CAMPAIGN '04 AND TRANSIT: Trippi at a Gallery in Georgetown; Bush HQ Next to a Metro Station

The Oculus was forwarded a notice for a ReDefeatBush.com fundraiser in Georgetown at Hemphill Fine Arts Gallery on 33rd Street featuring Joe Trippi, the former campaign manager for the presidential campaign of Howard Dean.

Hemphill Art Gallery is hosting this event in conjunction with its "Hole Shebang" exhibit on the 2000 Florida ballot disaster. Artists Eduardo del Valle & Mirta Gomez present numerous moving campaign images from those pivotal weeks, many never publicly shown before.

While the Oculus is officially politically neutral, there is something quite interesting worth noting (besides the fact that the e-mail doesn't say when the event is). It has a link to WMATA's Ride Guide and strongly encourages participants to arrive via public transportation. Would Republicans ever encourage their ranks to use public transportation to arrive at a campaign event? My gut reaction would be to say no. (There are images of stereotypical SUVs with Bush Cheney stickers getting stuck in M Street traffic popping into my head.)

But then again, Bush-Cheney '04 campaign headquarters is located within walking distance of the Court House metrorail station in Virginia. (Its address, 2107 Wilson Boulevard, is a location the re-election effort doesn't advertise to the general public.) According the Arlington Economic Development organization, the campaign secured more than 33,000 square feet of office space back last August.

The Kerry camp is housed in office space about a block from the White House at 901 15th Street NW.