When it came to President Obama and the Madison public Wednesday, the protesters were sometimes hard to distinguish from the supporters.

A block or so from Wright Middle School, about 200 people gathered just beyond the police barricades to praise, cajole and - only occasionally - berate the president.

"Most of the people here love Obama," said Camila Ugalde, 13, a Verona eighth-grader who rallied with about 40 other students for a more liberal approach toward illegal immigrant students who attain college degrees. At the bottom of her poster encouraging a change in federal policy, she drew a heart and wrote Obama's name.

Students said their parents had granted them the day off of school.

The largest contingent, a coalition of peace activists, numbered around 80 and included Matthew Rothschild, editor of The Progressive magazine. He told protesters they were probably "feeling a little torn" about their presence, but that it was important to stand against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan regardless of the party in power.

Opponents of the federal stimulus package and other Obama spending initiatives took a pass, save for Steve McConkey of Madison, who wondered why his fellow tea party protesters didn't show. He stood alone with his "No Big Government" sign.

Mark Block of New Berlin, state director of Americans for Prosperity, the group that hosted the Wisconsin tea parties, said later by phone that if Obama had been addressing health care or the cap-and-trade system of pollution credits, thousands of protesters would have flooded the area.

"We don't have a big beef with him on education," Block said.

Several opponents of legalized abortion also turned out to rip the president, but others rallied in support of a public health care option or simply wanted to glimpse Obama. The general public was excluded from the school speech, so the closest gathering spot was the intersection of Fish Hatchery Road and Wingra Drive where the protesters and others gathered.

About 250 local law enforcement officers, including about 150 from the Madison Police Department, assisted with security, said Joel DeSpain, Madison police spokesman. He was not aware of any arrests.

No-man's zone

Security measures began early. About 8 a.m., police shuffled all students inside and shut down the school parking lot. Ten city garbage trucks were parked bumper to fender, forming a barrier around a portion of the school. Traffic was barred on Fish Hatchery Road between Wingra Drive and Carver Street from 10 a.m. to about 2:30 p.m.

Mid-morning, a no-man's zone sprung up around the school, penetrable only by police, media and ticketed VIP guests. Those guests, numbering in the several hundred, parked in a special lot off Plaenart Drive and boarded buses to the school. They included Madison School Board members, state labor leaders, parents of Wright students who won a lottery to attend and several UW-Madison students who had volunteered for Obama's campaign.

For others, just being anywhere in the vicinity seemed enough.

"I'm surprised I got this close," said Victoria Gutierrez, who lives nearby and sat with her son, Julian, 3, eating Triscuits on a pedestrian bridge over Wingra Creek near the school. She had earlier e-mailed the White House, hoping to snag a ticket by mentioning that First Lady Michelle Obama had kissed her son's cheek during a campaign event last year. No go.

The president's motorcade route was not revealed beforehand. Some of the best views turned out to be along Fish Hatchery Road north of the Beltline. Michelle Godbolt and several family members and friends who rent apartments in a building along that stretch anticipated the route and festooned the building with giant crepe paper letters spelling Obama.

They sat on blankets and waved as the motorcade headed back to the airport.

"OK, that was a rush," Godbolt said.

Earlier at the protest site, Camila, the eighth-grader from Verona, thought she glimpsed the back of Obama's long black coat as he was whisked into the school. "He looked fly," she said.

Katherine Jackson, a retired Madison firefighter, stood apart from the protesters to make sure her allegiance to the president was clear.

"I'm not here with any of these crazy groups," she said. She saw only Obama's vehicle but went home pleased.

"It was still a historic moment for me."

State Journal reporter Sandy Cullen contributed to this report.

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