Outsmarting Inaugural Protest Restrictions

Turn Your Back on Bush started out as a website launched by two friends who had an idea about how to motivate the millions of Americans who stand opposed to the Bush administration and its policies after the debilitating loss of Nov. 2. With the help of Abernathy Associates, it became the largest and most visible action on Inauguration Day 2005 - and the only one to bring thousands of people from all walks of life together behind one strong message.

To thwart protest restrictions, thousands of volunteers posed as ordinary parade watchers, only to turn their backs on Bush when his limo passed by.

Working with the Turn Your Back on Bush team, Abernathy Associates’ Emilie Karrick Surrusco built a national media strategy in four short weeks that garnered hundreds of stories in small local papers as well as major media like USA Today, US News and World Report, New York Times, Washington Post, Associated Press, Newsweek, Reuters, and Time. On Inauguration Day itself, the action was featured on television in 44 of the nation’s largest 50 media markets as well as internationally.

The most exciting result of the Turn Your Back on Bush media strategy wasn’t the flurry of media attention. It was the fact that the action’s message – that millions of Americans stand united in their quest for a future of peace, justice and equality for all – was delivered by those Americans themselves. Surrusco trained military veterans, families with loved ones in Iraq, mothers, southern Christians, college students and other ordinary citizens to tell their story and show the world that hope is alive and well in this country. Working together, Abernathy Associates and Turn Your Back on Bush set the precedent for a new kind of political action.

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