I know it's late on the East coast but I just couldn't wait. I hope you'll all help out here.
I've just had a goose-bump morning and afternoon with a candidate for heavily-Republican California 48th Congressional District seat left vacant when Christopher Cox left for the SEC.
His name is Steve Young and even if you don't know the name you'll think you do.
Read below and I'll be back tomorrow after Steve speaks at the Irvine AME church. Be back that is if this stays alive long enough. No, I'll be back even if I have to post another diary.
I'm so excited that I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me first say that Steve doesn't know I'm writing this. I'm not part of his campaign other than as a volunteer.
I just spent the last 5 ½ hours walking the crowd at the Tustin Tiller Days Parade in Tustin, Ca. in which Steve rode as the very last entry. We started the parade with Steve on the back of a Ford Mustang convertible with his wife, Solange beside him and Brad at the wheel.
Walking the crowd was myself and 6 others handing out brochures and candy. I'm sure we created some future Dems with that candy. The most eye-catching walker was Chuck of Veterans for Peace with his 1 yr-old-one-eyed English Bulldog Patch who sported two Steve Young signs over his back. Patches loved the attention.
It was a slow start and at one point when the parade stopped Steve jumped out of the car to shake hands with a few people at the side of the route.
I've got to tell you it was magic. Steve connected with the people and couldn't get back into the car. He would walk to stay with the parade and stop to talk with people along the way. I wish I'd had a camera to capture how the crowd reacted to him and how he seemed to gain energy as he walked and talked. There are a few times when you're part of something special. This was one of those times for me.
A couple of times he tried to get back into the car but just couldn't stay. He had to be among the people. When someone would ask how he stood on a particular issue he would take the time to explain his position and then, shocker of shockers he'd say - "How to you feel about this"? He would listen.
Towards the end the public announcer said to the crowd "And finally here comes Steve Young one of the candidates for Congress. Good luck Steve." The significance of this is that there was a Republican candidate also in the parade and he never left his car and was virtually ignored.
It was a beautiful thing. People would see the car and yell from the crowd "Go, Steve. Make a difference" and then be floored when Steve would come by to shake their hands.
After the parade was over he walked among the crowd and engaged in more than a few conversations with people. He even got one long-time Republican to say that he'd consider voting for Steve after talking to him.
I hope that I've convinced you that Steve has a chance against whomever the Republicans throw at him but first he's got to get the chance by winning the Democratic Primary this Tues Oct 4th so we don't have much time.
Spend some time at Steve's site and please recommend this diary so that we can keep Steve out front. Read his bio and you'll see what kind of person Steve Young is and what kind of Congressman he'll be.