Cindy Sheehan wisely tries to slow down the increasing hype to keep the focus where it belongs: on a grieving mother who just wants to talk to the President and get some answers. She supports the 900+ vigils taking place around the country, but wants her protest to remain simple and direct.
"I appreciate all their help, but their help is going to have to diminish and go to the sidelines, so it's going to have to get back to a mom sitting in a chair waiting for George Bush," she said in an interview Tuesday. Of those who suggest that her personal tragedy has become a political rallying point, she says, "I kind of see their point that this was a grass-roots thing that grew into a monster...."Part of her reason for saying this? Sheehan is a human being, a grieving mother, and the relentless nasty attacks from the far right are naturally taking their toll.
"The media focused more on me and not the message," she says. "I'm not the only one that wants answers."
She admits she also has a more selfish motive for wanting to move out of the spotlight. "Maybe if they focus on the message, the right-wingers will leave the messenger alone a little bit," she says.
