op-ed
Christian Grantham was a student activist in the late 90s and later was a consultant to domestic policy forums for the Clinton Administration as well as events for HRC and GLAAD.
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October 24, 2004

Many Democratic 527s have spent millions of dollars to register new voters and project high voter turnout at the polls November 2. But if this weekend's disappointing turnout to two voter rallies in Florida is any indication, George W. Bush will win by a landslide.

According to Matt Drudge, Cher and Rosie O'Donnell openly expressed dismay this weekend directly to their audiences when hardly anyone showed up. The events were separately sponsored by Democratic 527s MoveOn.org and Americans Coming Together.

The harshest criticism came from Cher.

"There were supposed to be thousands of people here tonight. I'm not sure why that didn't happen, obviously the people putting on this thing were just not very good at it," Cher reportedly told the crowd. "When I was coming down the steps, I thought 'Oh shit, well I'll just go out there and give it my best.'"

The press release for both the events issued by D.C.-based Fenton Communications boasted "an estimated crowd of 2,000 young Americans" would attend Cher's appearance at Miami's trendy Crobar in South Beach. As Cher took the stage, only 200 people bothered to show up.

"I am aware that she was very disappointed," Fenton's Kawana Lloyd told Outlet Radio. "We did the PR for the event and were expecting a lot more people. I think it was probably poor planning. We were told about Cher's appearance late Thursday night." MoveOnStudentAction event organizers did not return our calls.

Despite Rosie O'Donnell's venue located within minutes from Florida Atlantic University, the event, sponsored by Americans Coming Together (ACT) and Emily's list, was even more disappointing.

"You know, there's only like, you know, maybe 38 of us here and maybe we can just like tap a keg and put on some disco, and totally party," O'Donnell reportedly joked with the audience.

If Cher, Rosie and threats of disco are hardly a draw for gay and lesbian Florida voters, let's hope 527s have spent their money wisely turning them out for Kerry.