Wednesday, August 25, 2004

Michael Moore Launches 60-City Swing State Tour

9/23/2004 10:38:00 AM

Michael Moore Launches 60-City Swing State Tour; College and NBA Arenas in 20 Battleground States to Feature Live, On Stage, Oscar- winning Filmmaker; He Plans to Rally Non-voters and Slackers, 'America's Majority'

To: National Desk

Contact: Ken Sunshine or Mark Benoit, 212-691-2800, both of Sunshine Consultants

NEW YORK, Sept. 23 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Calling it his "Slacker Uprising Tour" in an effort to get millions of traditional non- voters to the polls on Nov. 2, the Oscar-winning filmmaker of "Fahrenheit 9/11" and number 1 bestselling author Michael Moore announced today that he will embark on a 60-city tour to the 20 battleground states beginning Sept. 26 in Elk Rapids, Michigan, and ending on Election Day in Tallahassee, Florida.

Moore will be appearing on college campuses in their auditoriums, arenas, stadiums and field houses (Penn State, Univ. of Arizona, Univ. of Florida, among others), NBA arenas (Seattle), and hockey arenas (Toledo). Nearly all venues will hold between 5,000 and 15,000 people, with students -- historically the largest block of non-voters in presidential elections -- admitted for free at most events (at some events, non-students will pay $5 or a nominal charge to cover costs).

Moore's show will consist of his monologue, interaction with the audience, and a few surprise guests. He will read letters he's received from soldiers in Iraq (published in his new book, "Will They Ever Trust Us Again -- Letters from the War Zone"), offer prizes for people who register to vote, and conduct the "world's largest karaoke sing-a-long" to John Ashcroft's "Let the Eagle Soar." At many venues Moore will show as yet-unseen clips from his "Fahrenheit 9/11" DVD (to be released Oct. 5), and give everyone present a chance to win their own "pet goat."

"It should be a lot of fun," said Moore. "Most Americans don't vote, and it's not all that hard to understand why. So, I'd like to offer them some incentives to give it a try, just this once. The 50 percent who are the non-voters are never called by pollsters and are usually ignored by candidates. Should just a few percentage points of the 100 million non-voters decide to show up on Nov. 2 -- watch out."

Moore said his goal is to see that over 56 percent of the voting public votes in this election -- something that has not happened since 1968.

"It is not the wealthy and the elite who don't vote," added Moore. "The non-voters are the poor, the disenfranchised, the single moms and young people. I am calling for a non-voter uprising, led by thousands of campus slackers who proudly sleep 'til noon and who believe papers are for rolling, not reading. They are rightfully cynical, but this year their motto will be: "Bush and Kerry Both Suck -- That's Why I'm Voting for John Kerry!"

With a number of venues already sold out, over 600,000 people are expected to show up on his tour. Even more will see his film, "Fahrenheit 9/11," which will be shown on most campuses before his arrival. In a warm-up to the tour, 10,000 people last night were able to get into to the Carrier Dome in Syracuse for Moore's appearance, with thousands more being turned away due to lack of seats.

Early word of Moore's tour has already sparked protests by campus Republicans and two schools have already caved to pressure to cancel Moore's event.

"I understand why some Bush supporters might be upset," Moore reflected. "I would be, too, if I only had a few weeks left in power."

Cities Michael Moore Will Visit:

Elk Rapids, MI, Big Rapids, MI, Mt. Pleasant, MI, Dearborn, MI, East Lansing, MI, Detroit, MI, Ann Arbor, MI, Flint, MI, Grand Rapids, MI, Albion, MI; Seattle WA; Tucson, AZ, Phoenix, AZ, Flagstaff, AZ; Albuquerque, NM, Santa Fe, NM, Las Cruces, NM; Toledo, OH, Columbus, OH, Cleveland, OH, Cincinnati, OH, Athens, OH; Ames, IA, Iowa City, IA; Fairmont, WV, Charleston, WV; Charlottesville, VA, Fairfax, VA; Pittsburgh, PA, Philadelphia, PA, Erie, PA, Bethlehem, PA, Carlyle, PA, State College, PA, Indiana, PA; Minneapolis, MN, St. Cloud, MN; Gainesville, FL, Miami, FL, Boca Raton, FL, Orlando, FL, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Tallahassee, FL, Jacksonville, FL, Tampa, FL; Nashville, TN, Memphis, TN; Salem, OR, Eugene, OR, Portland, OR; Milwaukee, WI, Madison, WI, Green Bay, WI, Stevens Point, WI, Stout, WI; Kansas City, MO, St. Louis, MO, Maryville, MO; Las Vegas, NV, Reno, NV

http://www.usnewswire.com/

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/© 2004 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/

related

  • Michael Moore Speaks Tonight at Thomas & Mack - October 15, 2004 A well-known director comes to Las Vegas today to encourage college students to vote. The filmmaker will bring his "Slacker Uprising Tour" to UNLV tonight. UNLV's student government is paying more than 12,000 dollars to host Moore's tour. Tickets to his speech at the Thomas and Mack Center are $5.00 dollars.
  • 30 turn out for anti-Moore protest - one of about 30 demonstrators who voiced their disagreement with Moore’s politics and the actions of UNR’s student government.

Tuesday, August 24, 2004

once around the block

10:30 am finds an already busy madison square garden 7th avenue main entrance, many emergency services personnel, large free standing batteries of lights also labled emergency services. the usual business and bustle of the area adds to an active mix.

turning west on 31st street a large truck looks to be two and a half tons, labled Confidential Record Destruction with a 20 foot wide sheet of paper being put through an equally large shreader. many more emergency services and their lights. about mid block to 8th avenue press crews are chasing down and surounding those who appear in charge, both police and civil authority are in evidence. the block on the south side and traffic are normal. across 8th ave on 31st's south side more news crews, this time interviewing each other. on the north three nypd, emergency services mobile command centers or posts the markings read both. camera towers rise from each vehicle that look to support up to three cameras apiece. these are now aimed in various directions most seemed to be looking at garden and farley building entrances and exits. farther west "non- uniformed" security. not nypd although a few like that can be seen here, looks like feds and we have peaked the interest of one agent smith type.

we'll proceed north on 8th ave. east side of the avenue k-9 units patrol the cab stand that lines the whole block. on the west side trailers line the front of the main post office three deep and six end to end for the length of the block . independent generators by Kohler rental, each 25 feet long and 10 feet tall provide power. on the north west corner of 33d and 8th an emergency services armored car, the flat planes of it's armored plates give it a stealthy look. around it 6 or 7 in black helmets carryimg assault rifles, under the CNN sign.

east on 34th street. building security at one penn plaza tell us their building will remain open throughout the convention. the penn station subway entrance on the south east corner of 34th and 7th sports a police podium and presence not previously noted.

the turn south on 7th brings us back to the main entrance where many painters have appeared since we started once around the block.