Mr. Miller worked the gathering, among which he had several friends and supporters. I was pleased that, so far as I could tell, he seems to have abandoned those early negative attacks on Mr. Webb, his primary opponent, and concentrated more on the mess in Washington to which George Allen has contributed, and on Miller+óGé¼Gäós own theme that he will +óGé¼+ôWork For Change.+óGé¼-¥
Mary Johnson and I were there to represent Webb. Perhaps because Providence District includes parts of Falls Church, McLean, and Oakton, there were a few IT types present, one of whom adamantly rejected any argument that Miller caused job losses by bringing in foreign IT labor: +óGé¼+ôI can tell you, at my company we desperately needed IT workers, and couldn+óGé¼Gäót find them in the States,+óGé¼-¥ explaining that not just anybody could write code, it requires a certain talent to begin with, and that, yes, they did pay the foreign help less, of course.
At least one person thought it was good to hear Webb say at the FCDC meeting that +óGé¼+ôhe+óGé¼Gäód have to study the No Child Left Behind Act+óGé¼-¥ before he took a position+óGé¼GÇ¥ it struck that listener that here was a man who was not spouting cliches, and would do his own homework.
Another said, +óGé¼+ôplease, no more generalities, like +óGé¼-£Fairness.+óGé¼Gäó I+óGé¼Gäóm already motivated, but my vote will go to someone who can tell me at least one very specific, concrete thing they will do.+óGé¼-¥ Not being Webb, all I could say was, +óGé¼+ôget us out of Iraq safely.+óGé¼-¥ The man had a point: as the election draws near, Virginians are accustomed to hearing what amounts to legislative proposals, like +óGé¼+ôend the car tax,+óGé¼-¥ for example. Pondering this, I thought of two or three possible specifics that fit into Webb+óGé¼Gäós broad 4 points. Hmmm.
Both Andy Hurst and Ken Longmyer also dropped by; the rainy weather apparently called a halt to much door-knocking. They were on the way to a debate in Woodbridge. Candidating is hard work.
The most unusual comment was when, after discussing Webb+óGé¼Gäós biography and most of his four points, I was asked, +óGé¼+ôWould you want your daughter to marry the man?+óGé¼-¥ Without hesitation I replied, +óGé¼+ôAbsolutely, yes.+óGé¼-¥ +óGé¼+ôAnd the other guy?+óGé¼-¥ Again, no hesitation, +óGé¼+ôNo.+óGé¼-¥ +óGé¼+ôOkay, that+óGé¼Gäós enough for me.+óGé¼-¥ As it happens, I do not have a daughter, but no matter.