The following report is by Teddy Goodson, with Dan Fleischman's assistance. Lowell Feld and Greg Priddy from Raising Kaine were there as well, but had to leave early to assist Bob Kerrey with his appearance on Daily Kos last night for Jim Webb.Last night, an engaged crowd of about 150 Democrats saw James Webb and Harris Miller on the same stage together at a meeting of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee (FCDC) held at Holmes Middle School. Harris Miller went first, introduced by former Lt. Governor Don Beyer, who gave us a history of his friendship with Miller. In Miller, we heard a fiery speaker who seemed seasoned and prepared, delivering Democratic rhetoric at a rapid-fire pace, with all the hot button words.
James Webb followed Miller, introduced by former U.S. Congresswoman Leslie Byrne, who emphasized Webb's truly Progressive point of view. In James Webb, the audience saw a more thoughtful candidate, filled with humility and purpose. They saw a man who is not a polished political orator, but rather a concerned American citizen and a heroic veteran. In short, Webb is a leader who has seen his beloved country badly lose its way under the George W. Bush Republicans, and is determined to change its course as a public servant - not as a career politician or someone necessarily comfortable in the often cynical world of politics.
At the very beginning of his talk with the audience (not a speech, but almost a person-to-person conversation), Webb answered the implied criticisms of Miller and Beyer, that he was not a "real" Democrat. Webb described his deep roots in Southwest Virginia, and declared himself to be a Democrat returning to the Democratic Party. He is plainly intent on bringing working class Virginians who had been manipulated by Republicans for 25 years back to their true home in the Democratic Party, something the Party must do if it wants to be a real national party again. He presented his four main campaign themes, emphasizing national security and his opposition to the Iraq war dating from 2002, prior to the invasion. Webb also spoke strongly about his doctrine of fairness, explaining that the United States is developing into a three-tiered class system, in which the wealthy are well rewarded, the middle class is sliding backward, and a permanent under class is developing. As an aside, Webb mentioned that "There are college graduates who are waiting tables," unable to find more suitable employment.
Webb went on to advocate rebuilding our infrastructure to bring back American jobs, and then tackled Bush's abuse of presidential power. What is going on today, he acknowledged, is far worse than Watergate, and when he proclaimed, "I AM GOING TO RAISE HELL!" That drew a gasp of excitement in the crowd.
During the short question period, both candidates fielded some prickly questions. An Iraq War veteran inquired of Miller why he had first supported the Iraq War, and why had he changed his mind recently. The question provoked one of Miller's supporters to scream, "That man works in the Webb campaign!" as if this were true - there was absolutely no evidence this was the case - or that the question was somehow invalid. Miller did not give a particularly graceful response (he said we were given incorrect intelligence) and the veteran left, insulted and muttering, "All I tried to do was ask a question."
A woman asked Webb why he supported Oliver North in 1986. Webb, who seemed a little surprised, replied that he hadn't even talked with North since 1983, and that his many serious reservations about North were fully explained in one of his books. The woman was not satisfied, complaining "I don't want to read a book, I want to hear it from you." That's too bad, because if the woman had read Timberg's "The Nightingale's Song," a fascinating biography of five Naval Academy graduates - including Jim Webb and Oliver North - she would known that there is no love lost between the two men. Aside from their famous boxing match at Annapolis, Webb strongly questioned North's ethics in 1994, at a press conference at the Iwo Jima Memorial with U.S. Sen. Charles S. Robb. In front of the Memorial, Webb declared, "Over the years, many people who have known Oliver North well have marveled at the exaggerations and misrepresentations he has brought to the public arena." Webb added that "you can't build ethics in government if you don't have ethical people in government," and also that "The message they're sending is that conduct which has betrayed the public trust can be excused when political expediency is at stake."
Both Miller and Webb responded to a question about the gay marriage amendment, posed by a gay man. Miller claimed he was against the amendment and would vote against it in November, as he had in the straw poll on Saint Patrick's Day (the same straw poll which he lost to Jim Webb, 58%-42%). Webb stated his support for civil unions, while explaining that, in his view, marriage was between a man and a woman. However, Webb stated that this was his own religious point of view, and if some one else's religion told him otherwise, Webb did not think anyone should meddle in that. Webb added forcefully, ?Government ends at my front door!" For those reasons, the amendment is completely unnecessary in Webb's view. Webb mentioned that he was talking with various lawyers about the second portion of the amendment, which had some serious defects, including possible implications for spousal abuse. In short, Webb is somewhat of a social libertarian, and that includes not only questions about sex but also about guns.
When it came to education, Miller roundly and loudly declared the "No Child Left Behind Act" should be "left behind," which pleased the teacher asking the question. Again, we received a patient, thoughtful response from Webb, who admitted he did not have all the facts in the case and was learning about it; he was clearly in favor of strong public education. [Dan noted Webb's willingness to admit that he needs to learn more about a specific policy issue, before he makes a specific comment on it. Dan added that this works better than belting out a poorly-thought-out opinion or giving a political answer, but felt that Webb eventually would need to address these issues completely.]
On the whole, we see Webb developing as a candidate, learning his way, while Miller shows his lobbying experience and long time work as a Democratic activist. Webb told me he found himself spending too much time fund raising right now. I assured him that distasteful business was unfortunately necessary in our system.
All in all, both men did a good job last night. Miller was on the hot seat during the questions, and handled himself reasonably well. Webb came across as more down to earth, with more humility, and more credibility. He seemed less like a politician than his lobbyist opponent, but was still a bit stiff, although he is getting better speech by speech.
P.S. One disappointing aspect about the night was that it ran so long that 11th Congressional District candidates Andrew Hurst and Ken Longmyer were not given a chance to speak. Hurst took it like a champ, in excellent spirits as always. With Hurst standing next to James Webb, Dan commented, ?here you have the two best candidates in Virginia!?