And others. Dina has a great post up at Kos tonight. There is a link to some pictures of the training session...huge crowd. Proud of Washington, wish we could garner crowds like that here.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/2/21/22833/1156"Just about every WA DEM VIP was speaking: our new chair Dwight Peltz, Governor Gregoire, Jim Mcdermott, and all of the other WA reps, plus 2 candidates, Darcy Burner & one from Eastern WA, trying to unseat Repubs. I love the pictures of the Dem congressmen backing up Darcy.
I also ran into my 34th District Reps Joe McDermott & Eileen Cody, Seattle City Council members, LD chairs, etc.
WAIT, WAS SOMEONE MISSING?
I saw Maria Cantwell campaign signs and Maria Cantwell T-shirts; Dean, Peltz, McDermott and Gregoire energetically talked up Cantwell, urging her re-election, reminding us of her courageous battle with oil monsters in Alaska--but Maria herself was not present! Hmmm...She was invited, but must've been too busy to attend this event and speak to a thousand hard-core Dem activists from all over the state. Maybe she washes her hair on Monday nights, or was enjoying a well-deserved holiday, Presidents' Day. Or an important meeting ran overtime, unfortunately...
I'll add there was a hearty serving of red-meat antiwar rhetoric from McDermott and Peltz, a war the U.S. should "NEVER HAVE STARTED," to roars of approval from the crowd. That could've been embarrassing for Senator "No Regrets"--had she decided to attend. Cantwell, on the rare occasions she acknowledges that a bloody occupation in Iraq is ongoing, still believes it's for their own good, apparently, democracy and all that, you know. As for the U.S. troops, hey, thanks for sacrificing your time, sweat, blood tears, limbs, short-term memory, whatever, for the same. "
Belly laugh
Huge crowd
And here's her link to the picture gallery of the event...large pics, take time to load on dialup....worth it though.
http://www.costumegoddess.com/34dems/crabfest.htm