http://www.newsweek.com/id/139571If the protestors demonstrating Saturday outside a Democratic National Committee Rules Committee meeting in Washington, D.C., are any indication, it won't necessarily be easy to unify the party this fall. Demonstrators wielding signs (such as COUNT MY VOTE OR COUNT ME OUT) screamed loudly in the minutes before committee members arrived to debate the seating of the disputed Florida and Michigan delegations. Many wore COUNT OUR VOTE T shirts and toted American flags.
A group from Florida clustered together, easily identifiable in their matching black and yellow shirts that read "1.75 Million Votes RIP" above a picture of a tombstone. Police officers wearing fluorescent jackets frantically directed traffic, while inside the staid marble hotel lobby, DNC staffers and security guards kept a watchful eye to make sure no one got out of hand.. Passing cars honked in support, provoking whoops of joy from the chanting crowd, which seemed to be comprised mostly of Hillary Clinton supporters. Party elders might take some solace in the size of the crowd; only several hundred showed up.
James Quinn, a 28-year-old bartender from Carbondale, Pa., spread the Clinton message to anyone who would listen, including a middle-aged couple from Boston in town for a wedding. Wearing a well-worn "Count Every Vote" shirt, Quinn told the couple that Barack Obama took his own name off the ballot in Michigan "because he thought he couldn't win the state and he hedged his bets." Quinn added that he has concerns about Obama's patriotism, and that he'll only consider voting for Obama if Hillary is on the ticket. When Quinn left, Andy LaGrega, the Bostonian Quinn had been preaching to, said he was shocked by the younger man's views. "It was almost like those weird e-mails you get about Obama that obviously don't seem to be truthful, it's almost like he's buying into that," LaGrega said.
