The embarassing unpleasantness that Harris Miller is spreading within the Democratic Party in Virginia is not without precedent. In December of 1989, the Fairfax County Democratic Committee was a house divided.
From "Chairman of Fairfax Democrats Faces Challenge From Within Party", by Heath and Anderson in The Washington Post, 30 December 1989:
Although many believe the party needed to broaden its base to succeed in Fairfax, Miller's associations with businesses has gotten him into hot water in the past.During the 1987 supervisors' race, the Democratic Committee accepted a loan from a Fairfax developer at the same time that Miller was criticizing Republicans for laundering developers' money through its committee. The contribution was not made public until a Washington Post report last spring.
A number of FCDC members were so unhappy with Harris Miller that they attempted to remove him from his position as chair. They felt that his "aggressive courting" of business interests was at the expense of the ordinary rank-and-file Democrats.
His opponent, John Rosenthall was the chairman of the Lee District Democrats. Rosenthall hoped to expand voter participation and further broaden grass-roots activity.
Another district chair, Ernestine Heastie, was a Rosenthall supporter. Of Miller, she explained, "Harris has done a lot of things that I respect... But he has tried so hard to appeal to the business community that he hasn't done enough for the traditional Democrats who don't bring in the big money but who do the licking of envelopes and the folding and the stuffing."
Heastie went on to say, "We need to do more for the average Democrats to let them know we know the party still revolves around them."
Miller managed to retain the chair for two more years, and in May 1991 Jennifer Spevacek had yet another piece in the Washington Times entitled "Horwatt says Moore camp is rigging nomination rules."
A group of "conspirators" is trying to rig the rules to ensure that incumbent Audrey Moore wins the Democratic nomination for Board of Supervisors chairman, challenger Michael Horwatt charged yesterday."This cynical backroom deal cannot and will not stand," Mr. Horwatt said, warning of "an attempted coup d'etat by a small group of people who believe the only way Audrey Moore can win this nomination is to steal it."
Fairfax Republicans settled their intraparty differences without making the headlines and selected Tom Davis as their candidate.
The story reports that Miller let it be known that "many Democrats were upset" since they would not have the benefit of raising money over the summer as would Republican Davis.
Mr. Miller said several people asked him at a Sunday fund-raiser to find a way to shorten the nomination process. "I said I was willing to consider it," he said. "We had to make sure there was enough time for both candidates to do their work."
We have more Miller humor in his response when asked about Horwatt's conspiracy allegations, "Level-headed fellow, isn't he?"
Moore got the nomination, and as election day approached, we find Harris Miller in print yet again. This time his target was Tom Davis, the Republican candidate running for Chair of the Board of Supervisors.
In a Washington Times article from early November 1991 Jennifer Spevacek noted that Mr. Davis was shaking hands at a Metro station, much like Miller has been doing lately.
Here's yet another manifestion of Harris Miller's "razor-sharp" wit:
Harris Miller, chairman of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee, compared Mr. Davis to Richard Nixon and questioned his mental stability."He's a whiny, panicky type of guy who gets upset with people taking his picture eating popcorn," said Mr. Miller. "This is not a man at peace with himself."
Humor can be difficult to translate, particularly the razor-sharp variety. Think Vulgate. Fortunately, a functional translation for diligent commoners is available in the most recent Harris Miller for Dummies Reverse English Dictionary preprint. Here's how I parse it:
Man, that Davis is one fucked up dude. And get this - he's a chicken shit woos who walks around like he's got a corncob stuck up his ass.
The race wasn't even close. Davis had a 32-point lead over Miller's candidate, Audrey Moore. Davis went on to Congress. And yes, this plot thickens. From his web site:
Tom also serves as one of four co-chairs of the Information Technology Working Group, a group he founded to promote a better understanding of issues important to the computer and technology industries. In May 1999 he sponsored the Y2K Act, legislation which ensured that businesses spent their money on Y2K compliance rather than saving it for costly lawsuits that might have otherwise arisen. Tom was the recipient of the Electronic Industry Alliance+óGé¼Gäós 1999 Congressional Technology Policy Award and was inducted into the American Electronics Association+óGé¼Gäós High Tech Hall of Fame in Spring 2000.
Sweet gherkins. Miller needed to mend fences rather quickly, but giving to Davis directly would have destroyed his Dem creds, so we return to the ITAA PAC. For the 1999-2000 election cycle, the PAC appeared to be a vehicle for Miller's Republican contributions.
Total Miller All ITAA Employees
Donations
Amount: $8,350 $5,750 $7,350
Percentage: 100 68.9 88.0Contributions
Total RepublicansAmount: $6,984 $6,734
Percentage: 100 96.4
Of those contributions $2000 went to Spencer Abraham (see previous diary), $2484 to Hastert, $1000 to Kolbe, and a mere $500 to Tom Davis.
By 2001 Miller at least felt comfortable in saying that he was working with Congressman Tom Davis (R-VA). See June 14, 2001 testimony on Hearing on "Fighting Cyber Crime".
The next cycle saw ITAA PAC donating a whopping $3,786 to Tom Davis. Sensenbrenner was the distant runner up with $1,500. And for that cycle 73.7% of the donations were Miller's and 38.7% of the contributions were to Davis alone.
By 2003 Miller testified before Davis' House Government Reform Committee Hearing On Implementation Of The Support Anti-Terrorism By Fostering Effective Technologies Act.
This is commonly referred to as the SAFETY Act and was a high priority for ITAA companies in limiting their liability should anti-terrorist technology fail to perform.
While Miller is not quite so effusive as he was with George Allen, Tom and Harris seem to get along rather well.
T. DAVIS: ... Harris, we'll start with you, and then Mr. Soloway and then John, you'll be our clean up batter.Thank you all for being with us.
MILLER: Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, many thanks for having me here today to allow ITAA to testify on the implementation of the SAFETY Act. This important legislation, as you've noted Mr. Chairman, is intended to facilitate the rapid development and deployment of technologies and services that offer remarkable potential to improve homeland security.
I'm the ITAA president. ITAA is the nation's leading and oldest trade association focusing on the diverse I.T. industry and provides global public policy and national leadership to promote its continued rapid growth. We represent virtually every federal contractor and count among our membership a wide range of companies from the largest enterprise solutions providers to the smallest I.T. start-ups. We also serve as the co-sector coordinator for the ICT sector, as designated by DHS.
I submit my full written statement for the record, Mr. Chairman, and I assume it will be included in the hearing record.
I want to express my appreciation, Mr. Chairman, for your holding this important hearing today, one that was postponed while D.C. grappled with something even the SAFETY Act could not prevent, namely: Hurricane Isabel.
Insert your own summary paragraph here.
On your mark, get set, go, let me go, let me shoop
To the next man in the three-piece suit
I spend all my dough, ray me, cutie
Shoop shoop a-doobie like Scoobie Doobie Doo
--Salt n Pepa
Thanks to opensecrets.org and campaignmoney.com for contribution and donation data.
I note that some people seem to find it necessary to offer that while they support Jim Webb, Harris Miller is a "fine Democrat". I don't find that the facts warrant such a view.
Harris Miller is not a fine Democrat. His long history as an enemy of American working people is shameful. He is not merely a "lobbyist"; he is an opponent of the core principles which enable the existence of an American middle class.
Democrats should be outraged over Miller's activities on behalf of the outsourcing lobby. People should be outraged over his claims to be a Democrat while helping CEOs and Wall Street investors fatten their pockets at the expense of American workers and the wider interests of our society.
Frankly, Miller's association with the Democratic Party is the very sort of evidence which many people will look at and conclude that Democrats and Republicans really are much the same. This causes people to question the integrity, sincerity and objectives of the Democratic Party and elected Democratic officeholders. Harris Miller is a liability in the effort to win over voters and build a principled democratic majority in Congress and across Virginia.