Republican Roundup 2008

By Jane

Long after the Republican Roundup was over, a group of diehard Eric Cantor fans stayed around, as he drove down from D.C. after working on the bailout. This photo was taken an hour after the event was supposed to be over. (Cantor is at  right with his back to the camera). [More photos at Conservativa].

The 2008 Republican Roundup, held Saturday in Glen Allen, was a great success. 3,400 RSVPs came in and 3,900 barbeque dinners were planned for and as near as I can learn, all or nearly all consumed. The tables with McCain signs and stickers were picked clean early. The crowd was charged up by the McCain-Palin ticket and ready to work hard from now until election day.

7th District Chairman Linwood Cobb did a good job as EmCee and introduced Senate candidate Jim Gilmore. Gilmore hit the themes of energy and trust in the candidates (as in, you can trust Mark Warner at least in one thing - he will raise your taxes), and had the crowd cheering loudly for the McCain-Palin ticket.

Next up were Diana Cantor and the Cantors’ daughter, who already is like both of her parents, a confident public speaker.  They spoke briefly, saying that the Congressman was going to try to make it back that evening. (He did, after the event was over, but some stayed and he spoke to the crowd and stayed around to greet people).

Then the politicking, mingling, and eating resumed. There were plenty of elected officials around. LG Bolling and AG McDonnell were there, several Delegates, RPV Chairman Frederick, and some AG hopefuls: Brownlee, Cuccinelli, and David Foster.

I saw a lot of familiar faces from Central Virginia politics, but a lot of new faces as well. Bloggers I saw: SWAC Girl, Crystal Clear Conservative, Rick Sincere, Steven Latimer (hope I’m not leaving anyone out).