Dear Fellow Virginia Democrats,I am sorry I could not be with you this evening but I grabbed a runaway power washer in the wrong part of the hose a few weeks ago, and I ended up in surgery yesterday to fix the damage to my right hand.
In any event, I hope you all enjoyed listening to the band, and I thank them for taking the time to come to Richmond.
I am particularly sorry I could not be with you because I want all of you to know how committed I am to this effort, and to broadening the base of the Democratic Party.
I believe a large majority of Virginians and Americans will be at home with a Democratic Party that fully dedicates itself to the principles laid down by such great leaders as Jefferson and Jackson. To quote my favorite Andrew Jackson phrase, "everyone is entitled to protection by law, but when the laws undertake to add artificial distinctions, to make the rich richer and the potent more powerful, the members of our society who have neither the time nor the means of securing favors for themselves have the right to complain of the injustices of our Government." This, to me, has been the historical essence of the Democratic Party. Those who have gravitated away from the party just need to hear the welcoming song, and I intend to sing it.
I don't need to list the biographical information that you all can find in my materials, but I would like to point that my family, on both sides, has a connection to this state that goes back 250 years, primarily in the mountain regions that stretch all the way from Natural Bridge to Gate City but also over to Emporia and up to Leesburg. If you get the chance to read my book Born Fighting you will see how deeply I love this state, its complicated but proud history, and most of all its people, of all backgrounds and persuasions.
I hope to make all of this clearer in the coming months. And I will be focusing on political themes which I believe have been under-debated in the past, and which are the key to our nation's future.
Have a great weekend. I hope you will join me in this effort to put our country back on the right track.
Jim Webb