Obama Holiday Rallies Turned Away by Topeka McDonald’s

After Internet news circles buzzed Monday about an activist’s plans for a national holiday in honor of President-elect Barack Obama, the Kansas McDonald’s slated to host the holiday-promoting rallies has said “no.”

Activist Sonny Scroggins, leader of a group called Bias Busters of Kansas, had planned to hold rallies at a downtown Topeka McDonald’s every Tuesday to plan a push for an Obama holiday. A Topeka Capital-Journal story about Scroggins’ plans caught some national attention Monday after being featured prominently on the Drudge Report.

The McDonald’s has turned Scroggins away. The manager of the McDonald’s, Lamont Lassiter, called Scroggins to tell him the rallies were off after seeing the Capitol-Journal story.

“I called him and said, ‘Look, you can’t do this, you can’t have a Barack Obama rally, you can’t serve Barack Obama cake,'” Lassiter told The Hill. Scroggins had planned on serving such cake, according to the Capitol-Journal.

The owner of the McDonald’s called Lassiter as well, after recieving a call from the McDonald’s corporate offices. Lassiter says he called Scroggins on his own, without pressure from above.

“We can’t picks sides discuss political things right here at McDonald’s,” Lassiter said.

Lassiter said Scroggins, who regularly holds meetings in the restaurant’s conference room, had originally pitched the rallies as celebrations “of all the presidents.” Scroggins denied that was the case, adding that he has held events at the McDonald’s for 30 years.

Lassiter had been reported as being on board with celebrating Obama in a WorldNetDaily story yesterday.

Scroggins says he has moved the rallies “because of McDonald’s backtracking” and blames conservative pundits for drawing negative attention to his plans.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) won Kansas on Election Day 57 percent to Obama’s 41 percent.