20 years ago today George Bush I visited Tacoma, Washington

[norepubsin08]

On October 20, 1988 then Vice President George Bush visited Seattle University, a Jesuit institution. During that visit a Jesuit priest with a long history of anti-war protest and working with the poor had interrupted Bush to ask a question about the poor. He was dragged from the hall.

Washington State that year was up for grabs. Both Dukakis and Bush campaigned here in late October. Because Bush wanted to run the table, so to speak, he scheduled another campaign speech for October 27, 1988 at the University of Puget Sound Fieldhouse. Because UPS cared about it's intellectual integrity and saw what happened at Seattle U, Bush was told that it would have to be a question and answer session. Bush decided to take his campaign elsewhere and chose the Tacoma Bi-Centennial Pavilion in downtown Tacoma. A group of us working with the Catholic Community House found out about it and prepared for this visit. We were able via phone (in the days before widespread computer ownership) able to get about 500 people out to the Pavilion to protest his visit. Seven of us got highly screened tickets to go inside. While outside with the Bush crowd, a large portion of them former Pat Robertson supporters...we were spit upon, punched and screamed at. Once inside, the seven of us made our voices heard. Every few minutes one of us would ask a question. I lost my glasses that day, and as I was arrested, the Republican private security team told the National press that if they followed us out of the hall, they would be arrested also. By the time the fourth one of us got arrested and bloodied, they pulled Bush out of there 17 minutes early.

The upshot of this is that a Republican presidential nominee has not campaigned in the city limits of Tacoma since then. Three months later, we ran a very liberal winning initiative in the city of Tacoma and right after that we ran a candidate (me) from the left against our entrenched DINO US Congressman and forced him to move to the left. From that point on, our town surrounded by the military and just to the right of center...moved well to the left. This was the lead story on all 3 national news channels that night and reported in over 40 major papers nation wide. Dukakis won the state by just a hair that year and Washington has voted Dem in the Presidential election ever since.

As for me..it turned me from a liberal into a radical. It entrenched my thoughts of peace and justice and fairness both in political conversation and the application of that in real actions, like nothing else has ever done.

Believe me, I was scared when I was just one of seven in a crowd of 5,000 yelling for justice...but know that you can do it too. Keep up the work folks, only a few more days. Thank you for allowing me to reflect and remember.

Peace-Mike Collier

[rsmith6621]

1. Then 20 years ago 3 People including a Police Officer Died

.....when the motorcade carrying him down I-5 near Federal Way created a sudden stop on the freeway causing a semi truck to rear end a car killing the occupants of both then causing a WSP escort cycle to skid out of control killing the officer riding it.

[norepubsin08]

2. I remember that

I forgot all about that...it was not a good visit for Bush. Do you still live in the area..I run a peace and justice group in Tacoma and work for a consulting agency to non-profits.