Anti-Abortion Protesters Storm South Florida Obama Office

CORAL GABLES, FLORIDA--- A group of approximately fifty anti-abortion protesters, with Spanish-language press in tow, descended upon the Obama for America campaign offices in Coral Gables, Florida yesterday, October 30. Escorted by their activist priest, the group was armed with printed signs depicting aborted fetuses. Their hand-printed signs read, "A Vote for Obama is a Vote for Dead Babies", and other slogans equating support for the Democratic candidate with a pro-abortion stance.

Obama, like others on the Democratic Party slate, is pro-choice, not pro-abortion, and supports a woman's right to choose. This event was clearly organized in concert with McCain campaign supporters, as cars and vans decorated with McCain paraphernalia were seen driving around the rally, honking horns.

Police arrived to keep the marchers from blocking streets, parking spots and entrances to retail businesses along the "Miracle Mile" district in downtown Coral Gables. Obama volunteers refused to engage the protesters and quickly responded by printing signs reading "People of Faith for Obama" and "Women for Obama", attaching the signs to their personal cars, parked on the street. If the protest's organizers had hoped to block the everyday goings-on of the busy Obama office, they were mistaken. Eager volunteers walked the gauntlet and continued to enter the field office to pick up yard signs, printed material and instructions for canvassing and phone banking. A group of volunteers inside the office shook their heads and clucked their tongues, describing the crowd in Spanish as "los fanaticos..." commenting that the protest rally was clearly the sign of a desperate campaign in the midst of defeat.

Despite the obvious presence of many McCain-Palin supporters, Obama offices are hubs of continual activity, with new volunteers dropping in throughout the day and evening.

Originally published in Huffington Post, October 31, 2008.