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Cheney visit is met by traffic,
protests
By Raja Mishra and Michael
Levenson, Globe Staff | September 9, 2006
Avoided in public by the
state's leading Republicans, Vice President Dick Cheney
arrived in Boston yesterday and was greeted by a boisterous
protest and a well-heeled GOP crowd in the Back Bay.
When Cheney's plane touched
down at Logan International Airport, he was greeted by a
little-known state representative from Shrewsbury and a
small band of local officials.
Governor Mitt Romney and
Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey were nowhere in sight, and
the vice president, whose poll numbers make him among the
least popular political figures in the country, was whisked
away in a black limousine.
Cheney's visit created traffic
snarls, and for a few afternoon hours, Back Bay became a
congested circus. Sign-waving protesters chanted into
bullhorns. A massive retinue of police officers and Secret
Service agents lined the streets. Afternoon traffic stood
still. Flowing through it all were hundreds of Red Sox fans
slowly making their way to Fenway Park.
The protests produced numerous
confrontations, as guests to the fund-raiser, which cost
$2,500 per person, had to walk through a gantlet of virulent
anti-Cheney activists on their way to the Harvard Club in
Boston, where Cheney spoke.
``Shame! Shame!" the protesters
chanted at the Republican supporters streaming by.
Grace Ross , the Green-Rainbow
Party candidate for governor, began giving a speech
excoriating Cheney when police confiscated her microphone
and speakers, citing noise ordinances.
Inside the Harvard Club, Cheney
spoke for about 20 minutes to nearly 300 guests, giving a
public service award to Richard J. Egan , the founder of the
Hopkinton-based EMC Corp. and a stalwart Bush supporter. He
also spoke about the war on terrorism.
``He talked about the need to
stay the course," said Brian Dodge , executive director of
the state Republican Party.
The event was closed to the
public. In attendance yesterday were Romney , Healey ,
former governor Paul Cellucci and the new Turnpike Authority
head, John Cogliano.
Cheney arrived at Logan at
about 4 p.m., greeted there by a small entourage of
Republican officials. State Representative Karyn E. Polito,
a Shrewsbury Republican who was in the welcoming party,
recalled her brief exchange with Cheney.
``I said, `I'm a Republican
state representative, a wife, and a mother, and my family
sleeps easy at night knowing you and President Bush are in
the corner office,' " Polito said in an interview on the
tarmac, just after Cheney left. ``He said, `Thank you for
running for office. I'm happy to be here.' "
The Harvard Club sits just off
the intersection of Commonwealth and Massachusetts avenues,
among the most congested crossroads in the city, and
Cheney's visit exacerbated the typically nightmarish traffic
that clots there on a Friday afternoon when the Red Sox are
playing at home.
There were rolling road
closures throughout the late afternoon and early evening,
and downtown traffic was backed up and barely moving along
long stretches of Back Bay starting at just before 4 p.m.
Motorists were asked by police on foot to stop and remain
stopped for as long as 30 minutes.
Parts of Commonwealth Avenue
were shut off to motorists, with cars being diverted under
Massachusetts Avenue, creating confusion among school bus
drivers, trolley drivers, and others looking to escape the
snarl.
At the same time, traffic on
Interstate 93 south backed up to the Zakim Bridge late
yesterday while Leverett Connector traffic headed toward
Storrow Drive and Leverett Circle backed up as well.
Police kept protesters about 50
feet away from the Harvard Club entrance, with many of them
spilling out onto Massachusetts Avenue.
``This war [in Iraq] has
everything to do with greed ," said Alice Brown , 68, of
Canton, whose son, Lieutenant Colonel David Floyd, recently
returned from service in Iraq.
Some guests at the Eliot Hotel
next door gathered on the hotel steps to watch the
festivities.
``I don't believe they have
much intellect or understanding of the issues," John Hanron
, 68, said of the protesters. He was in town from Lincoln,
Calif., for a family reunion. ``I'm disappointed that we
have this subversion going on."
But Janet Minkin , 60, on
vacation from Milwaukee, didn't seem to mind. ``I agree with
the protesters 100 percent," she said. ``I had a little
trouble getting through to the hotel. But I'm glad to see
them there."
Mac Daniel of the Globe staff
and Globe correspondent Emma Stickgold contributed to this
report.
© Copyright 2006 The New York
Times Company
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