GA-10 Democratic Congressional Candidate James Marlow Mixes with Atlanta Kossacks at First ATLKos Event
Manuel's Tavern in Virginia Highlands was the scene last night as 42 (counting those who had to leave early and others who came late) passionately progressive Kossacks enjoyed the first-ever ATLKos event. Highlighting the event was James Marlow, GA-10 Congressional candidate and renowned talk show host Mike Malloy. Prominent local bloggers Catherine Smith of Blog for Democracy and Jon Flack (flackattack) of Tondee's Tavern joined the group. Well-known Pro-Choice advocate Ann Rose MC'd the event. Netroots favorite and Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries Ron Sparks, potential challenger to Jeff Sessions, spoke to the crowd by phone hookup.
More on the flip:
James Marlow spoke passionately about his campaign focus on Iraq, the urgency of providing troops with needed equipment, and a strategy of diplomacy as endorsed by the Iraq Study Group to bring this terrible debacle to an expeditious end.
As would be expected, Kossacks asked lots of tough question, especially on Iraq, the Patriot Act, and the issue of impeachment. Lively discussions took place with varied Kossack viewpoints in the room ranging from the purist to the pragmatic.
Marlow also spoke of the challenges of running as a moderate/progressive Democrat in a conservative district, likening it to facing a 300 mph wind but still being achievable. Kossack Sean drew some great laughter by remarking that Marlow was speaking to a group that represented a 300mph wind too...blowing in the OTHER direction.
Overall James Marlow did a great job, spoke candidly, and was well-received.
Mike Malloy had some great observations, especially on the issue of abortion and choice. He talked about how it is important for Democrats to re-frame the discussion on choice in terms of the right to privacy, as an effective way to un-demonize the Republican meme of painting Dems as pro-abortion. Mike is an avid DKos reader, and gets many ideas for his daily talk show from both frontpagers and diarists.
Ron Sparks called in and thanked the group for its support. He is a strong believer in the netroots as the new frontier in politics. Ron is sounding more and more like he's going to be a candidate and take on the difficult challenge of unseating Bush rubber-stamp Jeff Sessions. If only we could clone Ron here in Georgia!
We had a very diverse group, with an equal representation among women and men and an age range from 20's to 60's. It was great to place the usernames with the faces, although there were some surprises. OPOL expected the volvodrivingliberal (me) to be a Birkenstock-wearing type but that notion was dispelled when I arrived and he thought I looked like a Republican who wandered into the wrong room. Some had the impression that Grapes would be student, but he's actually a professor in the business school at Auburn University. Many thanks to Grapes and his wife, Jeanne, for making the long drive over from Alabama. Kudos also to Ann Rose for a great job as the evening's MC.
There was strong consensus that another ATLKos event be scheduled in the very near future. Shown below are few pics from the event:
Kossacks AnnRose,
Kathy Malloy, JanAtlanta, Mike Malloy, and mini-Kossack Molly Malloy.
World-famous OnePissedOffLiberal enjoys a brew (Kossacks AnnRose and Terrapin in the Background).
Jon and Hana Ross enjoy a brew (OPOL, Pat208, and DrZombie in intense discussion in the background).
Vic(Grapes)and Jeanne Uzumeri, drove from Auburn, AL to attend the event.
Pat208, VDL's fellow veteran of the Cynthia McKinney/Hank Johnson election piefights.
Kossack Sandy Denmon (sbdenmon) relishes a cold one after a full day of Little League activity with her three sons.
Gil (Irish Witch) Listens intently as James Marlow speaks.
By the way, a link to James Marlow's campaign website is here. You can contribute to the Marlow campaign at his ACT BLUE page here. An ATLKos group has been set up on the fundraising page, so please cough up a few bucks if you can. He needs to raise $3000 this week.