I traveled to Winchester Virginia last month. I wasn’t there to campaign (although I should have been) but to give a talk and do a workshop for a conference produced by a branch of the Virginia Small Business Development Center. It was different to be in a swing state just before this election – signs were everywhere and people were talking (but not really so different, because nobody seemed to be listening much!).
Winchester is the oldest city west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, founded in 1750. It’s a small, historic town of 30,000. My hosts put me up at an old downtown hotel called the George Washington. I arrived late afternoon, checked in, and went to the bar for a drink. I immediately met a 68 year old man born and raised in Winchester, and within half an hour he’d heaped on me much of the history of the town and the region.