San Francisco’s May Day political rally, sponsored by a variety of communist groups and labor unions, found itself drenched by some unseasonably wet weather. Only a few hundred people showed up for what was advertised as a major event. The Bolsheviks, for example, put a tent over their booth, but even with the protection from the rain, attendance was extremely sparse . The “4” superimposed on the hammer-and-sickle is the symbol for “The Fourth International,” or the form of communism promoted by Leon Trotsky.

In order to attract a larger crowd, the event had also been billed as a pro-amnesty rally. Despite there being no real connection between International Workers’ Day (May 1) and the immigration issue, most of the attendees carried signs about amnesty, and most of the speeches and signs were in Spanish. Some groups combined the two themes, such as the pro-amnesty socialist group seen here.

And as always, the Revolutionary Communist Party tried to come up with the most attention-grabbing slogan.

Several people in the crowd carried mysterious messages about “melting the ice.” I’m not quite sure if they were advocates in favor of global warming, or if they had some other agenda in mind.

Some took a different approach and suggested we crush the ice instead.

Down with ice!

The usual socialist literature was on sale, with some stuff seemingly left over from 2004 and 2005.

And of course the usual obsession with Jews and Israel. Par for the course.

All in all, the soggiest and smallest San Francisco rally I’ve seen in years.

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Berman Post has a photo gallery of a very similar May 1 event in New York — same small crowd, same weather, same focus on amnesty and communism.

SFGate has a huge gallery of Associated Press pictures of May Day rallies around the world.