DNC Officials Confiscate Pro-Bradley Signs

L O S   A N G E L E S, Aug. 15 -- Supporters of former presidential candidate Bill Bradley are upset that Democratic Party officials confiscated hundreds of hand-painted signs made by volunteers for convention-goers at the Democratic National Convention.

They were taken only hours before Bradley was set to ascend to the podium inside the Staples Center to deliver his speech to the convention. Dozens of young, pro-Bradley volunteers had labored for the last week to make the signs in anticipation of the former New Jersey senator’s speech this evening.

Official Props Only

According to a senior Bradley adviser, convention officials here suddenly collected the signs this afternoon and told the Bradley camp that only signs sanctioned by the Democratic Party and made by official convention volunteers would be allowed onto the floor for delegates and others to wave.

No further explanation was offered to the Bradley camp or the dejected Bradley volunteers.

Convention planners did have a number of signs made for Bradley’s supporters to wave during his speech. According to the Bradley adviser, however, there were far fewer signs made than the Bradley camp had wanted and many more signs had been made for some of the night’s other prime-time speakers, such as Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy.

During the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, a number of signs painted by volunteers with negative messages such as “No More Lies” did not make it onto the convention floor. According to one of the volunteers at the event, they were all given suggested phrases and asked by GOP officials to “keep it positive.”