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Chatham Republicans marshaled the largest Republican presence in years for the annual Chatham Independence Day parade, this year held on Saturday, the 3rd of July.

Led by the Chatham Republican Town Committee featuring "Proud to be American" T-shirts, the Republican contingent consisted of more than100 Republicans, independents and tea partiers, including Republican candidates and their supporters.

The parade was viewed by an estimated 30,000. The parade itself was one of the largest in years.

Committee marchers called out "Happy Independence Day" and "Proud to be American" as they passed along the route, evoking waves of applause and cheers. Candidates shook hands with sidewalk parade-goers. Cars, vans and buses of the committee and the candidates were festooned with American flags, bunting and banners.

The committee banner "CHATHAM REPUBLICANS" was carried by twin teenagers Luke and Dan Sprague. Handing out small flags to young and old and waving to the crowds were youngsters Andy Sprague, Nick Walters, Jack Dillon and Timothy Dillon (pictured below).

Committee marchers spanned the generations, ranging from those in their 70s to as young as 7, with the decades in between represented.

The Committee had invited all statewide Republican candidates and other Republican candidates that Chatham voters would have a chance to vote for to join them in the parade.

In the lead car driven by campaign coordinator Phil Dupont was our official GOP elephant with Mason Dupont.

Following behind the banner of the Chatham Republicans were three convention-endorsed candidates: Treasurer (Karyn Polito), Auditor (Mary Z. Connaughton) and Secretary of State (Bill Campbell). (The other convention-endorsed candidate, Charlie Baker, Republican candidate for Governor, was committed to a local hometown parade on the North Shore.)

Also in the town committee's delegation were these Republican candidates:

Bill Doherty, Barnstable County Commissioner, who has served the county faithfully for more than 20 years and is running for re-election;
the two leading candidates for the Republican nomination for the 10th Congressional District seat (Cape Cod State Representative Jeff Perry of Sandwich and former State Treasurer from the South Shore Joe Malone);
both candidates for the Republican nomination for the Cape & Islands state senate seat (Eric Steinhilber and Jim Crocker, Jr.);
supporters of Dave Dunford, the Republican candidate for the 4th Barnstable state representATive seat (Dunford, an Orleans selectman, marched in the Orleans parade, being held at the same time.); and
Kamal Jain, who is challenging the convention-endorsed candidate Mary Z. Connaughton for the Republican nomination for Auditor in the September primary.

All in all, it was a festive, upbeat, patriotic event enjoyed by all.

Greta van Sustern certainly doesn't agree with Sarah Palin on offshore drilling. Palin firmly explains why drilling must continue and why and how government regulators should and can make sure that oil companies do what they say they will do -- verify.

Based on her own experience, Palin is rightly critical of BP. Its safety record is poor and a BP oil pipeline in Alaska burst and spilled hundreds of thousands of gallons while she was in office. BP admitted it knew that section of the line was corroded yet it didn't fix it. BP was fined.