'No Sympathy' for Schwarzenegger at Rolling Stones Concert in Boston

'No Sympathy' for Schwarzenegger at Rolling Stones Concert in Boston

RNs Protest Sticky Fingers for Corporate Cash

OAKLAND, Calif., Aug. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- There was "No Sympathy" for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Sunday night as he sought to turn a Rolling Stones concert in Boston into a fundraiser only to be picketed by registered nurses from California, Illinois and Massachusetts outside the stadium and loudly booed by thousands of rock fans when introduced inside.

Exploiting the kickoff event of the Stones latest North American tour to raise cash for his own national fundraising efforts, Schwarzenegger resold $450 concert tickets to donors for $10,000 a piece, and offered fans the chance to sit with him in a luxury box for $100,000 a pop. But, Schwarzenegger quickly discovered, he was 'Playing With Fire,' once again thanks to the California Nurses Association with the help of the Massachusetts Nurses Association and Chicago nurses from the CNA-sponsored National Nurses Organizing Committee.

First, the ticket sales for the $100,000 seats were a bust. According to observers, only three people could be spotted in the luxury box, including the governor and his wife, Maria Shriver. Then much of the attention prior to the concert was on the protest.

Dozens of RNs picketed outside Fenway Park, site of the concert, Sunday afternoon. As the nurses handed out 3,000 signs to Stones fans in the form of a large ticket that read "Stop Arnold. Sticky Fingers for Corrupt Corporate Cash. No Sympathy for Schwarzenegger," an airplane circled overhead bearing the banner, "Arnold's Beast of Burden: Corporate Cash."

Inside sitting nearly alone in his private box, Schwarzenegger must have been looking for Wild Horses to drag him away. Hundreds of fans held up the CNA signs. When Stones lead singer Mick Jagger welcomed the governor, he was lustily booed, and even Jagger mocked Schwarzenegger noting "As a matter of fact, he was seen out in front of Fenway Park tonight raising funds by scalping tickets and tee-shirts."

"What a colossal embarrassment for California, the sight of our governor jeered as he fundraises across the nation and scalping concert tickets for corporate cash to buy ads for a wasteful special election most Californians did not want," said CNA Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro. "Californians should send this governor and his corporate sponsors a message as well -- You Can't Always Get What You Want -- and vote No in November."

Source: California Nurses Association

CONTACT: Charles Idelson, +1-510-273-2246 or +1-415-559-8991, for
California Nurses Association

Web site: http://www.calnurses.org/

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