The 2012 Election Season Has Had Its Share of Noteworthy Demonstrators

COMMENTARY | Election years tend to create a spectrum of protesters, especially in a presidential election cycle. The 2012 primary season has produced its own number of protesters and demonstrators. Here is a brief overview of just a few of the more interesting and noteworthy moments.

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As the GOP presidential primary season started, candidates found themselves faced with a deluge of protesters. Both Newt Gingrich and Michele Bachmann were the first candidates who suffered the wrath of glitter bombers in Minneapolis in Bachmann's home state. Glitter bombing has become a popular form of protest, usually by gay rights activists, and involves throwing glitter on a candidate. Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, though they avoided such attacks in early states, later found themselves faced with their own glitter assailants in later primary states.

It seems that early in the primary process Bachmann was the primary target of the more creative demonstrators. She was confronted by a Gay Robot in Iowa. This particular gay robot had also protested in the 2008 elections. However, not all of the demonstrators stayed on the campaign trail: a private counseling center that belongs to her husband, Marcus Bachmann, was also the target of demonstrators who were dressed as gay barbarians in response to Marcus Bachmann's views on homosexuality.

Other candidates have also seen their fair share of inventive demonstrators. Recently, Gingrich was met by a man in an astronaut costume at an Ohio campaign stop with a sign that read "Gingrich for Moon President." About a week later the same protester showed up at a Santorum campaign stop in Ohio in a Super Hero Costume with a sign that read "Truth Team." The man was identified as a political activist Youtube blogger, theantipc, who posts videos of his demonstration exploits online. The AntiPC blogger isn't alone in this respect: it has become popular for demonstrators to record their activities and then upload them to the web.

These protests can cause the candidates' security teams a bit of a headache. At a Romney campaign stop in Denver, a glitter bomber reached for a pocket full of glitter and sent the Secret Service into action. They quickly responded and escorted the protester out with force. While protesting and demonstrating may be a good way to draw attention to your cause, it can also cause a lot of anxiety for security staff that are trying to keep candidates safe from harm.

One of the most ironic twists in the noteworthy 2012 protest moments recently occurred at an Obama campaign fundraising event in San Francisco. The President was met by both tea party Members and Occupy members protesting side by side. Although it is an unexpected union, these two groups have overlapping concerns and it may be possible that we may start to see them protesting together more frequently when the political season heats up.

While the primary season has been full of ups and downs and plenty of antics, the 2012 presidential campaign season is just getting started and will no doubt be very interesting. I, for one, will be watching all the political theater closely and the side shows as they unfold.

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