PROTESTERS ROCK BUS, BUT MESSAGE MISSES DELEGATE

Protesters got Jackson resident Vicki Abernathy's attention at the Democratic National Convention, but their message went unheard.

A group of about 25 protesters rocked the bus carrying Abernathy and other delegates as they left the convention center about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Abernathy said the delegates heard and saw little of the protesters.

"I couldn't see because it was dark," she said.

The protesters' message wasn't heard clearly by the delegates.

"It was like free something," she said.

Security personnel on the bus told the bus driver to keep going.

The demonstrators scattered after mounted police showed up.

"There is always a protester of some kind around every corner," she said.

She has seen protesters at the Hyatt Regency where the Missouri delegation and a number of other state delegations are staying.

"They secretly hand out little leaflets.

"It is like the Moonies at the airport. They just appear out of the clear blue sky," she said.

Protesters have included critics of abortion and the welfare reform law.

Abernathy was counting on meeting President Bill Clinton Wednesday night.

She managed to secure a guest pass for Clinton's scheduled arrival by helicopter at a university baseball field.

"If I don't get to come home and see him in Cape, at least I will get to meet him," she said late Wednesday afternoon.

Clinton is scheduled to make a campaign stop in Cape Girardeau Friday afternoon.

Abernathy said reporters continually ask for her views of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.

"I told them that I thought the reason she is getting a lot of bad publicity is that she stands up for what she believes in," Abernathy said.

She said Hillary Clinton isn't a figurehead hiding behind her husband.

"She has every right to speak. She is the first lady," said Abernathy.

The Jackson woman said the delegates have displayed an uncommon amount of unity for a Democratic convention.

Abernathy said the Missouri delegation has been leading the cheers at the convention.

"They kind of picked Missouri as the official cheerleading section of all the delegations," she said.

She said party leaders on the convention floor said the Missouri delegation was an excited group in contrast to the New York and Massachusetts delegates who acted like "dead people."

New York delegates talked almost exclusively about gay rights, Abernathy said.