Coming at it from purely a "marketing" angle....
DC NEEDS the theatrics and it's awesome you have people that will do it. I would bet from what I read/see/hear (never been to DC personally, so just going by what I get from others) that on any given day of the year there is someone or a small group of someones protesting something. The politicians grow "immune" to seeing protestors and probably mentally block them out, as does the media. I know if I was a politician I would...it's kinda like the homeless guy on the street....you see the same ones in the same spots every day walking along the city streets and pretty soon you either take routes to avoid them or just mentally block them out. DC FReepers MUST do something to get noticed. You have to & you need to! You need the politicians to notice and the media. See, that's the difference there too, everyone in DC is pretty political, so your goals are not necessarily to win converts (except via the media) as much as they are to annoy the politicians or get noticed by them and the media.
Chicago, on the other hand, other than during war time has few protests. Chicagoans are very professional and business like...many are "middle of the road" and are TIRED of the theatrics that Jessie Jackson, Louie Farakahn and Daley put on. To appeal to those "swing voters", we need to appeal to their needs...they need to hear the message without irrationality (don't get me wrong, I'm not saying FReepers in costume are irrational...I was referring to Daley..if you've ever seen him throw a tantrum on the news, it's quite amusing). They also, in the particular gay & lesbian area that Hitlery is going to, are so used to seeing outrageous costumes and theatrics every Friday & Saturday night by the "boys" in Boys Town that they'd just figure we were just some of them hung over and stumbling in and not read our signs as they drove or walked by. If you've ever seen the gay pride parade in that area....it's a trip. So, in order for us to get noticed, we have to set ourselves out to be different. :o)
In saying all that, I do believe that Chicagolady is planning on wearing a Hitlery mask with a witch costume....WAHOO.... you go girl!!! I think that will be awesome and very irritating to the "senator". I just feel if we ALL dressed up...well, again, we'd be the stumbling drunks of boystown wandering home from a night at the "Man Hole" (yes, that's a real bar name there).
Now do you understand why I made the comment I did???? I assure you I was not trying to be smug, insulting or condescending. And I FULLY support any of the Chicago FReepers that choose to come in costume. I was being quite serious when I said I'd wear my Winnie-the-Pooh costume (even as hot as it SHOULD be) and hold a sign that says "Hitlery's book belongs in Children's Fantasy" if I thought it would be my best option. I feel more confident and calm and professional, however, wearing my best business dress like I was going to sell a big client...that's where I personally will come across best. In the Pooh costume I might tend to digress and not hold my emotions....funny how that works, isn't it??? LOL :o)
Gannett Suburban NY Newspapers
Boston.com picked up the Reuters story
Ithaca (NY) Journal picked up the Gannett story
ABC News picked up the Reuters story
Phillipine news picked up the Reuters story!
White Plains (NY) Journal News (Gannett)
KUHF 88.7FM - Houston (TX) Public Radio picked up the Reuters story
Macon (GA) coverage of Reuters story
Three FReepers - firebrand, Doctor Raoul and hellinahandcart, IIRC - two of them in costume, got 12 stories worldwide.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution coverage
Springfield (OH) News Sun picked up the Cox News Service (AJ-C) story
The Daily Sentinel, Grand Junction, CO, picked up the Cox News Service story
Also the three local TV stations covered, to varying degrees, the costumed protest.
Again, local TV stations covered this protest as well. Several weekly publications interviewed our members, but do not go to press until early next week, so it's not known how/if coverage will result. These are just the links to coverage I found during a cursory news search on a few key words. There may be more that I have missed.
As I said in both of my earlier replies, good luck with your efforts in Chicago. Hillary! needs to be met by FReepers at her every book-signing appearance.