"Crashing the Gate": Building Virginia's Miracle

This was my second "Crashing the Gate" book signing.  Lowell blogged the last one, [here].  This was apparently about the 120th such event Kos and Jerome have held and it's obvious they're excited to put this book tour to rest.  Where at the earlier event there was an urgency and excitement to kick off and make a splash, now they've accomplished much of what they'd hoped and were today much more interested in mingling and talking with the crowd.

The Virginia Progressive Blogs were well represented.  Among the bloggerati in attendance were Nate Wilcox from Forward Together PAC blog, Kenton from 750 Volts, Ben Tribbett from Not Larry Sabato, Greg Bouchillon from The Daily Whackjob, and others who's names I'm not sure I'm at liberty to divulge, including teacherken, Virginia Centrist, and Tom Joad.  Delegate Adam Ebbin from Alexandria was there as well and so was uuberDem Kip Malinosky.
This was the first time I met either Brian Moran or Adam Ebbin.  Both are fantastic guys fighting the good fight against an unreasonable and incompetent Republican majority in the Virginia House.  Look for more on Adam Ebbin on Raising Kaine in the next few days.

I was particularly impressed with Brian Moran, who is excited about Democratic prospects in rural Virginia.  He spent a lot of time recently travelling the Shenandoah, meeting with local committees, many of whom are grooming strong candidates to put up against some of the most reactionary Republicans across the Commonwealth.  If Moran had one message from today and one message he shares with Kos and Jerome it's that Democrats in Virginia must compete in every county, and that thanks to our recent successes in party building and in electing Tim Kaine, Democrats are prepared and preparing to do just that.

This event overall was extremely friendly, relaxed and fun.  Kos and Jerome made some of the same points they had made at the earlier event blogged by Lowell. Today, I asked about the "Colorado Miracle" they describe in their book.  In Colorado, two leading donors were successful in bringing together all of the progressive interest groups, and rather than working at odds with each other they were able to coordinate voter ID, education, and GOTV efforts so successfully that they took over the Colorado House and got Ken Salazar elected to the US Senate. 

I see Virginia today as very similar to Colorado before the "Miracle", but Kos reminded me that there's no cookie cutter solution.  The message of "Crashing the Gate" that I see for Virginia Progressives, Democrats, activists, and bloggers, is, as Kos reminded me, that we have to make our own Virginia Miracle.

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