Police and barricades kept the protesters about 100 yards away from the Wings Over the Rockies Museum, where 3,500 supporters gathered to hear Bush's speech.

But protesters tried to make up in volume what they lacked in access. The chanting, whistle-blowing and drum-banging reached a crescendo when a limousine carrying Bush paused nearby as he arrived from Buckley Air Force Base for the quick campaign stop.

Heather Strack, a 17-year-old senior at Cherry Creek High School, said she and the dozen other members of Students Taking Opposition Peacefully who attended welcomed the chance to challenge Bush in person.

"We're the generation that's going to have to pick up the pieces of this war," she said. "We want to make sure our voices are heard."

David Hershberger, a 31-year-

old computer programmer from Denver, said he had one good reason for working on Sunday - his day off - so he could skip work Monday and protest instead.

"Because Bush is going to kill people," he said. "They want an oil pipeline through Iraq."

His friend Tricia Toney, 32, agreed and said she and her friends are just starting to appreciate the importance of expressing their political beliefs as noisily as they can.

"The majority of Americans are not in favor of going to war," she said. "We're the silent majority, and we're not being heard."

That same feeling prompted Lela Emmons, 42, to stand outside Lowry carrying a sign that showed Bush manipulating an Allard puppet. The political rally was only the second the Denver designer has ever attended - the first was Saturday's anti-war gathering at Civic Center.

"I don't think Allard's voting for the people," especially about a possible war, Emmons said. "He's really not paying attention to what his constituents are saying."

Across another set of barricades, a group of farmers sitting in flag-draped pickup trucks holding bales of hay stood in sharp contrast to the more visible activists sporting multiple piercings and "Free Hemp" T-shirts.

The Rocky Mountain Farmers' Union members were protesting Bush's vow to veto emergency aid to farmers and ranchers who have been hard-hit by the drought.

"I voted for Bush because I was afraid of Al Gore, but I'm very disappointed in Bush," farmer Lawrence Gallegos said.

He said he normally cuts 700 tons of hay each fall, but this year cut only 22 tons because of the drought, he said. "Rural America voted for Bush, and now he's abandoned us," Gallegos said.

But Bush supporters got their say when the event let out at 1:30 p.m. Event attendees and protesters clashed on the sidewalk.

After listening to one activist castigate Bush's war rhetoric, Duncan McArthur, a construction contractor from Aurora, made the case for armed conflict.

"They don't want peace any more than we do," he said. "But if we don't do it, who will? If not now, when? This is something the last administration should have taken care of."