PVCC Puma Press: November 2004

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	Photo by Nick Arena
	Filmmaker Michael Moore fields questions from reporters during a pre-show press conference.
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Controversial and award winning filmmaker Michael Moore brought his Slacker Uprising Tour 2004 to the Celebrity Theatre on Oct. 13 to urge voter turnout in what could prove to be a very close presidential election year.
“I’m proud to be a citizen of this country and to make my contribution,” says Moore referring to his film “Fahrenheit 9/11” and his current 60-city speaking tour during a pre-show press conference.

Despite the latest polling data that shows President Bush leading Senator Kerry 47 percent to 40 percent, Moore still maintains that Arizona is a battleground state. Moore says that Arizona stands up for what is right. “A proud, independent state that sucks up to no one,” he says.

Moore did, however, voice his obvious disapproval for Proposition 200, the initiative designed to discourage illegal immigration by requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote, proof of identity when voting, and proof of eligibility for non-federally mandated public benefits like medical care at a hospital. Moore says that “(Prop. 200 is) politics of hate.”

Mr. Moore later in his monologue reprimanded the national media for what he called a failure to challenge the Bush administration’s pre-war intelligence. “(The media’s job is to) ask the hard questions, demand the answers…Now 1,100 young men and women are dead. Their blood is on your hands,” Moore says.

The war in Iraq was the dominant issue in Moore’s presentation aimed at new voters. Moore attacked the president several times, saying that Bush was a war criminal. “He’s lucky if all he gets is defeated,” he says.

Special guests included Michael Hoffman, co-founder of Iraq Veterans Against the War, and Fernando Suárez del Solar who spoke passionately of the loss of his son Jesus in Iraq.

Moore concluded by saying the only way he believes Bush will win is if people stay home. He says, “Slackers are going to rise up in this election.”