A group of about 100 people congregated in front of the Eugene Federal Building Wednesday evening, holding ‘peace’ flags, signs and waving to passing motorists in a call to peace and an end to the ongoing war in Iraq.
The gathering came hours after President Bush told the nation he will “help the emerging democracies of Iraq and Afghanistan so they can grow in strength and defend their freedom” during his next four years in the White House.
“With good allies at our side, we will fight this war on terror with every resource of our national power so our children can live in freedom and in peace,” Bush said in his victory speech.

But 65-year Eugene resident Betsy Steffensen, who attended the rally, disagreed.
“These people are out here because they want to let everyone know that we haven’t given up on world peace and peace for the nation,” said Steffensen, who is president of the local Million Mom March.
Steffensen said news of Sen. John Kerry’s defeat disappointed everyone at the rally.
“They’re very sad because we felt we were going to get a start of a new era,” she said. “We did not feel Kerry was perfect … we were pulling for a new administration.”
Junior Benjamin McKechnie, who said he is a member of the Oregon Air National Guard, said he attended the rally because he is “anti-Bush, anti-war and pro-peace.” He said he was disappointed by the outcome of Tuesday’s election.
“I feel pretty impotent at this point, pretty saddened,” he said.
Seventeen-year-old Stuart Smith said he does not approve of
President Bush’s re-election but is
more upset about the outcome of
Measure 36.

“What really shocked me was that 36 passed,” Smith said, expressing disbelief over what he said was discrimination being incorporated into the Oregon Constitution.
Boz Van Houten, 57, said he voted for Ralph Nader in this election because of his clear stance on issues like the environment and international relations.
Van Houten said he never expected Kerry to win because of how weak his platform was.
“If he had picked up the kind of things Nader was saying, he could have gotten more votes,” Van Houten said.
University student and ASUO Student Senator Rodrigo Moreno-Villamar said he was at the rally to protest “the whole electoral system.” He said both Democrats and Republicans are to blame for the country’s current state of despair, and the Democratic party needs to regroup if it ever wants to be a serious contender.

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Senior News Reporter Parker Howell contributed to this report