RIVERSIDE, OH — About three dozen Democrats stood in a cold drizzle for a couple of hours Thursday morning, hoping to have President Bush catch a glimpse of their protest.

But Bush’s motorcade entered Wright-Patterson Air Force Base about a quarter of a mile away from the crowd, which had gathered along Springfield Street near the Bong Street entrance to the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

Still, the protesters, hoisting signs with messages in opposition to Bush, McCain and the Republican Party, seemed happy to get their message out and to let off a little steam.

“I’m angry and I want a chance to express that,†said Judy Williams, of Xenia, who said most of her anger with Bush was focused on “the horrible loss of money and lives in Iraq.â€

Williams also decried what she called the Republican party’s “meanspiritedness†toward gays and immigrants.