MORRISTOWN - There were at least 3,000 people standing in front of Mikie Sherrill on Saturday afternoon.

The just-christened Democratic nominee for governor scanned the sign-carrying crowd surrounding town hall and began talking about Morristown's role in the American Revolution, back when the people first refused to be ruled by a king.

She then moved onto talking about how the eyes of the nation will be on New Jersey this fall.  Then she stopped - almost in mid-sentence.

"I just saw something that kind of made me smile, because you may remember that there has only been one female governor of the entire state of New Jersey.  And she's actually standing right here."

Sure enough, Christie Whitman was standing in the crowd about 30 feet in front of the podium. The 78-year-old former Republican governor was hard to recognize. Like most attendees, she was wearing a raincoat and cap.

Sherrill beckoned Whitman, who was elected governor in 1993 and re-elected four years later, to the stage.

Asked what motivated her to come out in the rain, Whitman said it was today's military parade in Washington, a spectacle she termed "outrageous."

Whitman, whose moderate views make her persona non grata in today's MAGA-infused Republican Party, endorsed Sherrill for governor earlier this week.

The "No Kings Rally" in Morristown and countless more across the state and nation were prompted by the scheduled parade, which coincides with Donald Trump's birthday and the formation of the American army.

Amallia Duarte, the chair of the Morris County Dems, said the president was holding a "45 million dollar parade to celebrate himself."

Critics say the notion of tanks and other military equipment parading through the streets of Washington is more in line with what happens in authoritative regimes, not democracies.

Thomas Malinowski, a former CD-7 congressman, told the crowd he's old enough to remember the nation's bicentennial back in 1976.

It was marked, he recalled, not by tanks, but by a "parade of tall ships on the Hudson."

It was raining hard at 10 a.m. when people began gathering for the rally. Crowds were not deterred. They filled the lawn of town hall and South Street, which was closed to traffic.

An earlier rally took place about a half-mile away at a park statue commemorating Thomas Paine.

An organizer of that rally told the wet crowd that Paine's condemnation of "Sunshine Patriots" was definitely true today.

Trump may have been the focus, but this year's election also came up.

Mayor Tim Dougherty, enthused by the large crowd, said the passion has to be long lasting and not a one day flash in the pan.

Attendees were urged not to engage with any counter-demonstrators. There were none at the rally.

But there was a vehicle adorned with Trump flags that drove around town as the rally was breaking up. There were no incidents, just some yelling back and forth.