3rd Annual Memorial Day Bash roundup

I awoke Saturday to an overcast day and a bit of drizzle. With over 200 RSVPs for my third annual Memorial Day bash, I was a little panicked. A quick check of the various local weather reports (note: don’t trust Google’s weather reports – it showed rain all day) soon calmed me and sure enough, in about an hour, the sun came.To say that the weather was perfect for an outdoor event would be an understatement. It was glorious 🙂

Sen. Creigh Deeds was one of the first to arrive, with LG candidate Jon Bowerbank right behind him. I took up my usual spot to greet the guests as they came in. It was good to see some familiar faces, along with lots of new ones. Hampton Roads was well represented with attendees from all of the Southside Hampton Roads cities – Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach and Suffolk – as well as from the Peninsula cities of Hampton and Newport News. Oh yeah – and we had a couple of attendees from Cumberland County, Mark and Lisa!

As we got closer to the time for the introductions of the electeds and candidates, more of them poured in. Del. Brian Moran, my guest speaker last year, was a little delayed due to traffic but got there in time to chat with folks. Of course, what’s a party without Hampton Roads’ very own diva, Sen. Lousie Lucas? 🙂

This event really isn’t about having a whole lot of speeches; instead, it’s a chance for Democrats to hang out and chat with our elected representatives and candidates. As the result, the only speaker for Saturday was the ranking Democrat in attendance, Norfolk’s own Senator Yvonne Miller. As always, the Senator offered words of wisdom, reminding us that we are all Democrats and that winning is what is important.

Left to right: Del. Lionell Spruill, Superdelegatge Susan Swecker, Del. Joe Bouchard, Del. Bobby Mathieson, Del. Brian Moran, Sen. Yvonne Miller, Del. Kenny Alexander, VB Council Candidate Andrew Jackson, 2nd CD candidate Glenn Nye, Sen. Creigh Deeds, Sen. Louise Lucas, Sen. Ralph Northam, Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney Jack Doyle, LG candidate Jon Bowerbank

After such a wonderful speech, it was hard for me to announce the results of the gubernatorial straw poll. Yes, somebody’s got to win and somebody’s got to lose, but as I said Saturday, we have two fine candidates for governor. (Although I have to admit that I really wish somebody (cough – Tim Kaine – cough) would step in and sit these two down and only have one of them run. We Democrats do not need another divisive primary.) As I mentioned earlier, Brian Moran won the poll. Now that I’ve had a chance to think about this a little more, I think I know the reason (and it wasn’t because anyone stuffed the ballot box – heck, I didn’t even have time to vote myself 😦 ). I think the reason goes back to the 2007 races. We had two successful House races – Joe Bouchard and Bobby Mathieson – and two successful Senate races – Ralph Northam and John Miller – in Hampton Roads. Moran was extremely supportive of the House candidates and Deeds was extremely supportive of the Senate candidates, so both of them were in Hampton Roads a lot. The difference was the type of events that they attended. I saw Brian at a lot of events that were attended by average Ds while I saw Creigh at events that were attended by the more high brow crowd. Thus, among the folks that I have targeted for my event – the average Ds – Brian is more well-known and I think this was what was reflected in the poll results.

Del. Steve Shannon, candidate for AG, no doubt learned a little more than he wanted to about traffic in both NoVA and Hampton Roads 😦 It took him six hours to make the trip but he persevered and got there in time to chat with folks and get something to eat. Arriving around 5pm was Congressman Bobby Scott, whose Labor Day event is the inspiration for my Memorial Day one.

I hope everyone had a good time. Thanks to everyone who showed up, especially those who came early to lend a hand. A big shout out to Betsy, Domenic, Helen, Butchie, Rita, Mary, Ann, Mark, Lisa, Jeanette, Sarah, Nena, Janna, and my right-hand man, Jason. Thanks, guys. I couldn’t have done it without you. And thanks to Sheriff Bob McCabe who not only loaned his tent for the event but also sent his guys to put it up.

As always, planning for my 4th Annual Memorial Day Bash is already underway. Mark your calendars for Saturday, May 23, 2009. Coming next year: valet parking 😉