Bush Enemy No. 1

Michael Moore rallies Las Vegans to vote--ideally against the president

By Lynnette Curtis

When a reporter told him that a couple dozen angry Republicans had shown up to protest his Friday visit to Las Vegas, Michael Moore feigned surprise.

"Oh, really?" he said.

Moore, still wearing his blue and white University of Nevada, Reno cap--he'd spoken there earlier in the week--was a little disoriented after stepping off a flight from L.A., where he'd just done "The Tonight Show."

"I'm so tired," he said before his speech to several thousand mostly young Democrats at UNLV's Thomas & Mack Center.

The Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11 filmmaker was in town as part of his Slacker Uprising Tour of 60 cities in 60 days--Vegas was No. 28--encouraging young people to vote. As has become his custom, he spent most of the evening making fun of President Bush and his supporters.

"Did you see Bush, in one debate, drinking from an empty water glass?" he asked. "He saw it was empty, but he just kept drinking it. Did he think, `Well, the American people have fallen for everything else the last four years. America, there's water in this glass. There's weapons of mass destruction in this glass.'"

"At one point," Moore said, "Bush said, `Let me finish,' even though nobody had interrupted him and he had plenty of time left. What was that? An earpiece? I thought there were voices in his head."

Outside, things got heated between the Republican protesters and Democrats who came to see Moore. Those carrying Bush-Cheney signs chanted "Four more years!" while Kerry-Edwards supporters yelled things like, "Where's Osama?" and "It's a democracy, not a dictatorship!"

"Michael Moore lies about President Bush," said 23-year-old Rob Lee, still red-faced from his one-on-one yelling match with a much-older Democrat. "He misleads people so he can sell a movie. He's willing to sell his soul to get Bush out of office."

"I think [Moore's] incredibly offensive," 19-year-old UNLV freshman Bianka Dodov said. "It's very sad if you base your opinions on his movies."

Dodov also was upset that more than $30,000 in student fees had been used to pay for Moore's appearance.

"The student government spent college money to bring in a political person," she said. "It's very one-sided. It would have been okay if they brought in one of each--a Republican and a Democrat. It would have been balanced."

Moore scoffed at the idea that his tour was about making money. "No sane person travels to 60 cities in 60 days," he said. "Those who know me know what I'm about. The purpose of the show is to encourage nonvoters to come out and vote."

Moore reminded "fellow slackers" in the audience that the polls are open after noon on Election Day. "Republicans are relentless," he said. "They're up at the crack of dawn. Our side, we never see the crack of dawn."

He also emphasized the importance of voting in Nevada. "Nevada could be the state that decides this election," he said. "It's that close in Nevada. It's going to be the state to put us out of our misery and puts Kerry in the White House."

Moore then treated the crowd to several satirical pro-Bush "campaign" commercials. In one, a young, long-haired John Kerry was pictured, followed by a more recent, short-haired version. In a dramatic voice-over, Moore said, "John Kerry had long hair. Then he had short hair. Two words: flip flop. Vote Bush."