CNN/Tea Party Debate Stirs 150 Area Protesters

While Republican presidential hopefuls were facing off against one another inside, a group of about 150 protesters accumulated outside at the Florida State Fairgrounds Monday night for the .

They came with messages about Medicare, social security, education, environmental rights; the list seemed endless. One thing was consistent: they were not fans of the GOP 2012 presidential ballot.

Advocate Jay D. Alexander showed up with a stack of anti-war signs shoved into the back of his bumper sticker laden white Buick. He was more concerned with the way right wing conservatives plan to face social security and Medicare. The signs were just what he had on hand. 

“You can’t just privatize social security and you can’t get rid of Medicare,” he said. “There’s one — Perry — who let the state of Texas burn down while he went out to campaign a couple of weeks ago.”

A lot of the protesters shared Alexander’s contempt.

“There was joyous applause when [Perry] said that he had executed, or when he was asked about executing all those people,” said Sara Kilker. “It made me wonder who we are now as Americans.”

Inside, Ron Paul said during the debate that a man in a coma without insurance would have to “do whatever he wants to do and accept responsibility." It was those types of comments that seemed to enraged the protesters. Although, Paul did get at least some kudos.

“I do agree with him about getting people out of Iraq and Afghanistan,” Alexander said.

Inside, Paul’s proposed cuts to military spending weren’t so well-received by other Republicans. Audience members booed when he said 9/11 terrorists attacked Americans on U.S. soil because we were stationed on their holy land.

Even though the debate drew emotional responses both inside and out, many opponents were disgruntled over the placement of the authorized protest area. Event security handed people two-page notices telling them where and how they were allowed to exercise their first amendment rights. Most protesters understood the security precaution, but thought the placement of the “campaign visibility area” was unfavorable to demonstrators opposed to the GOP.

“It’s like the proverbial, ‘if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a noise’,” Mike Fox, a democrat, said. “In this case, I would submit no.”

The guidelines provided by event security cautioned activists to carry out all demonstrations within the Campaign Visibility Area, including medians and sidewalks. But there were demonstrations in those areas.  Campaigners representing the Republican candidates were waving their signs well outside the designated area. Whether they were addressed about it is uncertain, but as of the debate’s start, they were still there. 

“It makes you wonder who they are protecting,” Fox said. “I mean, we’re being safe so why is safety such an issue for us, but not them?”

The protest was organized, in part, by homeless advocate Bruce Wright. He said several organizations were collaborating to send a louder, more collective voice. That collaboration, he said, allowed several messages to get out to voters.

“We also want to eliminate the tax cuts for the wealthy, eliminate the personhood of corporations,” Wright said. 

That theory directly contradicts most right-wing fiscal policies. A group of Mitt Romney supporters found themselves parked alongside protesters and grossly out-numbered. 

“When we pulled in, someone said we need to pay our fair share of taxes,” Dixie Eklund said. “The truth is, I pay plenty of taxes.”

The next CNN-hosted Republican debate is Oct. 18 in Las Vegas.