With that in mind, Mr. McCain took a break from the campaign trail last Wednesday to visit Belle Haven for a private fund-raiser. Tickets cost $2,300 a person, and interaction with Mr. McCain at the reception, which was held at the Belle Haven Club, cost an extra $1,000. While some happily paid for the opportunity to rub elbows with the Republican nominee, the greeting he got outside wasn’t all friendly.
Protesters set themselves up at the entrance to Belle Haven last Wednesday as Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) drove by to a fund-raiser. From left, Cynthia Tun, a union member who refused to give his name, Claire Sherry, Deborah Troha, AFL-CIO Connecticut President John Olsen and Fred Medinas all made their voices heard. — Ken Borsuk staff reporter
Mr. McCain’s motorcade was greeted by close to 30 labor and anti-war protesters gathered outside Belle Haven, a gated community. The protesters, who decried the senator’s support for continuing the war in Iraq and his opposition to universal health care, carried signs and shouted out, “Hey! Hey! What do you say? How about you raise our pay!” and “What do we want? Peace, health care and jobs!”
The protest was organized by Connecticut AFL-CIO President John Olsen, who said he wanted to make sure people saw the impact of the policies Mr. McCain supports.
“Everyone talks about how John McCain is a hero and he’s this and he’s that, but these are the people who are struggling right now, and we want their message to get out there,” Mr. Olsen told the Post during the protest. “We’ve got a war going on right now that’s sucking us dry, and he turns around and now he’s for tax cuts for the rich.
“He hangs around with the hedge fund people here but he won’t meet with the people who can’t afford to live in Greenwich and have to live in the Bronx and can’t afford to pay for the gas to drive here.... He wants to tax our health care. That’s his answer to that. What does he want to do about the war? He wants to stay there 100 years, and we can’t afford to stay there.”
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