The Washington University Intramural Field, its views blocked off from everywhere else on campus, served as a space for protesters that was distant from the goings-on in the Athletic Complex.

Spontaneity in so-called public viewing area was discouraged as speakers had to register in advance in order to appear before the crowds.

While more traditionally liberal groups, such as Pride Alliance and Planned Parenthood, spoke, religious pro-life groups also paid the campus a visit. Among these groups was the Christian Defense Coalition, whose debate presence consisted solely of its director, Patrick Mahoney.

“We’re a group committed to challenging the church to live their faith in the public square on a number of social justice issues,” Mahoney said. “Poverty, racism, we’re pro-life, human rights, free speech, pretty much all the things Senator Obama is not committed to. We’re actually here to pray too.”

Upon taking the stage, Mahoney launched into a charged speech, lambasting Obama for not donating a larger share of his fundraising to charity, not visiting storm battered areas of the Texas coast, and living what he considered a “disconnected” lifestyle.

Mahoney’s speech aroused the anger of protesters representing Planned Parenthood, resulting in heated verbal exchanges on both sides. Mahoney accused Planned Parenthood of being created to eliminate black people through abortion.

“You’re wearing your pink shirts, but you might as well be wearing white robes,” said Mahoney in reference to the clothing of the Planned Parenthood protesters and the Ku Klux Klan.

Planned Parenthood protestors walked out shortly afterwards, and remaining sympathetic protest groups left with them. The Christian Defense Coalition originally intended to split its time with its parent group, a pro-life group known as Operation Rescue, but Mahoney’s speech did not permit time for Operation Rescue to speak.

Remaining were the University Conservative Leadership Association, whose student representative Caleb Posner spoke about the dangers Iran posed, and the Florida Security Council, which advertised their documentary about radical Islam, titled “Obsession.”

The Florida Security Council also warned demonstrators of the dangers of Muslim student associations and their alleged fundamentalist links.

“Organizations such as CARE or the Muslim America Society or Muslim Students of America have been indicted as front organizations for the Muslim Brotherhood, an organization created in 1930 for the sole purpose of instituting Sharia law throughout the world and taking over the world,” said Richard Swier of the Florida Security Council.

With the last of the protestors finished in the field, attention turned to protesters on Big Bend Boulevard. These protesters peppered the lawn, carrying anti-Palin signs with slogans reading, “Why is Sarah Palin an NRA member? Shotgun Weddings” and “We can see Russia from St. Louis!”

However, not everyone on the lawn expressed antipathy for Palin.

“It’s nice to find a woman that’s strong and conservative and who knows that real women don’t kill their children,” said Ruth Cosgrove, one of the protesters.

Some of the protesters carried signs for Bob Barr, the Libertarian candidate for president.
Thomas Knapp, vice presidential candidate for the Boston Tea Party, a splinter libertarian party, was also present. Knapp founded the party in 2006 to fill a void in the country’s libertarian culture during the last Senate campaign. He views his party as a much more solid libertarian group than the better known Libertarian Party.

“We are a libertarian party, not the Libertarian Party,” Knapp said. “This year the Libertarian Party nominated a conservative republican rather than a libertarian. This year we nominated our first presidential ticket, Charles Jay from Florida, and myself from right here in St. Louis.”

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