SAN MARCOS -- Republican students at Cal State San Marcos are calling for a rally outside the Del Mar Fairgrounds to protest an appearance by Michael Moore, the high-profile filmmaker who aims to get President Bush defeated in November.

In calling for a protest, the students said they would be exercising a right to let Moore know that he is not welcome and that "we do not agree with his rhetoric."

Moore, who has said he is using his film, "Fahrenheit 9/11," as a tool to oust Bush from office, is set to speak Oct. 12 at the fairgrounds. Although there continues to be no official confirmation from Moore himself, student government leaders at Cal State have issued repeated assurances that the show is on.

Moore's planned visit follows a burst of controversy over the university's veto of the use of public money to bring him here because of his avowed partisanship. Community members and businesses came forward with more than $40,000 toward the cost of the appearance.

In an announcement on the Web at www.mooreprotest.com, the campus GOP characterized the rally as pro America and pro President Bush. "Michael Moore is coming to our town in order to disrespect our president," the site notes, "and speak out against our government's policies in a time of war and right before a presidential election."

Stephen Puetz, a student at Cal State San Marcos who serves as co-chairman of the California College Republicans and state chairman of California Students for Bush, said on Tuesday that he wants it made clear that the Bush re-election campaign is not involved in organizing the rally.

"It's a grassroots event," he said.

The campus Republicans have said they agreed with university President Karen S. Haynes when she cited the need for balance and the presentation of a countervailing viewpoint, in vetoing the use of campus money for a pre-election day visit by Moore. The Sept. 13 veto came three days after the student government organization, Associated Students Inc., voted 12-3 at the urging of the student affairs office to spend $6,500 toward the estimated $37,500 the Moore event would cost.

In an e-mail to student government president Manal Yamout, Puetz said that the move to bring Moore to North County has reflected badly on Cal State San Marcos. "The sheer amount of negative publicity for the university that all this is generating is astounding," he noted.

Yamout said that, all things considered, the publicity can be seen as a positive for the institution.

"It may reflect negatively on the administration," she said, "but it reflects positively on the students and what the students are doing. … I've been very impressed by the students and what they've been doing."

Puetz said the demonstrators plan to stay on the sidewalks outside the fair grounds at Via de la Valle and Jimmy Durante Boulevard. The people at the rally want to make their presence known, and show their disapproval of Michael Moore's visit without disrupting pedestrian and vehicle traffic, he said.

He said he is urging people to be courteous and to keep the message "positive."

The Web site notes, "However misguided, they (the Moore attendees) are our fellow Americans and our true enemy is fundamentalist Islamic terrorism. This should be a fun, festive event for the whole family."

Some 10,000 tickets for the Moore appearance are being made available through Associated Students. The price is $10, but each Cal State San Marcos student will receive one ticket for free. Tickets are available at the Associated Students office at Commons 207 and at the Clarke Field House/ Student Union, where short-term, low-cost parking is available. There's a telephone hotline at (760) 750-4582. Further details are on line at www.csusm.edu/asi.

Contact Bruce Kauffman at 760-761-4410 or bkauffman@nctimes.com