The Republican U.S. Senator and 2016 presidential aspirant was at the hotel to attend the Pinellas County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day Dinner as the keynote speaker that night.
Some 200 protesters crowded the sidewalk along Lake Carillon Drive, garnering shouts and honks of support from passing traffic. As is common at protest rallies they shouted popular chants like “This is what democracy looks like!” and “What do we want? Town hall! When do we want it? Now!” and confronted cars entering the hotel parking lot with their signs.
Individual protesters joined members of local activist groups like Indivisible FL-13 (whose name references the Congressional district in which the event took place), Indivisible Venice, Englewood Indivisible and Indivisible CD-16 FL. They're angry that Rubio has not been listening to them on their concerns over Trump cabinet appointees, his support of repealing the Affordable Care Act and his unwillingness to stand up to Trump in any meaningful way.
“There’s just so many issues and he’s been elected to represent people. He’s not talking. He’s not giving us a chance. He’s got to have guts enough to face it. If he can’t stand the heat, he needs to get out of the seat,” said protester Birdie Clark of Venice. “He’s got to man up and listen to our concerns and vote to protect our country over the dang party.”
Rubio has said he avoids holding town halls because progressive activists persistently aim to heckle him to create a media spectacle, as they do at events throughout the country. He cited the town hall meeting tactics listed in the Indivisible movement’s guide as one source.
Bryan Parker of St. Petersburg said a lack of responses from Sen. Rubio’s office lead him to come.
“I’m someone who contacts our senators and representatives on a regular basis. I just wanted to be out here, knowing Marco Rubio was going to be here because every time I call his office, I get an answering machine,” Parker said. “He needs to talk to his constituents about why he’s voting the way he is and why he’s not standing up to Trump.”
Both Clark and Dupont echoed similar goals for coming out to protest.
“Our goal is to get people to know we’re not happy with what he’s doing,” Clark said.
“I hope to ingrain more in Marco Rubio that at least half his constituents, maybe more, really disagree with what he’s doing,” Dupont said. “We’re really afraid that he’s endangering us. We want him to have a greater percentage of his brain understanding that.”
Fifteen-year-old Ally Poole was among the younger protesters to come out.
“I think right now is a pivotal moment in political involvement and I don’t agree with a lot of things Republicans are trying to implement,” said Poole, who lives in Venice. “As a millennial, I think it’s up to millennials and future generations to get involved and fight for things like climate change and general injustice.”
She thinks protests are the tip of the iceberg when it comes to bringing about change.
“I think it’s real easy for people to be complacent. It’s easy to just use red herrings and feel like you’re being politically involved just from saying a couple bad things here and there,” Poole said. “Protests, I think, are just the beginning because people need to start voting and knowing who their congressmen are.”
This article appears in May 18-25, 2017.