Southwest Virginia

June Presidential Debate House Parties

Posted by brian on Wednesday, June 06

This past Sunday, I had the opportunity to attend one of the June Democratic Presidential Debate House Parties held in Southwestern Virginia. While many democrats watched the debate from the comfort of their homes, there were several parties organized by local democratic activists. I would like to briefly share some of the highlights from three of these events.

In Radford, democratic committee members, local activists and young democrats joined together in the home of the Radford City local chair – Gail Montuori. The atmosphere was electric, full of conversations about which of the candidates each person seemed to favor at this point and why. Several young democrats were in attendance and were so eager about the upcoming 2008 election cycle.

Another party, only six miles away in Dublin, was also full of the usual stories of Presidential hopefuls, past campaigns and interesting personal stories from individual experiences of the local committee and young democrats attending this particular party. The organizers of this party succeeded in bringing the Pulaski County Democratic Committee leadership together with several young democrats in the community.

The third party I’d like to mention was the party organized by the dedicated grassroots activist with decades of political involvement – Charles A Cox of Dryden. This event, occurring in the Southwestern most part of Virginia in Lee County, was a great mix of long serving democratic activists, friends and neighbors of Mr. Cox. He opened his home up for a glimpse at the 2008 Democratic Presidential Candidates and the same types of discussions occurred in far Southwest Virginia, as in every corner of Virginia that night.

These were just three of the numerous gatherings held throughout the Commonwealth, throughout Southwestern Virginia. Each party provided an opportunity for democrats to mingle together, network and already begin a dialogue about their grassroots role in 2008. For many of the attendees, this was their first democratic event and they were eager to attend more functions and to volunteer.

In all, I would say that the house parties were a tremendous success and everyone participating is looking forward to the next opportunity to gather as Democrats.

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