In a phone interview, the national coordinator of United for Peace and Justice, which organized some of the largest antiwar protests during the Bush administration, Michael McPhearson, said part of the explanation is political partisanship. A lot of the antiwar protesters, he said, were Democrats. Once Obama got into office, they kind of demobilized themselves, he said.
Because hes a Democrat, they dont want to oppose him in the same way as they opposed Bush, said Mr. McPhearson, who is also a former executive director of Veterans for Peace, and who said he voted for President Obama in 2008. The politics of it allows him more breathing room when it comes to the wars.
Mr. McPhearson says antiwar protests of the sort that drew hundreds of thousands of people during the George W. Bush administration now draw 20,000 at best. He said his groups strategy now is to emphasize the cost of the wars and the Pentagon amid Washingtons focus on trimming the deficit.