Marshfield News Herald - Vote, Moore urges 'slackers' Controversial filmmaker st

Marshfield News Herald - Vote, Moore urges 'slackers' Controversial filmmaker stAbout 30 people at Michael Moore's "Slacker Uprising" Saturday were actually slackers when it comes to voting, but others in the audience used his tour stop as a way to continue their political activity.

In the days leading up to the election, Moore is touring the country, stopping in 60 cities to rally those who don't usually vote - the slackers, he calls them, saying many are found on college campuses everywhere. Moore said with the tour half over, he is optimistic for a Democratic win in November but is concerned by the polls showing Wisconsin as a Bush state.

"What the hell's going on in Wisconsin?" he asked. "We'll do whatever we can do to make sure Wisconsin is the state that throws George W. Bush out of office."
About 2,850 tickets of the 4,500 available to see the filmmaker at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point were sold. People were not asked their political preferences before entering, which allowed a few Bush supporters to hear Moore's speech. There were about 15 protesters who opted to stay outside, according to UWSP event staff.

A fan of Moore's books and films, Wai Yu Lam went just to listen. The 25-year-old is a UWSP student, but she is a Hong Kong resident and ineligible to vote. She said that if she could vote, it would not be for Bush.

"I don't like George W. Bush," she said. "My parents and everyone else in Hong Kong do not like him."
People waited a couple of hours in the Multi-Activity Center at the university without having chairs to sit in. Moore was late; he asked what he could do to make it up to people, offering one woman a chair because she had been standing for a long time holding her four-month-old child and donating copies of his film "Fahrenheit 9/11" and books to some audience members.

The "slackers" in the audience, who admitted by raising their hands that they had not voted, received Raman noodles and new underwear if they promised to vote this year.

Ryan Langlois, a 21-year-old UWSP student from Minneapolis, likes to think of himself as a slacker and a political activist because he does vote. He attended the event with a group of friends to be more informed.

"I don't understand how Americans can let others vote uninformed," Langlois said in response to Moore's speech.