She might just be one mother, but she's got the opportunity to represent thousands of them.
Californian Cindy Sheehan showed up at President Bush's Crawford, Texas ranch with one goal in mind - getting some answers.
Sheehan lost her son Casey to the war in Iraq last year. After his death, she became an antiwar activist.
She's been waging her own peaceful statement off a rural road near Bush's vacation home, waiting for the president to take time to speak with her.
She's waiting to ask Bush exactly what her son died for, and she wants to tell him to pull American troops out of Iraq. So far, Bush has not met with her.
He instead sent two officials: National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley and a Deputy White House Chief of Staff Joe Hagin.
After meeting with the officials, it became even more clear to the media that she was not going to back down in her quest to speak with Bush.
Although Sheehan's protest alone certainly won't have any effect on U.S. policy, she represents a number of Americans who question the reasoning behind the war. And for her it's personal.
Sheehan, along with other families of fallen soldiers, met Bush months after her son died, and she said she feels he was disrespectful to her and treated the meeting as more of a party.
He didn't know her name or that it was her son who died, she said.
But the real issue here is not how Bush presents himself in public. It's the fact that the president wishes to be seen as a man of the people, known for his Texan accent and speeches dotted with colloquialisms.
He'd like to be a straight shooter, but his refusal to meet with Sheehan shows otherwise.
If President Bush can't come face to face with one woman, why is he president?
Bush owes the American people an explanation of why we're at war, and he owes families of fallen soldiers more respect than he's shown to this woman so far.
Sheehan's determination to camp out, waiting for Bush to speak with her, is an excellent example of peaceful protest that will make an impact somehow, no matter how small.
