Monday, November 06, 2006

Breaking ... Rhonda Winfield meets Cindy Sheehan....

Two military moms meet this morning in Vienna

It's been a long time coming ... this meeting of two military moms who are on opposite sides of the political fence.

The journey began in the summer of 2005 when Cindy Sheehan camped out in Crawford, TX, to protest President Bush and the war in Iraq. The news covered it on a daily basis. Then Sheehan erected crosses with the names of those killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In August I was working the Augusta County Fair along with GOP Chairman Kurt Michael when Rhonda Winfield, her husband Scott, and sons Courtland and Carter stopped by the Republican booth to say hello. I asked Rhonda what she thought about the Sheehan debacle and she was ready to fly to Crawford to take down the cross with her son's name ... Marine Lance Cpl. Jason Redifer. I told her I'd fly with her ... just let me know! At that time she had written an open letter to Cindy Sheehan - "You don't represent me, Cindy" - and wanted to get it to her. She ended up calling the Crawford Sheriff's office who removed the cross with Jason's name.

Two weeks after the fair I called Rhonda to let her know we were planning a Support the Troops rally in downtown Staunton, and asked if she was serious about getting her message out to Cindy Sheehan. She didn't hesitate one minute; she said yes, and I asked if she would be the keynote speaker at the rally which she readily agreed to do.

We had a great rally with 200 people and Rhonda spoke from her heart, touching those in the crowd. As a result of the press release that was sent out, Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace called and asked that Rhonda appear on their nationwide program with a Cindy Sheehan supporter. Rhonda was able to appear and stood up for President Bush and his leadership in the war in Iraq.

Fast forward to today ... Vienna, Virginia ... meet-and-greet with Senator George Allen at the Metro Station as folks were heading to work.

Two moms ... one supporting George Allen, one supporting Jim Webb.

Rhonda Winfield and Cindy Sheehan met today ... 14 months after Rhonda originally wrote her Open Letter to Cindy.

There will be more story and photos as soon as I return to Staunton....

No comments: