Members of LaRouche Political Action Committee Youth Movement were at the intersection of 15th Avenue and High Street and near Independence Hall on Neil Avenue on Friday, singing songs and shouting anti-Bush slogans.
The group, which employs 18- to 25-year-olds from around the country, focuses on the poorer 80 percent of the population. Founded by former presidential candidate Lyndon H. LaRouche Jr. in 1999, the group works to educates the public about economic and political reforms, as well as promoting their ideas through music.
Sharon Stevens, a traveling member of the group, said their primary goal is to get people involved in the political process.
"Fervor isn't created unless there is participation, "Stevens said. "A person will build up around ideas, and so the response that we've been getting is optimistic. They recognized ideas after the debates last night. It was pretty obvious, you know, why we shouldn't vote for Bush."
Stevens said music resonates in a voter's mind.
"A polyphony will be created in somebody's mind, you know, like 'Bush is an idiot, idiot, idiot,'" Stevens said.
"It's great that they're trying to get people involved in politics, but I think sometimes that they're a little pushy," said Travis Lockney of Students for Kerry. "They have a lot of signs and stuff, and it may draw negative feedback to the Kerry campaign. We try to keep our distance from them, but I think it's great that they're getting people registered and getting them aware of the issues."
Members of LaRouche PAC also clashed with members of the College Republicans at the Oval Thursday, before the presidential debate. The activists and students allegedly argued over their diverging viewpoints and exchanged words. The activists reportedly challenged them strongly and shouted, "Bush is a psycho."
Tiffany Johnson, a member of the College Republicans, said she was not concerned with the effect of LaRouche PAC.
"Their efforts are pretty childish because they're going at it from an immature stand," she said. "They're really hostile to the entire issue.
"As College Republicans, we're trying to make it so that it's a positive thing to go out and vote. Whether you're voting for Bush or Kerry, we want people to vote. We want students especially to vote, and we would love to get out the issues if we can, but we're not going to call you a psycho or point fingers at you because you disagree with us."
LaRouche PAC contends that the president is a psychopath, based largely on the book by psychoanalyst Dr. Justin Frank of George Washington University Medical Center titled "Bush on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President."
Citing a large amount of public information, Frank claims in his book that Bush suffers from multiple mental disorders including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, untreated alcoholism, omnipotence, paranoia, an Oedipal complex, sadism, a mild form of Tourette's syndrome and a diminished capacity to distinguish between reality and fantasy.
LaRouche has embraced Frank's argument and uses it in his speeches and writings. In a hand-out, LaRouche said that "the American people have the right to know that the incumbent president, seeking re-election, is plagued by a number of debilitating mental illnesses that have already impacted gravely on American national security and have severely damaged some of our most important international partnerships."
LaRouche, an outspoken political activist, set the record for consecutive attempts at the presidency by running eight times. He is known to be a promoter of conspiracy theories and has frequently been accused of being a fascist and an anti-Semite - claims he has denied. In 1988 he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for conspiracy, mail fraud and tax code violations but served only five, according to Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia.
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