Meanwhile, here in the reality-based community…

The McCain/Palin campaign held a rally in Virginia Beach yesterday. They claimed 25,000 attendees. Awkwardly, it turns out the building only holds 16,000. More awkwardly still, the fire marshall says there were only 12,000. Facts be damned, Gerry Scimeca wrote in the RPV’s newsletter this afternoon:

For Virginians looking forward to the right kind of change this November, just the ticket we need came to the Old Dominion Monday as John McCain and Sarah Palin hosted more than 55,000 of their closest friends for two hugely successful rallies. Appearing together in Virginia Beach, they drew an estimated crowd of over 30,000. Afterwards, Governor Palin moved on to the Richmond raceway and hosted an audience of over 25,000.

This is nothing new for the RPV. They told the same lie a month ago, claiming “over 25,000” people at a rally in Fairfax attended by just 15,000, long after the real number was known.

And, for the record, the RPV newsletter remains just awful. In the latest issue, they complain about somebody registering to vote as Mickey Mouse. Unless somebody can gin up a driver’s license with the name “Mickey Mouse,” and present it with a straight face, it’s tough to see how that would contribute to “steal[ing] the election.”

It’s not for nothing that I called the RPV a “Mickey Mouse operation” last month. On the other hand, Jim Gilmore’s name doesn’t appear once in this week’s edition of the newsletter, with just two more issues due out before the election. I guess they know a dead horse when they see one.

Published by Waldo Jaquith

Waldo Jaquith (JAKE-with) is an open government technologist who lives near Char­lottes­­ville, VA, USA. more »