AIDS Hecklers Rattle Obama

Hecklers who have hounded Obama over AIDS funding interrupted the president once more over the weekend--and Obama dressed them down for it.

The AIDS funding protesters had come in for a similar chiding from Obama two weeks ago in Boston, Massachusetts, where the president put in an appearance on behalf of that state's struggling incumbent governor, Deval Patrick. Mediaite reported on Oct. 16 that the hecklers drew an angry response from Obama, who was in the midst of a speech contrasting the gains his administration has made to the legislative rollbacks that the GOP will inflict if they take power in Washington.

"And if they win in Congress, they will cut AIDS funding right here in the United States of America, and all across the world!" Obama declared, casting an angry glance toward hecklers. "But to the folks concerned about AIDS funding, I would say 'take a look at what the Republican leadership has to say about AIDS funding," Obama added.

A similar pattern of heckling took place in New York on Sept. 22, the Associated Press in a Sept. 23 article. Obama had barely begun his speech when AIDS funding protesters and DADT protesters interrupted the president's speech with chants and shouting. The protesters carried placards, which Obama took note of when he responded, "Some of those signs should be going up at the other folks' events, and folks should be hollering at the other folks' event. Because the choice in November could not be clearer."

The president's message was much the same in Bridgeport, Conn., on Oct. 30, when hecklers again interrupted his speech, British newspaper the Daily Mail reported on Oct. 31. "You've been appearing at every rally we've been doing," Obama told the hecklers. "We're funding global AIDS, and the other side is not," Obama added. "So I don't know why you think this is a useful strategy to take.

"So what we would suggest," Obama went on, as the crowd around him drowned the hecklers out with cheers, 'I think it would make a lot more sense for you guys to go to the folks who aren't interested in funding global AIDS and shout at that rally. Because we're trying to focus on figuring out how to finance the things that you want financed."

The Mail noted that Democratic candidates are in trouble in races across the nation, as dissatisfied voters angered by the state of the economy and the manner in which the Democrats have dealt with it prepare to cast their votes on Nov. 2. Republican gains in the House and Senate are widely expected.

The Mail also suggested that Obama's presidency is struggling, and said that even among Democrats there is disagreement about whether Obama should be the party's candidate for the presidency in 2012. The article also noted that Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton had both faced lower approval ratings during the midterm elections in their first terms, before going on to win second terms.

Political strategist Kiki McLean called the heckling "an indicator of things he needs to address between now and [the 2012 campaign]."