Typical. Since this happened about 11pm, the cockroaches came out in a cloak of darkness.
Democrats' Rally Turns Into a Shouting Match
It was supposed to be an idyllic image for the Democratic presidential ticket: From a train's rear deck, the running mates would greet 2,000 cheering supporters on a quick nighttime stop in this factory town.
Instead, Sedalia's railroad tracks were the scene of a loud, face-to-face clash late Thursday that spotlighted America's political divide, as supporters of President Bush and his Democratic rival, Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, tried to shout each other down.
Kerry and his running mate, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, struggled to be heard over the din. With police and Secret Service agents keeping the crowd at bay behind makeshift barricades on the tracks, the candidates sought - without success - to calm the commotion.
"My children are on this train," Edwards told the group that was shouting "Four more years!"
Edwards continued: "Show 'em some good Missouri manners, if you don't mind."
"We want Bush!" some yelled.
"Ker-ry!" responded others.
Kerry chuckled.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," he told his supporters. "Look, let 'em chant, ladies and gentlemen. Because they've only got three more months to chant!"
Sedalia Mayor Bob Wasson called the confrontation "unfortunate," and blamed it on fellow Republicans trying to taint the Kerry-Edwards rally.
"It wasn't just some people who got drunk in a bar and came down and decided to do something," he said. "It was well-orchestrated."
