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Check out the roughly 20 or so College Republicans -- their signs only have Arnold's name in small print at the bottom because he's so unpopular these days. They're surrounded by Democrats there to tell Arnold how Santa Barbara really feels. Nix Arnold's First Six (73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78) and Yes on 79 and 80!


The College Democrats brought so many student activists, they took up both corners -- across the street from the garbage processing facility where Arnold was scheduled to appear.


Fearing that Arnold might come in the back, a small contingent of us moved to the rear entrance. The open-air facility made for a great echo chamber, and on the TV news coverage of Arnold's speech inside, we were clearly audible. Arnold made mention of the protestors outside in his speech, but he was too afraid to address us directly.


The protestors with the Santa Ynez mountains in the background. Santa Barbara is a pretty nice place. Too bad Arnold chose this garbage facility for his secret, exclusive meeting with hand-picked Republicans -- it would have been great to see an actual town hall meeting somewhere that you'd expect -- like at the historic Arlington Theatre, for example.


Frustrated by our ability to disrupt Arnold's scripted, staged, fake town hall meeting with our echoing demands to be heard, the facility manager had a giant truck moved in. They tried to push us back, but the police said we were standing on public property and invited us to continue shouting. An independent radio report on the event -- complete with the sounds of the protesters -- is available at SBIndymedia.


And shout we did. Thanks to everyone who came out -- don't forget to vote on November 8!