Just in time for spring, Code Pink plans Clinton protest

“Dozens and dozens” of anti-war protesters are planning to greet former President Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) at a Washington fundraiser Tuesday night.

Code Pink, an anti-war group also known as Women for Peace, has been a perpetual thorn in the side of Sen. Clinton’s presidential campaign even before it got into full swing.

The group plans to continue its protest this evening when the Clintons host a fundraiser for the senator’s presidential bid at the Marriot Wardman Park Hotel.

Gael Murphy, a spokeswoman for the group, said Code Pink has been protesting Sen. Clinton’s events all over the country, including fundraisers and public events, for more than two years.

Murphy said Clinton was “absolutely” noticing the group’s presence, as evidenced by her “shifting” positions on the war.

"Because of our protests, she was getting a lot of questions on Iraq,” Murphy said, adding that “unfortunately,” the senator seems to be “moving to the right” by saying recently that some troops would probably remain in Iraq if she is elected president.

Mo Elleithee, a Clinton campaign spokesman, said the senator has taken notice of the group and other war protesters, and that she shares many of their concerns.

 “I don’t think it comes as any surprise that people are passionate about the war,” Elleithee said. “And Sen. Clinton shares that passion and has a plan to end the war. And she’s talking about that plan.”

According to a Code Pink press release, the protest will include “lots of pink banners and signs with messages [such as] ‘Stop Funding Bush’s War,’ ‘Listen to America Hillary! No More War,’ and ‘You Fund It, You Own It.’”

The release said that the purpose of the “vibrant, visual display” is to “encourage the senator that the path to peace (and a winning presidential bid) is stop funding the war and to be the candidate that listens to the majority of America calling for an end to this war.”