Mike Fox, one of the many organizers of the Rise Up! The System is Broken demonstration at Pioneer Park had a few comments as he packed up his signs tonight.
"I think it went fabulously," says Fox, who even after 12 hours of preparing for this event, jumps around animatedly. "Even though you had divergent views, everybody seemed respectful of each other."
He was also pleased with the "boatload of media."
"There were a lot of strong activists here," said the Pinellas County Democratic Executive Committee member and state coordinator for the Progressive Democrats of America. "A lot of very strong activists marching together. Community was built today."
Fox is hoping that the contacts made today will make Tampa Bay's progressive community a force to be reckoned with. "It's a good time to be a Democrat in Tampa Bay," he added.
I asked him why his fellow organizers decided to protest today. Can't they give the Republicans just one day of peace?
"Oh, this wasn't targetted at Republicans," he said. "It was targetted against the broken system. I would be here if the Democrats were in the same position."
This article appears in Nov 28 – Dec 4, 2007.