Best-selling authors appear at Webb event (Grisham and King ex-repukes)

[jefferson_dem]

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- About 1,000 supporters of Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Jim Webb filled the Paramount Theater last night to hear readings by Webb and best-selling authors John Grisham and Stephen King.

<SNIP>

Webb is challenging Republican U.S. Sen. George Allen in the Nov. 7 election. Susan Payne, who helped Grisham organize the event, said Webb's campaign raised more than $125,000 from the sold-out crowd that listened as Grisham and King read from soon-to-be-published novels and Webb read a passage about his father from his nonfiction book, "Born Fighting."

<SNIP>

Grisham, King and Webb each said he had been a Republican before switching parties. All three wore combat boots to honor Webb's son, Jimmy, a Marine lance corporal serving in Iraq.

"How fitting that boots have become a symbol of this campaign," said Grisham, an Albemarle County resident. "On one side you have cowboy boots. A lot of these guys come from privileged backgrounds and to convince the public they are tough guys, they wear boots."

"They are not real cowboys," Grisham said. "Willie Nelson said of our president, 'He ain't no cowboy, and he ain't from Texas.' The boots are part of a costume, part of an image. The trouble with political cowboys is they think they're tough, and to prove it they swagger around and they use macho language and they utter such wisdoms as 'Bring it on,' 'Mission accomplished' and here lately, 'Welcome to the real Virginia.'"

<SNIP>

http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD/MGArticle/RTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149190807135

[babylonsister]

1. Makes me want to go out and buy some combat boots in support! nt

[WePurrsevere]

2. IMO combat boots & work boots symbolize Dems better anyway since we're the

one's who usually go in and clean up the BIG messes that RepubliCons have dumped all over the world.

[tsuki]

8. Agreed, and well said. nt

[BootinUp]

3. Grisham needs to go national, awesome truths there.

[Subdivisions]

13. ...More so than King, though both of them would definately

be able to speak to a HUGE segment of the population. Grisham more so, though, because he's not viewed as "sick" or "crazy", as King would tend to be viewed.

Having said that, it would be nice to have either one of them, or both, getting the message out about this administration as both would be taken seriously by a lot of people.

[babylonsister]

4. Recommend for truth from some smart guys. nt

[Vidar]

5. Always nice to hear about ex-Republicans. I became one about

thirty years ago.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

6. So . . .

you became an ex-Republican before being an ex-Republican was cool!

[Vidar]

9. A year in France (good), a year in Texas(nightmarish) & Reagan's

hypocritical budget-busting turned me into the socialist I am today.

[ShortnFiery]

7. Excellent News. Thanks. eom

[samsingh]

10. good to hear some of the authors are coming over to the light.

[DamnYank]

15. King is a long-time Dem

King has stated that he entered college as a Repuke and graduated in 1970 as a Dem. Vietnam and the sixties changed him. This isn't a recent switch.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

16. Yup.

But I always thought of him as something of a real moderate. In his defense, he was born into freeperdom and the cards were stacked against him. Going from that to liberalism is a change that takes a life time. More power to him.

[underpants]

11. I love how the Times-Disgrace feels that it has to explain comments to you

oh that's right I forgot who their readers were.

[Jade Fox]

12. "Cowboy" is a derogatory term....

in law enforcement and military circles, I believe. It refers to someone who is a loose cannon egomaniac likely to do more damage than good.

Fitting, when thinking of Boy Bush.

[Marlie]

14. I remember

Last year Stephen King had a big piece sign in lights as his outdoor
Christmas decoration. I thought that was great.