Thanks to my good friend Stan Davis for the following report from yesterday's Colorado JJ Dinner festivities.
Sen. Jim Webb was the keynote speaker at Friday's statewide Jefferson-Jackson Dinner. Earlier in the day, Webb and CD-2 (Boulder) Congressman and Senate candidate met with a group of veterans.The dinner was 1800 of my nearest and dearest. I watched him on the big screen, since I was way off to the right of the stage. He noted the attendance and said that his margin of victory over Allen was about the number of people in the room. He also noted that our Ken Salazar was the first Senator to support and endorse him.
Webb is a MUCH better speaker than what I remember from his campaign. He seemed quite comfortable, appeared to have only scant notes, and spoke very well. He's a good match for Colorado. I didn't take any notes, but he talked about his legislation for vets and financial/economic justice. He also refuses to call the "thing" in Iraq a war. He talks about the war in Afghanistan and the occupation of Iraq.
More on the "flip."
I didn't know that he was a big pro-union guy even in the Reagan years. He talked about how nobody could figure him out (my term would be label or pigeonhole him). He said something about being the only Democratic Senator with eight (or whatever) novels, a union card, and two purple hearts under his belt. The bottom line: Jim Webb is just Jim Webb -- a "oner." The union card is with the Screen Writers Guild or something, since he worked on the screenplay of "Fields of Fire." (?)In the introduction at the dinner, Udall read Webb's Navy Cross citation. I cried.
Geez, you can just see and feel the steel in the guy's spine. I want him on my side in a bar fight, and I'd go way out of my way not to make him mad. I'd bet those eyes with an angry stare would melt titanium. Anybody who tries to question his patriotism had better duck, and fast. Salazar touted Webb for VP, but Webb didn't pick up on it.
I also learned tonight that the Salazar for Senate '10 campaign has hired the Brent Blackaby and Larry Huynh group for internet work. A Salazar staffer, Ken Lane, a former big Clarkie, apparently was the catalyst. I can't imagine a bigger mismatch -- the old, stodgy Ken Salazar and the innovative BlakrockOnline group. I'm going to e-mail them and ask them to help turn Ken into a Democrat.
I had a nice reunion with Nick Kelly. None of his family came, though. Nick and I tag-teamed a couple of ladies from across town with Clark stuff. One of them was for Clinton and the other was for Obama. But they were still friends.
It was great to see my '04 Senate candidate Mike Miles. He's for Obama (no surprise there). He's thinking he might try something in about 8 years, when he will be 59 and his kids will be older (the youngest is 6). I told him that President Obama should appoint him as an Undersecretary of State or Secretary of Education. Meanwhile, he's the superintendent of a medium-to-large school district in south Colorado Springs. Remember that he also was a West Pointer (8th in his class), a counter-terrorist Army Ranger, and a State Department intelligence analyst and diplomat.
He was at the Colorado JJ, the New Hampshire JJ... but not ours.
I'm certain there's a reason. A simple note to his constituents, or even the activist who supported and elected him, explaining it, would be a really nice thing.
Always read all your email/thread/posts/comments before commenting or posting yourself.
See the next top-level comment.
I withdraw my critique.
The stereotypical politician would have blown off his family commitment in hopes of maybe getting some donations down at the JJ. Webb didn't do that and instead stuck to some of the qualities that we liked when we elected him.
The good news is the DC metro area is probably the best served metro area in terms of flight choices because of the proximity of three major airports!
Jim Webb is doing more to legitimize the Democratic party with working folks and moderates than anyone else in Virginia politics. To question his Dem creds because he did not show up at a soiree is a little peevish.
The one part of his Iraq past that Mr. McCain does want us to recall now is his subsequent criticism of the war's execution. But contrary to his current claims, he never publicly demanded Mr. Rumsfeld's head. And when Mr. McCain did call for more troops in Iraq, he was again in sync with Democrats like Joe Biden, with whom he made that case on "Meet the Press" in August 2003.Rather than dwell on this ancient history, Mr. McCain said last week, we should talk about "what we are going to do now." But his answer to "what we are going to do now" in Iraq is merely more of what he did then.
If, as he says, the surge is "succeeding," voters may well join the Democratic ticket (possibly including the Vietnam War hero Jim Webb?) in asking why we'll still have some 140,000 troops on indefinite duty in Iraq as of this summer, a year and a half after this "temporary" escalation was announced. It will be a slam-dunk for Democrats to argue that it's long past time for the Iraqis to stand up on a sensible timetable that will allow the Americans to stand down.