[Mb-civic] Cindy Sheehan's Pitched Battle - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

<>Cindy Sheehan's Pitched Battle
In a Tent Near Bush's Ranch, Antiwar Mother of Dead Soldier Gains 
Visibility

By Michael A. Fletcher
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, August 13, 2005; Page A01

CRAWFORD, Tex., Aug. 12 -- Cindy Sheehan vaulted into national 
consciousness this month on the power of her story as the grieving 
mother of a fallen soldier.

But what began as a solitary campaign to force a meeting with President 
Bush by setting up camp along the road to his ranch has quickly taken on 
the full trappings of a political campaign. Sheehan is working with a 
political consultant and a team of public relations professionals, and 
now she is featured in a television ad.

Sheehan began her protest here last Saturday after crisscrossing the 
country for more than a year demanding answers on why Bush continues to 
wage what she calls an unjust war in Iraq. After her son Casey Sheehan, 
24, was killed in Baghdad last year, she founded Gold Star Families for 
Peace, an antiwar organization that labored largely in obscurity -- 
until now.

In part, Sheehan's case has echoed as her grievances merged with what 
polls show is growing dissatisfaction with the war. But her cause has 
also been aided by political organizers who swiftly mobilized around her 
-- recognizing an opportunity to cause acute discomfort for a 
vacationing president and put a powerful emotional frame around the 
antiwar movement.

No one watching cable television news this week, dominated by coverage 
of Sheehan's crusade, could doubt that they largely achieved their aim.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/12/AR2005081201816.html

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