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BILL VARIAN and LEANORA MINAIAt homes and businesses across the nation, crowds organized by MoveOn.org listen to an anti-Bush message from the filmmaker.
TAMPA - With the first bolt of lightning, Keith Arsenault looked up at the flickering twilight sky.
"I think Rumsfeld did that," Arsenault said, speaking of the U.S. secretary of defense, to the chuckles of those around him.
Many more bolts would follow, and tumbling rain to boot. But that didn't seem to spook the crowd of nearly 300 who simply huddled closer under tents or crammed into the Viva La Frida restaurant in Seminole Heights on Monday night for an unusual presentation.
They had been part of the crowd that crammed theaters over the weekend, making a surprise hit of the Bush-bashing political documentary film Fahrenheit 9/11. Now they gathered to hear its creator.
Film director Michael Moore participated in a nationwide broadcast beamed to some 2,200 locations, including Viva's and people's homes in St. Petersburg, Clearwater and Dunedin.
The so-called town hall meetings - titled "Turn Up the Heat" - were organized by the liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org, running a leftist grass roots campaign to defeat George W. Bush come November.
The Tampa gathering was so crowded that the spillover crowd was shipped to a nearby art gallery, Covivant.
"I really haven't felt this hopeful in 31/2 years," said Moore, speaking of the unprecedented success of his film, the first documentary to debut as Hollywood's top weekend movie.
Wearing T-shirts that read "Drop Bush Not Bombs" and "Somewhere in Texas there's a Village Missing an Idiot," those who attended pledged to vote this time, and to vote against Bush.
Harry Schuster, 40, wore an American flag T-shirt while selling voodoo dolls of Republican figures such as Bush, Attorney General John Ashcroft and media critic Ann Coulter.
"I thought this would be a fun way to make some money," Schuster said, though he said the liberal crowd has proved a little cheap. "It hasn't been working."
In St. Petersburg, about two dozen people fed up with President Bush gathered at the home of Mark and Mary Ellen Miller.
Many were newcomers to politics, jumping in for the first time. Others were seasoned activists, former Vietnam War protesters and campaign workers for Jimmy Carter.
On Monday, their message was clear: Use Fahrenheit 9/11 to energize people and win back the White House.
"Anybody but Bush," said Mark Miller, 56, who was hosting a "Turn Up the Heat" party in Historic Kenwood. "So (Sen. John) Kerry's the one. Overall I like Kerry, but I would vote for Lassie to get Bush out."
Debi Lanning, 48, of St. Petersburg saw the documentary Saturday. She said the images of burned Iraqi mothers and their dead children are seared in her memory.
"Those are images we have not seen in the American media," she said. "It made me incredibly sad."
Enough to prompt her to attend Monday's meeting.
"We can't just sit in a movie theater," Lanning said. "That's not going to defeat Bush."
When the interactive discussion started at 8:15 p.m., Moore's voice filled the living room. The group applauded when Moore announced that activists have been setting up voter registration tables outside theaters.
"There's been this shift in the country," Moore said. "People are coming around."
Before he took questions, Moore told listeners to galvanize voters. Among his ideas, Moore suggested people take one week to travel to a swing state and volunteer at a campaign office to get the vote out against Bush.
"I'm going to do it," said Moore, who voted for Ralph Nader in 2000.
He then answered three questions, which were read aloud by a moderator.
A participant wanted to know what Moore would like to see in "President Kerry's" first 100 days.
Moore said he wanted the troops brought home. He wanted an international force in Iraq. He wanted Kerry to push for health care as a right and for alternatives to oil.
MoveOn.org uses the Internet to raise money and organize political events for candidates it considers progressive, or who are generally left-leaning. It claims more than 2-million members.
While it dates back five years, it's one of a number of grass roots groups that have become particularly active this year in an effort to unseat Bush.
People who attended Monday's town hall meetings were encouraged to sign up for a July 11 event in which people will hold campaign parties for people with cell phones. The cell phone users will be asked to call wavering or infrequent voters from lists that will be provided.