RK ARCHIVE - Democrats Rally Against McCain-Palin in Fairfax

There are lots more photos, all courtesy of the amazing Mary Lee Cerillo, on the "flip." Great job, guys - you rock! :)

Comments

Obama campaign comment on Fairfax event (Lowell - 9/10/2008 3:56:10 PM)

Today, Virginians heard more of the same from John McCain and Sarah Palin. While the pair paid lip service to "change" and continued their same discredited attacks, they didn't mention the economy or the rising cost of healthcare. In fact they said nothing about the major issues facing Virginia families and gave no plans on how to deal with these mounting problems.
Instead Sarah Palin stated that John McCain "doesn't run with the Washington herd" -- despite the fact that seven of his top advisers are former Washington lobbyists - while she also continued her false claim that she opposed the Bridge to Nowhere - a phony statement that dozens of news organizations have exposed as a "naked lie."
Today in Fairfax, VA, Gov. Palin again claimed John McCain was a Washington outsider, saying: "He doesn't run with the Washington herd." If this isn't the Washington Herd, what is?
FACT: SEVEN OF MCCAIN'S TOP ADVISORS ARE FORMER WASHINGTON LOBBYISTS
* Rick Davis, campaign manager, has lobbied for Airborne Express and DHL on their controversial merger deal, as well as telecom companies Bell South/SBC and Verizon.
* Charlie Black, senior advisor, lobbied for more than 100 clients, including Yukos Oil and Freddie Mac.
* Randy Scheunemann's lobbying clients have included BP Amoco and the NRA.
* Nancy Pfotenhauer, senior policy advisor, is a former Koch Industries lobbyist.
* Frank Donatelli, the McCain campaign's director at the RNC, has had 70 clients including PHARMA, Pfizer and Exxon Mobil.
* John Green, congressional liaison, has lobbied for at least 150 clients, including insurance industry trade groups, predatory lender Ameriquest, Chevron Texaco, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac.
* Wayne Berman, campaign vice-chair, finance co-chair, and advisor has also lobbied for almost 100 clients, including Ameriquest, Fannie Mae, the National Rifle Association and American Health Insurance Plans.
SOURCE: Lobbying Disclosures, US Senate Office Of Public Records

If it was a nightmare... (legacyofmarshall - 9/10/2008 4:03:37 PM)

Why was Ben Tribbett calling it the "Republican Woodstock" with 27,000 in attendance?

He said the move by the FCPS board was the "gaffe of the year" (something I find hard to believe).

Also - isn't Fairfax High School in Fairfax City - outside the jurisdiction of the Fairfax County School Board and entirely within the jurisdiction of the Fairfax City School Board? I'm not sure that Mr. Tribbett checked all his facts for his latest NLS post but he does seem to suggest that the rally was a success...

At the Rally beginning 7:30 (Teddy - 9/10/2008 4:24:49 PM)

I arrived at the rally point at Van Dyck Park (it is
about four blocks from my house) at 7:30 AM, joining other Barack Obama supporters in an ongoing demonstration. Our numbers grew gradually during the 3 hours I was able to stay, waving Obama signs, McCain=Bush signs, and chanting. I normally do not attend street demonstrations, but made an exception for this one. School buses and tour buses, SUVs and Mercedes poured into town, delivering thousands of McCain supporters---and, truthfully, Palin supporters, who actually sometimes seemed to outnumber McCain lovers; I saw several heads sporting moose antler caps (simulated), worn by prancing well-made-up ladies wearing Palin signs and smirks, plus such notations as "lipsticked women for Palin," and so on. It reminded me of a homecoming football game rally in college, and I guess that is what Republicans want to turn national elections into.

The numbers of Republicans were very impressive; I saw Maryland license plates and bus after bus after bus (mostly School buses, by the way), so it seems that the Republican campaign made a special effort to suck in McC supporters from a wide area; they succeeded. Jim Gilmore arrived (we yelled "Mark Warner, Mark Warner") and Keith Fimian worked the long line of Republicans (we yelled "Gerry, Gerry!" for Connolly). The Republican crowd was about 99.5 percent Caucasian, appeared well-fed and generally self-satisfied; they pretended to be amused at our presumption. There were many "Country First" signs on their side, and when we shouted "USA! USA!" some of them
joined in but complained that Obama was too afraid to fight... clearly the Republicans are the WAR Party. We chanted things like "Obama!" and "8 Years is Enough," "All Fired Up and Ready to Go!" and so on. They responded
with "No-bama!" showed us a Zero with thumb and forefinger (supposedly meaning that was how many votes Obama would get, or that they considered Obama a zero---not sure of their message here), and many gave us the finger--- an appropriate Republican gesture inasmuch as the Republicans have been screwing the country. One white male country-club-retired-military type sneered, "there's only about 15 of you chumps" --- not true, we had more but at that point not by much, to which I replied "We are working
class and have to go to work. We're not elitists like you." Another MC-lover yelled "Rezko, Rezko," referring to a Chicago real estate mogul with questionable deals who supported Obama long ago, to which I yelled, "Keating 5! Keating 5!" and "Trooper Gate!" Others joiined in. Then
we were told to ignore the Republicans, and the police moved us across the street so Old Lee Highway was between our line and theirs, and our line increased greatly in numbers as the unions began showing up. I had to leave
shortly thereafter, but the Obama rally continued. Every once in a while the steady line of traffic turned out to have an Obama supporter going about their chores, and they would honk and give us a thumbs up. The press was there in force. I suppose there will be something on the news. All the parking lots were full, irritating local merchants.