GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.—Protesters brought fiery signs but stayed mostly subdued in Grand Junction today for President Barack Obama’s town hall meeting on health care.
Obama’s motorcade didn’t pass by the main protest area, and by the time the town hall started, most picketers on either side had left. A few dozen listened to the president’s remarks on loudspeakers set up outside the high school where the meeting was held.
Earlier in the day, several hundred people who opposed the proposed health care overhaul wore red, white and blue to a rally at a city park.
The crowd was smaller than organizers had hoped for. There were no picketers who supported the overhaul, nor any heated exchanges of the sort seen elsewhere.
Those who support the overhaul rallied later near the town meeting site. A group of about 200 supporters gathered on an empty dirt lot a few blocks away. About 30 opponents were across the street, but the two sides largely ignored each other.
