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Kucinich Hits Homerun in Jefferson's Hometown

By David Swanson, PDA Advisory Board member
December 11, 2007, Charlottesville, VA

Dennis agreed to pay a visit to Virginia, the home of the chief authors of the U.S. Constitution, and he chose the hometown of Thomas Jefferson, Charlottesville, Va., where I happen to live. We had 8 or 9 days to find a venue, sell tickets, invite the media, and so forth, and everybody pulled together.

The city and county Democratic parties pitched in. University of Virginia student groups spread the word. Musicians volunteered. Local activists made and posted flyers. Generous supporters bought advertisements. The local Air America station promoted the event and gave away free tickets on air. Dennis did pre-event interviews with local radio stations and with the daily and one of the weekly papers. The TV stations interviewed me prior to the event. 

And we packed the Albemarle County Office Building auditorium, which we rented for $16. It's a beautiful space, and we filled the downstairs and the balcony with about 600 people. The Co-Chair of the City Dems Sherry Kraft and the Vice Chair of the County Dems John Wertman welcomed Dennis. So did the Mayor, David Brown, who said his car still has the Kucinich 2004 sticker on it. I emceed, and also introduced former CIA analyst Ray McGovern who endorsed Kucinich in the strongest terms.

Then I introduced Dennis, and he lit the place up for over an hour with a speech that starts out slow and philosophical and then builds. He took lots of questions from the audience, and then posed for photos with people. City Council Member Dave Norris met Dennis afterwards and talked with him. Norris is due to become Mayor in January, and he agreed when Dennis asked him to introduce a resolution in support of a Declaration of Peace. Los Angeles had just passed such a resolution the day Dennis spoke. (Norris has been backing Obama but has decided to add a Kucinich sticker next to the Obama one).

Comments after the event were unanimous: this was one of the best events ever held in Charlottesville, one of the biggest ever held in that building, and people are now energized and collecting signatures in a final push to guarantee that Dennis' name will be on the ballots for the February 12th Virginia presidential primary.