. And I just challenge that.” Sandra Chase of New York]
Protestors and presidential candidates have one final day to convince those voters who remain undecided. This is Shelly Schwartz, reporting for WATD News, Election 2008, Salem, New Hampshire.
(Shelly Schwartz, a broadcast journalism major, is covering the New Hampshire primary for WATD Radio in Marshfield, Massachusetts. )
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