:)

Lowell, after this speech, people were absolutely in AWE. I heard about it from relatives of people who were there months later.

I had no idea Don had this on tape, I don't have time to watch it, but wow.  People wanted Jarding for President that night - many were sitting there with their mouths hanging open - no kidding.

I have been around Steve many times - in hdqtrs, at the primary victory party, at the Kerry rally.  I had never seen anything close to this level of passion!  It is terrific.

I was there at that event. It was then and there the Lynchburg DEMS knew Webb was great because if his stand in was that terrific then Webb had to be a keeper! Steve Jarding could win any election he ran for!

Even though Lynchburg didn't go for Webb ( lost by 800 votes) our committee, the Chair John Lawrence, 1st Vice Chair Tom McGrath and every volunteer down to the poll workers helped so much and worked very hard for Jim Webb!

KUDOS to E.C. Glass YD Beau Wright who flex cnavassed on his own time, worked on the Fairness coalition against the stupid ballot Amendment #1, and phone banked!

Lynchburg is great! So is our Delegate Shannon Valentine!

We are NOT just Liberty University and Jerry Falwell!We ar so much more!

Thanks so much, Don and Lowell for making these videos of Steve Jarding's speech available to all of us.  I attended that Fifth Congressional District Democratic Committee fundraiser in Forest last winter and for many months have been ranting and raving about Steve's speech that night.  I was afraid that it had not been preserved, and that would have been a travesty. 

Jarding's most impressive oratorical offering followed speeches given by the likes of Roscoe Reynolds, Harris Miller, Al Weed, Bern Ewert and others, all experienced public speakers who did an excellent job. 

However, as one can readily discern in these two videos, Jarding's speech was delivered at an entirely different level, reminiscent of powerful religious sermons and political stump speeches of yesteryear.  The mood of 300+ participants, already fired up and ready to win elections for Democrats, was further stoked by Steve's oration.

I first met Steve Jarding in late January at a breakfast gathering in a small restaurant in the town of Buchanan in Botetourt County when he and Mudcat were traveling with Jim Webb, promoting Webb's potential candidacy for the U. S. Senate. 

Steve was sitting quietly at one end of a long table and would have gone unnoticed had I not introduced myself to him.  Of course, as soon as I heard his name, I realized that I was talking with the co-author of "Foxes in the Henhouse". 

That was prior to Steve's speech in Forest, and I was amazed at how this quiet, seemingly introverted individual could deliver such an impassioned, on-point, fact-filled description of our nation's current plights and needs and how they could be repaired by Democratic candidates such as Jim Webb.

Later last spring, at his and Mudcat's official "Foxes" book signing event at Barnes and Noble in Roanoke, I kidded Steve about his speech in Forest, telling him I didn't realize that he had been a preacher in a former life, and he smiled and quietly replied that his speech had come from the heart.

No doubt, Steve; no doubt . . .

Steve McGraw 

but he was in seminary for awhile.

He knows his scripture, that's for sure.

He really is just too damned good.

This was amazing.  I sent this link out to a number of people, and universally they were stunned at how good he was. 

Any possibility at all that he'd like to run for something?  I love that Jarding's for publicly financed elections. We need a lot more people who think that way in government.