The Santa Clara

Issue date: 2/7/08 Section: News

Upon first glance, Cindy Sheehan hardly seems like the woman who some say reinvigorated the antiwar movement in the United States four years ago by camping outside President Bush's Texas ranch. Her shaky voice and quiet demeanor masked the woman who said her mission is to save the country from those leading it down the wrong path.

Though antiwar activist Sheehan came to Santa Clara to tell Diane Guerrazzi's mass communications class about her dealings with the media, the conversation turned to topics ranging from the Bush administration's similarities to Nazi Germany to her campaign for Nancy Pelosi's spot in the House of Representatives.

Sheehan's career as an antiwar activist began three weeks after the death of her 24-year-old son, Casey, in April of 2004. She said she had opposed the war from the start, but it took the death of someone she loved to compel her to actually take action.

"After I buried Casey, I became fearless," she said. "I used to be afraid of public speaking. I used to be afraid of flying. You do find more strength in you than you ever thought you could possess."

What brought the most media attention to Sheehan was the month she spent camped near President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. Camp Casey, as the media began to refer to her location, would remain her home until Bush came out and explained the noble cause for which her son had died. Instead, the President sent his national security advisor and deputy chief of staff, so she and a growing number of supporters refused to leave.

On some days, as many as 1,500 supporters visited the ranch, including members of Congress, actors, singers and civil rights activists. Sheehan soon garnered national media attention among network news and newspapers across the country.

Sheehan said one reason she received so much attention was the press corps' boredom over covering the President in the middle of nowhere.

"There's only so much you can show of George Bush clearing brush and riding bicycles," she said.

Sheehan said she encountered several challenges while receiving all the media attention.

"Every day I would wake up at Camp Casey and there would be a different thing we would have to address," she said.

Her status as a grieving mother helped her to gain more attention, she said. However, she said the media focused too much on her as a woman.

"I wanted to make it about the war, the media wanted to make it about me," she said.

In 2007, Sheehan announced her resignation from the antiwar movement. However, after five weeks off, she said she couldn't stay away any longer.

"What upset me was when Bush commuted (Scooter) Libby's sentence and Congress didn't do anything," she said. "I was going to go around the country in an RV and relax. But I realized that you can't give up on America."

She decided to run for Congress after Nancy Pelosi, the current speaker of the House and representative from San Francisco, dropped the idea of impeaching Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

"If she won't hold Bush and Cheney accountable, then we're going to hold Nancy Pelosi accountable," Sheehan said.

The war isn't the only thing she cares about, Sheehan said, citing corporate interests and education as other issues important to her.

"I'm running because I want the war to end, but I'm not just an antiwar activist," she said. "I'm an American. I'm a mother."

Brad Thoreson, a sophomore journalism student who came to her talk, said he attended in order to receive extra credit in his course and "to get some validity." He asked her during the talk about previous statements she had made comparing the Bush administration to Nazi Germany.

"People need to wake up," Sheehan responded. "We have a very soft form of fascism in our country right now."

Liko Hee, a junior in Guerrazzi's class, said Sheehan had convinced her to register to vote.

"She makes you realize the public needs to get involved," Hee said.

Contact Mary Georgevich at (408) 554-4546 or mgeorgevich@scu.edu.

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