Vacaville, California, could be a Red state stereotype: the biggest employers in town are the nearby Travis Air Force Base and the Vacaville state prison, home to such notorious inmates as Charlie Manson.
I visited Vacaville years ago and remember it as a sad, dusty, depressing place, as far removed from the lush California coast and the fleshpots of Los Angeles and San Francisco as any town in the Midwest or the South. That Vacaville could produce a resident like Cindy Sheehan is as unlikely as a money tree growing in your back yard.
Thus, it comes as a surprise that an online poll run by Vacaville’s local newspaper, The Reporter, is overwhelmingly in favor of Cindy Sheehan’s effort to meet with Bush: 69% for, 27% against.
Meanwhile, some progressives are scratching their heads over this one: Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson has called for “the biggest demonstration this state has ever seen” to protest President Bush’s appearance Monday before a national veterans convention.
It turns out Salt Lake City and County are Blue enclaves in the “reddest of Red states”. Peter Carroon, the county mayor, is Howard Dean’s cousin.