>I don't think any activist who has spent any time reading history of
>popular movements is going to buy into the idea that mass
>mobilizations in and of themselves are going to stop a war or
>radically change public opinion.
Who said that demos "in and of themselves" were the whole of antiwar strategy? In an earlier post, you advocated trying everything. I'm all for that. ANSWER-organized rallies and black bloc hits and 998 other flowers should bloom.
Over the weekend I talked with twi people who basically have their hearts in the right place, but aren't normally the types who go to demonstrations. They both boarded buses for antiwar demos on Oct 26, one to DC, the other to SF. The one who went to DC belong to a liberal Protestant church in Baltimore - again, a place with its heart in the right place but normally not very mobilized politically. Yet the congregation is pretty energized by antiwar activity. Short of Nathan knocking on their doors, don't the demos do a lot to bring people like that out of the woodwork? They don't need their opinion changed so much as they need a way of latching on to something that's already in motion - e.g., big demos. And if the rally's large enough, they'll be spared the godawful speeches.
Doug