McCain Camp Buses In School Kids To Fill Crowd

The most cringe-worthy political moment of the day, so far, came when Sen. John McCain called out for his new buddy Joe the Plumber to stand up at a rally in Ohio, only to be greeted with confused silence. Joe the Plumber wasn't there.

But that rally featured another embarrassing moment, one that illustrates a far more troubling dynamic for the Republican ticket. The McCain campaign actually had to bus in school kids from the surrounding area in order to fill the event. As reported by MSNBC:

A local school district official confirmed after the event that of the 6,000 people estimated by the fire marshal to be in attendance this morning, more than 4,000 were bused in from schools in the area. The entire 2,500-student Defiance School District was in attendance, the official said, in addition to at least three other schools from neighboring districts, one of which sent 14 buses.

This happened -- as if a reminder were needed -- less than a week out from the election, when the heat of the campaign should be drawing record crowds.

Comments

[Bluestarglow]

This has to be one of the most unethical and potentially libelous decisions ever made by this school district. There are rules and procedures that must be adhered to for the safety of these children. Before any child steps foot on a mandated school bus a "signed" permission slip must be in the hand of each responsible administra­tor/teache­r. A ration of chaperones to students must be accounted for according to school safety and security procedures, as well as a responsible adult for any "special needs" students attending. The school should not allow any student images to be shown to the public due to privacy laws on the book. I have serious reservations that all these issues were covered during this rapid field trip organization.
Where are the ambulance chasers in this area...?

[ciking724]

If the two districts that participated receive federal funds, they should lose their federal funding and national accredidation and be placed on probation for the next four years.

[apollosmom]

Cringe-worthy AND pathetic.
The kids aren't even old enough to vote. Yes people bring their children to the rallies, but to have 2/3 of a crowd made up of children, just to fill the seats? Now we know why the cameras don't pan to the audiences at McCain rallies.
McCain is coming to a town near me tomorrow. Apparently the rally will be held in an airplane hangar. A small one, from all accounts. Too bad the schools are closed tomorrow for Election Day. It's gonna be hard to round up all those third graders to fill the hangar.

[lastofourkind]

Cringe worthy indeed!

This really shows how low McCain has to go to try to win this election. Well, sorry Senator, but this time we will not fall for any more Republican tactics and attacks. This time we will vote for change!

-LoOK
http://lastofourkind.blogspot.com

[GrooveyHenrik]

No matter if Obama wins, will we ever be able to unite and be satisfied with just one leader? Is there such a thing as a Perfect Leader? Questions like these are answered in this film:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk1NjrSHrWE

[joceeco]

I am really starting to feel sympathy for McCain and Palin. not enough sympathy to see them win this thing, but enough to feel bad, because McCain is a better person than the campaign that he has run and with all of the negatives that Sarah brought to the campaign, I really think that she is a nice small town governor, who is not ready for the big city lights of Washington. That campaign has really made her look like a bigot and a hate monger. She has played the role well, but I do not believe that she hates us Obama fans as much as that campaign would have us to believe she does. For misusing her the way that he has, McCain should let her keep the clothes.

[DKLabRat]

I don't feel one bit sorry for McCain. Given the sickening, despicable campaign he's run he doesn't deserve to win and I hope that the US public send him a firm message that those kinds of sleazy, dangerous tactics are disgusting. As for Palin, her entire life seems to be based on hating things and being anti-everything in sight. Nothing positive. I'm sure that her feeilngs for the opposing viewpoint to herself ties in with that.

[tcwillis27]

Seems to me that Palin is only anti-everything insofar as it doesn't benefit her or her family. Anti-pork and government waste, but with no qualms about using taxpayer money to vacation her family. Anti-Obama spending big money on his 1/2 hour ad, but no problem on the designer wardrobe for the Palins. Even the special project she has so lovingly embraced (an excellent project, no doubt) of increasing programming for special needs children...would she be so inclined to embrace such a humanitarian cause if it weren't for her own child? Somehow, I don't see her as so warm and fuzzy. Overall, she has come across to me as a self-serving (not self-thinking), big mouth with no substance to quantify the stuff that comes out of it. As for McCain, he could have done better, but he didn't. He's experienced enough to know better and he opted for the glitter when he chose Palin. He rolled the dice, lost, and it's his own fault.

[Speakupper]

I feel sorry for the people who live in communities throughout this country that have been divided by McCain and Palin's hate and lies. I feel sorry for the very low income families who are made to feel that they are somehow less worthy Americans than those who pay taxes. I feel sorry for American citizens, especially children with Arabic names who may feel that they are not welcome in this country. I feel sorry for those who will lose their health care if John McCain gets elected. I feel sorry for those who will lose their jobs if McCain is allowed to enact more trickle down tax policies that don't protect American jobs.
I have no pity for politicians who play roles that portray them in whatever way they feel increases their chances of grabbing power. No one forced them to spew hate and division around this country. Being the mavericks they claim to be, if they didn't believe what they said, they would have rebelled. They did not. Whatever negatives Palin brought, don't forget McCain is the one who chose her and continues to support her 100% without reservation. If their tactics defeat them, as I hope they do, they both deserve it. This great country deserves much better. Obama Biden 11/4/08!

[Hans Meiser]

Very well put. That is what has to be said.
Forget McCain and his selfishness. The reputation of entire branches of our population, alongside the strengthening of fringe white racial groups based on Palin's behavior, THAT is what is sad.
Thank you for putting it so succinctly.

[zoobiewa]

Sympathy? Are you kidding? Palin is the type of person who will screw you while smiling. Her act is an act and she's a power hungry, vindictive megalomaniac. Have you never met people like her? They are all over the place. They succeed by being so general and vacuous that there is nothing very specific to criticize, but will clamp down with shark teeth on any weakness of anyone else. She rallies the uncritical and the non-complex. She is a distorter and a fire-breather. She is one of the "nice" ladies from Roald Dahl's "The Witches".

[peggyleg]

What is the difference between whaat McCain did here, and what BO does, like rock concerts?

[commissaris]

Don't you realize that when you ask a question like this you inspire 10 more people to vote for Obama. All it does is further illustrate the reality gap.

[zombiejesus]

The people that go to Obama events go of their own free will, these kids were forced. There parents should sue the school board and the Mccain campain if the proper protocols were not followed.

[bearcck]

First of all the kids are missing school. Second, the buses and bus drivers need to be paid....hopefully McCain paid for this! Third, a decision was made by a school official to do this....school officials should not be political. Fourth, the children were unknowing participants in a deception ....to make a crowd look big. Fifth, children just learned that grown-ups will throw out their sense of right and wrong for political gain.

Need I go on! When it comes to children...they are not to be used...they are to be protected...at all costs.

[luvienne]

The children should all get medals for surving the torture. Shouldn't this be against the law? Did parents give permission?

[afgail]

More to the point. What school district has so much money that they can waste it on supplying students to act as props to beef up an audience for a failing political campaign? If I was a taxpayer in the district I would scream bloody murder.

[LockeandLoad]

Wow. 4000 out of 6000? This is as close to pathetic as it gets. Sounds like there were some questionable motivations involved...

As to the (possibly objectionable) action of the schools in (seemingly) cooperating with the McCain campaign by bringing these kids; if they had arranged for equal time for Obama and impressed on the kids that they needed to rate the candidates based on their own impressions of each rally, it might have been a more relevant exercise.

Does anyone know what the age ranges were?

Hopefully, someone will get to the bottom of how 4000 children came to be bussed to a McCain rally.

[Aquest]

Making children listen to McCain - isn't that child abuse?

[surfcitysteven]

"You are all going to be plumbers some day!"

[Hans Meiser]

Don't even get me started. It shows McCain's true disdain for the real average American. The one who pays tax on time, pays all their bills, suffers the inflation and rising food prices.

[Postcard]

As always, a majority of the folks posting ignore the facts and are more than happy to spread lies. If you are so proud of your political standing, why stoop to spreading misinformation and hate? Why not spend time seeking the truth and work toward building decent solid relationships - which is what this was all about, giving kids an opportunity to be part of an event which should fuel a love for involvement in their community and their world.

To those who truthfully have told it like it was - THANKS! -you exemplify the American spirit.

[emncaity]

You could not be missing the point any more. Busing in school kids to attend a partisan rally (as opposed to some bipartisan event, or busing them to campaign events for _all_ sides in the election) is absolutely a violation of public trust and public dollars.

My kids have already been told in school, on school time, that John McCain is "a great leader," that Nelson Mandela is a "criminal--can you believe there's a country in the world that would elect a criminal to the presidency? isn't that terrible?"--and that you can't tell people they're wrong for having the "opinion" that--are you ready?--Obama is an "Iraqi" who will "bomb America if he gets elected." (Other students were saying that, one of my kids told them that was absolutely wrong, teacher steps in and says it's "opinion" and can't be touched.)

I am absolutely furious at making school children attend a partisan campaign event. Not to mention how pathetic it is to be getting your numbers up this way, when your opposing candidate is drawing a hundred thousand in some locales--NONE of them bused-in kids.

[shanefish]

Spreading lies about what? Look in the background and count how many "grown-ups" there, and I use the term grown-ups to represent the age of the people, not the way they act! Otherwise, you'd have to say there were 6,000 children at the event. You lost, now go away and be quiet like we've done for the last 8 years. If you don't support your new president, then you'll be considered a traitor!

[lordmi]

Where does The Law stand at this point?

[DEFI96]

Another comment about my child that was at the Defiance rally....

In response to..

1. Who watched these kids? The 6-8 grade kids were escorted into the rally by there teachers and then just mixed in with the crowd. NO supervision over the students. That is disturbing to me.

2. Were permission slips needed? Permission slips were not sent home. A letter staing that the kids were going to the rally was sent home. While it encouraged letting your children attend the rally, it stated that they did not have to.

I struggled with this. I let my child attend in the end. But, I worried the entire time. In the end, I trusted the crowds in my hometown. Also, I watched the rally live, and I think that Mccain toned down his speech at this event.

[carolcobra1947]

Still sounds like forced indoctrination to me. And with the things I've seen online going on at some of the rallies........ the filthy language, the cruel, bullying things said......... I wouldn't want my child around that, or even the chance of it.

I also wonder how the kids who didn't go would have been treated. Perhaps like those of other faiths, or no faith, when prayers are said in school?

[chiguy08]

Also, it is pretty creepy when you consider the likelihood of your child's exposure to the substandard moral caliber of active or elected Republicans, who may frequent such an event (Larry Craig, Ted Stevens, Mark Foley, etc., etc., etc.)

[jadeba]

Your child and the others were used as props for the Mc rally. "Extras", if you will. They should have been paid for it and should have signed releases in case their likeness was seen on screen. If I were a parent, I'd contact the Screen Extras Guild.

It seems permission slips should have been required - legally, what if something happened to your child during the time period they were not on school grounds. Sounds strange to me. They had enough time to write and send "letters" home to inform you of rally attendance, but not to get permission slips. A permission slip would have required that the slip make it home, get a signature and then be returned. Much more "iffy" than a letter informing a parent. They would most likely not have gotten the 4000 warm bodies they needed.

Did the Mc people pay all the costs to the school district of using your children? They should have.

[PortlandSean]

Something to think about. Here is a link to the Fox news website where the "righties" were shooting flame throwers after some kids were "used" to sing and raise funds for Obama. http://foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/09/30/youdecide_0930/#comment-306129

The video was taken down before I got to see it but you'll get the gist of it from the comments. I know there are differences between singing vs. being pulled out of school to attend a rally, but if we put the events side by side, does it affect your feelings or thoughts?

My point is that after eight tragic years of Bush and Cheney, Fox and Hannity, Limbaugh, Coulter and all the other righties who cloak themselves in the flag why tearing down all the things that made this country great, we can't afford to drop down to their level of reactionary, knee-jerk spite for all things "the other side."

I'm not saying questions shouldn't be asked about the propriety of taking kids out of school to attend a McCain rally. I admit that I too think the kids were bussed in to fill some otherwise empty seats. I'm just saying let's check ourselves and ask whether we would have thought it educational had a busload of kids been taken to an Obama rally.

[carolcobra1947]

Taxpayers' money shouldn't be used to take schoolchildren to campaign events, no matter who the candidate is. I'm an Obama supporter, but I would be just as critical if it had been the other way around. It's a waste of taxpayer money either way. If parents wanted their kids to attend the rally, they should have taken them.

Was parental consent required?

[Rebeca]

I don't care if my kid was bussed to a personal audience with Senator Obama. These are SCHOOLS. Public buildings funded by the government. They should not have used the resources, time, and money to bus anyone to a political rally. How was this educational? Most of the kids--being kids--must have been more concerned with who they were sitting next to or whether they'd be on t.v. At least in the museums they get to see art, or at the zoos they see animals. I do not believe that seeing the relic that is John McCain and his outdated ideas counts as an educational experience.