Ambassador Joe Wilson shows his True Colors at Kissell Fundraiser

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday September 25, 2007 · 6:06 AM PDT

2007/09/25 · 06:06

This past Saturday, Ambassador Joe Wilson came to Charlotte, NC to support Larry Kissell in his second bid to unseat Robin Hayes in North Carolina's 8th Congressional District.

I had not had the pleasure of meeting Joe Wilson prior to Saturday's event and was honestly expecting the man to be just a wee bit of a stuffed shirt. I found instead, a man who is generous, patient and funny. He did not leave the event until he had met each person who desired an introduction, stood for pictures with all waiting in line and signed every spare scrap of paper, every book and every Creative Loafing shoved in front of him. That's quite a chore when the total attendance is over 200 people.

He is engaging and genuine. On Saturday, he didn't look over or through people. Working a room full of excited Democrats might not offer quite the same challenge as shaking hands with (and subsequently staring down) Saddam Hussein, but Joe Wilson is a skilled diplomat and it showed.

Ambassador Wilson drew quite a bit of applause and kept us laughing throughout much of his talk.

I was surprised to hear Ambassador Wilson speak so eloquently about the South. How refreshing when so many others would like to write us off.

The Ambassador had a few words to say about service to our country.

Finally, he had more than a few words to say in support of Larry Kissell, the next congressman from North Carolina's 8th Congressional District.

A good number of us were overwhelmed when we found out Ambassador Wilson would be coming to speak. He did not disappoint. For those of us who were on the ground for Kissell last year and those of us throughout the Netroots community who worked to elevate this campaign last cycle, this is a refreshing change from all the snubs Kissell got last cycle. Larry always gives bloggers ample credit for his excellent showing in 2006. He never fails to mention how important we all were to his campaign. His staffers do the same. It's great to see Larry Kissell getting the attention he deserved last cycle and we in the Netroots can be proud that our work on his behalf played a key role in putting Larry Kissell and NC-08 on everybody's radar.