July 13, 1964 - The Republican National Convention turned surreal today when a Union Square rally for Pennsylvania Governor William Scranton almost turned into a demonstration for Beatle drummer Ringo Starr.
As the pink-uniformed members of the Chinese Central High School beat their glockenspiels and Scranton men yelled, “We want Bill,” about 50 teenage girls screeched for Ringo. The girls were outnumbered, but definitely not outvoiced.
“We love you, Ringo,” they sang, “and we’ll be true.”
With the deep-seated fervor of true believers, they waved such glorious banners as “Down With Goldwater, Up With Ringo,” “Ringo for Pres — Yeah Yeah Yeah” and “We Will Be in Misery Until Ringo Is Nominated for President.”
“It makes sense,” observed a man watching the girls. “Scranton’s got about as good a chance of getting the nomination as Ringo.”
“Ringo is the neatest thing that ever came to the United States!” screamed one demonstrator, who said the San Francisco Beatle chapter had called the Ringo turnout in the midst of the Scranton rally in honor of the drummer’s recent birthday.
“Even my mother’s got Beatlemania,” she said. “If Ringo were President, he’d give out free albums. Paul McCartney would be Vice President, George Harrison would be Secretary of State, and John Lennon, the Beatle who writes poetry, would be Speaker of the House because he’s the most intelligent.”
“They use Ringo’s English citizenship as a lousy excuse to keep him from running,” shouted one of the Beatle girls, while another demanded to know why there were no British flags on the speaker’s rostrum.
As a group of Goldwater girls pranced prettily through the crowd in their cowgirl outfits, the Beatle girls screamed on. An elderly man on a park bench adjusted his spectacles, looked around, and asked: “What’s this all about?”
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