http://ozarkspub.vo.llnwd.net/o37/KSMU/audio/mp3/hundredspr_415.mp3
I'm Jenny Fillmer, from outside Hammons Student Center, where members of the AFL-CIO, the Sierra Club, Amnesty International and hundreds of independent marchers carried signs and led cheers today throughout the presidential visit.
Close to 500 Missourians spent the morning protesting President Bush's policy on Iraq and campaigning against U.S. Senate hopeful Jim Talent. Many protesters had made the three-hour drive from St. Louis, Kansas City and Columbia.
Herb Johnson, Secretary-Treasurer for the Missouri AFL-CIO, came from Lake Ozark, Missouri, to deliver his message about Jim Talent.
All age groups were represented in the protest, from sleepy children in strollers to grey-haired grandparents who remembered similar events from the 1960s. But most of the faces at today's protest were those of college students and Gen X-ers.
Heshem Sanami, an SMS international student, came with 15 other middle-eastern students with an anti-war message.
SMSU student Kyle Coble says he wants Bush's supporters to know there are voices of dissent.
As the rally inside came to an end, Bush supporters and protesters lined both sides of John Q. Hammons Parkway, all hoping to get a glimpse of the president as his motorcade sped by.
Despite the large turnout for the protest, it was a peaceful assembly and police reported no incidents.
From outside Hammons Student Center, I'm Jenny Fillmer for KSMU.