Richmond, Virginia -- May 14, 2006
The supporters of Harris Miller are growing desperate. The momentum in the primary race is clearly with the campaign of Jim Webb. Supporters of Miller are searching for compelling arguments why Virginia Democrats should support Harris Miller over Jim Webb. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with that approach--indeed, it is precisely what supporters of Jim Webb have been doing on their blogs: describing some positive aspect of Jim's character or life experience and then linking it to the challenges he will face in the campaign against George Allen and in the performance of his duties as a U.S. Senator should he win the general election in November.
The problem that Miller supporters encounter in pursuing this rhetorical strategy is that there really is no compelling argument for a Harris Miller candidacy for U.S. Senate. There's nothing about Harris Miller that makes you stand up and shout "This is th guy!" If you were looking around for someone to run unopposed for a safe Democratic seat in the House of Representatives that was vacated as the result of the incumbent's death or incapacity, well then Harris Miller's name might spring to mind. On the other hand, when it comes to choosing someone to run for U.S. Senate in Virginia against George Allen in 2006 when the main issues are the War in Iraq, immigration and the corruption that has grown out of the "pay to play" lobbying culture in Washington, D.C., then the idea of choosing a pro-war, immigration lobbyist who is hated by organized labor just seems kind of . . . well, stupid really.
This has proved to be no obstacle to Miller's supporters, however. Instead, where the real world has churlishly refused to provide actual reasons to support Harris Miller's candidacy, Miller's supporters have worked diligently to invent reasons to support him. Their efforts have produced some amazing examples of "creative reasoning" and "creative-fact-creating-creation."
Until today, my favorite example of this circular reasoning was Alice Marshall's argument that Harris Miller makes a better candidate because he is able to walk into a room full of people who despise him and will never, ever vote for him and make some uncomfortable smalltalk without being punched in the nose. You see Miller went to a Labor sponsored event while Webb was busy elsewhere at a fundraiser. Ms. Marshall implied that this shows that Mr. Miller would be able to win Labor over. Two days later the Sheet Metal Workers' Union endorsed Jim Webb. I guess Harris Miller isn't as persuasive as Ms. Marshall thought. Ms. Marshall offers us a candidate who isn't afraid to talk to people who hate him and will never vote for him. I prefer Jim Webb, a man who people tend to like and look forward to voting for.
The latest version of this "inventive reasoning" is the false dichotomy proposed by Miller's supporters regarding a supposed divide between Miller's supporter and Webb's supporters. According to this new line of "reasoning," Harris Miller's supporters are all "local" Democrats while Jim Webb's supporters are all "out-of-staters." Well, Miller has played the race card and the gender card, is it any surprise that he'd try and play the xenophobia card?
It's true that Harris Miller has received several endorsements from local Democrats, but the implication that Webb has no local support is quite simply false: those who promote that view are either ignorant or dishonest. What this debate needs is a great big dose of honesty. Let's look at Harris Miller's and Jim Webb's endorsements side by side. The best way to do this is to break them into four categories: local Democratic endorsements, national Democratic endorsements, Military endorsements, and Labor endorsements--this way we avoid comparing apples to oranges.
Harris Miller's Local Democratic Endorsements
Congressman Jim Moran
Senator Henry Marsh of Richmond
Senator Benjamin Lambert of Richmond
Delegate Lionell Spruill of Chesapeake
Delegate Dwight Jones of Richmond
Delegate Mark Sickles of Fairfax County
Delegate Adam Ebbin of Fairfax and Arlington Counties, and Alexandria City
Delegate Bob Brink of Arlington
Chairman Gerry Connolly of Fairfax
Senator L. Louise Lucas of Portsmouth
Senator Mary Margaret Whipple of Arlington
Delegate Kristen J. Amundson of Fairfax County
Senator Janet D. Howell of Fairfax County
Senator Linda "Toddy" Puller of Fairfax and Prince William Counties
Delegate Roslyn C. Tyler of the Emporia area
Delegate Vivian E. Watts of Fairfax County
Supervisor Penny Gross of Fairfax County
Supervisor Sharon Bulova of Fairfax County
Jim Webb's Local Democratic Endorsements
Former Congresswoman Leslie Byrne
Retired Congressman Owen Pickett
Chap Petersen, Former Democratic Whip
Phil Puckett, Virginia Senator
Janet Olezabek, Fairfax County School Board Member
Former Virginia Senator Emilie Miller
Jay Fisette, Arlington County Board Member
Ed Fendley, Arlington School Board Member
Mary Hynes, Arlington School Board Member
Libby Garvey, Arlington School Board Member
Frank O+óGé¼GäóLeary, Arlington County Treasurer
Ingrid Morroy, Arlington County Commissioner of Revenue
Gerald Holt, Roanoke County Sheriff
Nancy Horn, Roanoke County Commissioner of the Revenue
Steve McGraw, Roanoke County Clerk of the Circuit Court
Fred Parker, Washington County Treasurer
Harris Miller's National Democratic Endorsements
None
Jim Webb's National Democratic Endorsements
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid
Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin
Senator and former Chairman of the DNC Christopher Dodd
Senator Ken Salazar
Senator Tim Johnson
Congressman Jack Murtha
Former Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle
Former Senator Max Cleland
Former Senator Bob Kerrey
Harris Miller's Military Endorsements
Lt. Gen. Claudia Kennedy, US Army (Ret.)
Jim Webb's Military Endorsements
General Wesley Clark (Army Ret.)
General Anthony Zinni (USMC)
Lieutenant General Gregory Newbold (USMC)
Lieutenant General Frank Petersen (USMC)
Congressman Jack Murtha (Colonel USMC Ret.)
Harris Miller's Labor Endorsements
None
Jim Webb's Labor Democratic Endorsements
The Sheet Metal Workers of America International Association
Wow, that really throws a different light on things. What we can see from this comparison is that Harris Miller has a small edge in local Democratic endorsements, but is crushed in terms of endorsements from retired military officers, and has absolutely no support from the national Democratic Party or organized Labor. Stated differently, Jim Webb has obtained significant support from local Democrats and blows Harris Miller out of the water when it comes to support from the National Democratic Party, the military, and organized Labor.
The arguments of Miller's supporters are based on the false premise that winning the general election will depend on the local Democratic Party--this is demonstrably untrue. Look at last year's gubernatorial election: Tim Kaine drew significant support from the national party and national donors. How can anyone forget the weekend when Barack Obama visited Virginia and toured the state with Tim Kaine? The National Democratic Party and the national support that goes with it are behind Jim Webb.
Winning the general election this fall against George Allen will require the support of the widest range of Democratic and Independent voters; it will require local grassroots efforts allied to the support of sympathetic Democrats all over the United States. It will require active duty and retired military voters to abandon the Republican Party and vote for a Democrat.
Viewed clearly and dispassionately, Jim Webb has won the battle for endorsements by an extremely wide margin.
Miller Virginia endorsers received 1.28 million votes.
Webb Virginia endorsers received 1.30 million votes.
So all this stuff you hear from the Miller camp that is uncritically echoed by the corporate media? It's wrong. There is no "split," in which Miller gets all the Virginia endorsements and Webb gets all the national endorsements. In fact, Webb DOES get all the national endorsements - Miller has gotten Z-E-R-O! But Webb also gets a heck of a lot of Virginia endorsements as well, with more combined votes than Miller's Virginia endorsers.
Interesting, eh?
P.S. My understanding is that at least one prominent Miller "endorser" is not only no longer supporting Miller, but is backing Webb behind the scenes. That would make the Webb margin even larger among Virginia endorsers.
http://www.webbforsenate.com/veterans/index.php
Maybe you can just say and bunches and bunches more.
Will Miller's proxies attack Paul Hackett for recognising Jim Webb as an exemplary "Fighting Democrat"?
It appears that Miller's proxy General Claudia Kennedy has been working behind the scenes to keep Jim Webb from benefitting from the "Fighting Dems" program but we all recognise who the real "Fighting Dem" is -- NOT Harris Miller...
Paul Hackett's stirring endorsement of Jim Webb is discussed at http://www.raisingkaine.com/showdiary.do?diaryid=2112
Very well done ... thanks! TMski