Where are the pictures?  I am sooo sorry I had to miss this one, but my band was committed to play in South Arlington.  Talked to a lot of people about Webb, and even worked "Jim Webb For Senate" into one of our songs.  I patiently await the parade pictures.

Look at those crowds :)

You ought to record that song and put it on the web ----

Erci and I were there too, and it was a pleasure to finally meet Lowell and PhriendlyJaime.  It was very hot, and I think we both got sunburns.  I only saw about five Allen supporters who looked to be getting ready to parade, and about 12 more in the crowd.  There were lots of both Hurst and Davis supporters all along both sides of the street, and I am certain that many of both groups cheered the Webb parade group as we passed by.

I saw at least one Al Weeb sticker (woo hoo!) and I am afraid to report that despite about 200 of us in the parade we were all upstaged by the 5 dogs with Webb stickers on their coats of fur.  Especially "Oliver" the little black and white bulldog.  Also impressive, considering the heat, one veteran of the second World War (aged 90) with big Webb plackards on, front and back.

My progressive donkey pins ran out way too quickly (about 1/3 of the way through the parade).  Even worse, I forgot to hold one back!  I have a couple pictures, I'll upload them in a bit.

And that guy from World War II was amazing - 90 years old and 100% for Webb, that's what his placard said.  Cool! :)

But the highlight of the day was hearing PhriendlyJaime going "woooHOOOOOOOOOO!"  I'll tell you, that shout would wake the dead, and I mean that in a good way!  LOL.

YEAH!  NICE.  We had so much phun, despite the heat!  Everyone-a REALLY phunny pic is hopephully on it's way, either here or on NLS.  Let's just say, I saw the Allen video tracker, dared Ben to join me in shennanigans, and hilarity ensued...

woooooWOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

So excellent to meet all of you, new phaces, and phamiliar.  And I am always happy to scream, yell, make jokes, sing, and drink Dan's water when he ophers.  :)

woooooWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

I hope she goes to more parades :)

Now the dead's awake, let's suit them up and get 'em to the polls in November. 

And thanks to all for keeping an eye on Phriendly Jaime for me.  She's a handful;)

Webb wearing the ball cap and shades (ugh), looks like it went over very well! Any feedback from the crowd? Any enthusiastic fans come up to chat with him? Great job on the photos, also!

Seems like the crowd was enthusiastic overall; they seemed to be cheering loudly at several points at least.  Webb made it about halfway through the parade, because he was coming from another parade in Dale City.  I saw Webb and Chap shaking hands...Chap was REALLY working the crowd, sorta like he's thinkin' about running for something.  Hmmmm. :)

Keep in mind it was very, very hot; and the sun was unforgiving.  I applaud anyone with the sense to shade as much of their face as possible, though it does make it harder to see a candidate's eyes (which are important).

How do you provide a little shade and yet keep the smiling eyes and face visible to the croud... this is a real problem in need of a solution.

Everyone should be careful about exposure.  Especially on a hot day.

But the same rules don't work that well for a candidate.  It's the price they have to pay - giving up personal comfort for the effort. 

Look at Chap.  He went without anything to hide his head.  People could get a good look at him - and look into his eyes.  I noticed him squinting a number of times but he stuck it out.  Smart.

It's important and I really hope Jim can start accepting it as a price that needs to be paid.

it looks like it was fun - very hot fun though. My husband was at the Dale City parade with the labor contingent. Jim Webb met with them and marched there too. Also, Andy Hurst did show up there.

We had nothing the size of your contingent, but a small group of Webb supporters (and Chesterfield Dems) walked in the Brandermill Community Parade.  Allen and Cantor shared suporters and were marching ahead of us.  Of course, all the Cantor people had on red "Team Cantor" t-shirts with tons of red and blue balloons.  They looked a bit like stepford supporters, and when we got near the end, we saw they had plastered blue Allen stickers on all the kids.

Nonetheless, we got several rounds of applause when they saw we were Democrats and Webb was our candidate.  Right before the parade began, a tiny woman came over to ask if I had an extra yard sign.  I walked with her back to my car to give one to her and talked a bit about her interest in Webb.  She's a Vietnam Army nurse who just stopped working, at least for the time being.  She wants to do anything and everything she can, telling me she has the time and the passion.  She said she told her husband she doesn't recognize her country anymore!

After walking the parade route, we had to turn around and walk back in the heat.  It's taken 4 hours and a nap, but I'm finally cooling off!

I hear you on the nap - I am waiting for the guy to finish bailing hay and that's where I'm heading...

I'm loving those crowds.  Our little parade down here in Nelson was excellent.  You can see some pix here
http://www.skatha.com/kath/pix2006/nelson2006.html

There are several more parades in the area and hopefully we'll get some reports.

I'm sorry I didn't get better photos!  I spent most of the parade literally running because the people were all over, sometimes set back from the street and sometimes not.  It was way too hot and I felt like I was in Stanley Elkins' "The Living End" or something.

This was a great success.  There's the pic of the flatbed with the giant Allen and Goode signs, but I don't think they had any people who marched.

And we certainly had the best turnout hands down!  Doesn't everyone look beautiful?

Next time I am going to bring more young people.
 

Our crowd of 25 or so may dwarf in comparison to the Fairfax crowd, BUT OUR SIGN WAS BIGGER!!!!

Right after the York County Democrats banner, we carried and lifted over our heads a mounted Webb 4 x 8 for all to see!!!

Shawn O'Donnell was in attendance and I will try to get some pictures as I know there were a few digital cameras running around.

I would love to see those pictures if you can manage.

That's me with my baby boy in the bottom right of the pic in our red baseball caps.

I hope y'all got a chance to meet him.  He was sleepy and hot but had fun runnin' and playin' and couldn't stop jumping up and down when the Firetrucks came.

Oh, and the whole way home he was chanting "Let's go Webb"!

;)

Let me be the first to say that YES I met both of you yesterday for the first time, and YES-you're baby boy is adorable, just precious!  And he was gracious enough to put up with a 27 year old girl turn into a pile of goo and baby talk just manhandling and tickling him after that hot ride in the stroller.

Asher, right?

I think you may have made a friend for life.

It was great meeting you, too. 

oh, btw, I hope you weren't taken in by the seductive powers of Ben.  You must beware the forbidden dance.
;)
 

Sounds kinky...

;)

By the way-although I love Richmond and all of my Democratic buddies here, I would love to get an apt up where all of you are!  I love seeing all of you at events, and just think-you could gain a great babysitter, Josh!  :)

Went to the Fairfax parade today and marched with Jim Webb. The crowd was friendly.  Allen didn't show but his wife rode in a convertible.  I heard from several people who go regularly that they have never seen so many democrats and many were new faces. We got clapped many times.  One elder man booed and I fired back that he was booing a hero.  He didn't look at me but he heard me. Maybe he'll think next time.

Apparently last year Allen rode a horse in the parade and a truck backfired and the horse reared and almost lost him.  Maybe he didn't want to be there this year since they knew Jim Webb was coming. 

If you remember, Allen has cameramen filming everything Jim does. Today Phriendly Jaime went up to him and asked if she could get a picture with him. He agreed and there she stood close with her Webb shirt on.  I think they will be sending that picture around, even Allen's camerman likes Webb!

We then went to the Vienna event and got lots of visibility for Webb and Hurst. We had a third more space than Allen/Davis.  Reston is next weekend.  I thanked Jim for fighting for us.

nancy

True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence.  People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.

FDR

...it was a super parade, although it was a tad bit hot.  Surprised Allend DID NOT show up.  That is a big NO NO according to some in the know.  Wonder why he could not make it?  In IOWA?  We hear that the other STALKER hired by the Rebpulicans to stalk Jim Webb was arrested for being on  Mudcat's property.  Amazing what these Republicans will do to get re-elected.  And this from a Senator who is bored.  You would think he would just say I don't want to run and get out, pack up, leave. 

...experience, capability, etc. All they have is dirty tricks.  They are desperately trying to catch Webb doing something wrong.  If they do, that will be their entire campaign.  I don't know who is worse, the dirty tricks people, or the people fall for the tricks and vote for them.

wish I could have joined you, but not willing to do 300+ miles roundtrip on a holiday.

Did wear my Webb shirt everywhere I went, and put my Webb sign in my car window each time I parked.

I have a funny cartoon to share!

lowell@raisingkaine.com

Or, you can get your own storage space on the web through various services like Flickr.

On my way back to the shuttle bus, I saw the George Allen and Tom Davis marchers go by -- maybe 50 people in the first group, 25 in the second?  The audience kind of seemed to be ignoring them.  (Not that there's anything wrong with that...)

But there was great spirit in the Webb battalion and I was proud to be one of them!

Andy Hurst Kicked ass in Dale City Parade. He was out there touching the flesh with the voters of the 11th District. It was awesome to see so many receptive people in Prince William County giving great feedback. It was hotter than hell too. Ole Tommy showed up after the parade was over--the PW GOPers had their marriage ammendment banner out. It was actually quite pathetic, such hateful people they are. Way to go Andy Hurst!!!!!!!

I drove out to the Dale City parade and marched with Andrew Hurst with my Webb stickers on.  Andrew Hurst did great yesterday !!  I'm so happy to see such a tremendous turnout for Jim Webb in Fairfax.  It is very encouraging to see so many people (especially veterans) come out in support of such a great leader (Jim Webb). 

The Democrats had a great day at Fredericksburg's Fourth of July Heritage Festival event.  Lost count of the number of otherwise loyal Republicans who stopped by our Fredericksburg Regional Democrats booth to tell us that they can't stomach "Felix" and will support Jim Webb on election day.  Several of them offered to volunteer for Jim's Fredericksburg-area campaign efforts.  And the thermometer at the Festival read 96 degrees with a heat index above 100...outstanding!

Jim's grass roots support down here is phenomenal.  We signed up dozens of volunteers for Jim's campaign (yes, some Republican).  We gave away a bunch of lawn signs.  And the best part?  We exhausted our large supply of Webb bumper stickers!

The Fredericksburg region is a military community - with a big concentration of active-duty personnel (we're near Quantico Marine Corps Base).  Jim's story is coming through loud and clear!

Oh, one other thing.  The show promoter placed our booth directly across the aisle from the Republicans.  While our side was busy all day long, there's was very, very quiet.  The elephant people looked pretty grumpy!

Go Jim Go!

To all who came and walked, helped inflate and pass out balloons, and made a hell of a good showing in Fairfax City's Fourth of July Parade - thank you.

As the chairman of the Fairfax City Democratic Committee it gives me great pleasure to work with such fine folks. You make our appearance in the parade a success.

We are on a hot streak here in the city (Kerry-W, Kaine-W, Byrne-W, Deeds-W) and when we elect Jim Webb and Andy Hurst, we will show Virginia and the country that we have indeed turned very, very BLUE.

Thanks again, everyone. Really appreciated all of the help!