President Bush should be made to feel welcome in Salt Lake City today as he speaks to the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention at the Salt Palace. Even if Utah isn't big enough politically to warrant regular visits from the president, its convention facilities and other amenities regularly draw large groups such as the VWF, which in turn pull in important speakers.

Many mayors undoubtedly would do all they could to drum up the kind of support necessary to keep attracting such conventions. Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson, however, has decided instead to lend his influence toward organizing massive protests against the president's visit.

This is a curious economic-development strategy. Welcome to our city. Now stand aside while we hurl invectives at your principal speaker, the president of the United States. Do come again.

Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars tend to be patriots of the flag-waving variety. They understand what it means to put their lives on the line in unfamiliar and hostile parts of the world so that others can be free. They are not stupid, and they no doubt are taking careful note of the mayor's actions, even as he, ironically, delivers a welcoming address to their convention this morning.

Anderson sent e-mails last week to a select group of environmentalists and Democrats calling for "a major demonstration," according to a report in this newspaper. "Don't let him come to Utah and not see huge opposition," he wrote of the president, while calling for action from health-care advocates, seniors, gays and lesbians, anti-war and anti-Patriot Act groups, as well as from those opposed to nuclear testing and Social Security reform.

These folks certainly have the right to protest. Americans correctly value their constitutional right to speak against their elected officials. But Anderson's decision to become a protest organizer, of sorts, diminishes his own position as an elected official and is an embarrassment to the city.

It's also a futile strategy. Which among the many interests represented by the above groups is the president supposed to hear? Far from the effectiveness of the anti-war demonstrations in the 1960s, protests today have become hackneyed and ineffective — an expected accompaniment to any presidential visit, including to his own home in Crawford, Texas. Chances are, the president isn't going to pay any attention. Some people oppose him. He knows that.

Reasoned arguments that resonate with the public would have an impact. Loud chants and slogans will not. There is indeed growing concern about the war by many Americans, as shown by recent opinion polls. This has nothing to do with people carrying signs.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars should not judge Utah by the actions of Salt Lake City's mayor. Neither should the president as he makes his second official visit to the state.