LEWISTON – Like competing choirs, the voices battled.

“Four more years!” shouted the president’s supporters as they walked among the anti-Bush protesters. They replied with their own chant: “Two more months!”

About 150 yards away, first lady Laura Bush stumped for her husband.

But out here, in a corner of Lionel Potvin Park, the 100 protesters dominated. They overwhelmed the president’s boosters, who numbered about 40.

In Lionel Potvin Park, Bush lost the volume contest.

“Laura Bush has every right to come here and say what she wants to say,” said former Lewiston Rep. Jim Handy, who wore a flag-colored shirt, carried a “W is for wrong” sign and shouted with the crowd. “I believe in civil liberties. That’s why I am here.”

He was joined by middle-aged men and women, Bates College students and an Auburn city councilor.

Richard Livingston, who represents Ward 2 in Auburn, wore a Red Sox cap and carried a sign that read, “Sox fans for Kerry.”

Like the others, he wanted to add his voice to the crowd and make an appearance, even though he had nothing to say to the first lady.

“My beef is not with her,” Livingston said. “She is so thoroughly programmed, such a Stepford wife.” His complaints are against the president, whom he said has lied about the environment, the economy, taxes and the war.

Other people’s complaints drew official attention.

Matthew Harrington, 21, of 20 Wood St., Lewiston, was arrested before the first lady’s visit was under way. Police said Harrington confronted a group of people gathering at the site. He was charged with disorderly conduct just before 10 a.m..

Peter Angus Coltart, 26, of 52 High St., Auburn, was arrested at 12:10 p.m. and charged with criminal trespass. Police said Coltart stepped beyond a secured area after he was warned by a security agent.

Both men were booked and later released. U.S. Secret Service agents later reviewed details of the arrests for their records.

When a protester hung a sign from a tenement building overlooking the park, landlord Don Arel ripped it down. It read, “W is for wealthy, white warmonger.”

“I don’t have to have that on my building,” he said, threatening the tenants who hung it from the staircase.

They later held out a sign that read, “Make love, not war.”

The protesters drew some direct debate. Conservative Steve Miller of Auburn argued with several for nearly an hour.

“I had to find out what all these silly people were talking about,” he said later. “I educated a lot of them.”

The protest had its light moments.

While Bush gave her speech, a group of young women held a “sex education teach-in.” They handed out condoms, each stapled to a “W is for war on women” flier. The paper included complaints about the administration’s treatment of women’s health issues. Then, the women demonstrated condom use with bananas.

The whimsy ended when Bush supporters arrived moments after the first lady ended her speech. For about 15 minutes, they battled.

Then, someone began to sing “God, Bless America.”

For one verse, they sang together.