I'm a recent college graduate and I've done lots of work on Democratic campaigns--especially door-to-door outreach. I'd have to say I'm fascinated and inspired by your campaign's committment to face-to-face persuasion and mobilization. The blogs, the robocalls, the e-mail lists--none of them replace a handshake and a good conversation IMO.

My question for you concerns what drives people away from that wonderful personal interaction and local expertise that drives good campaigns--money.

Do you feel your campaign has raised enough money to compete seriously with Rep. Davis, a powerful incumbent?

What problems have you run into in fundraising? How do you plan to overcome them?

Given how good your message is, I sincerely hope that you all raise the money to bring it to the people.

Good luck!!

However, I understand the importance of raising money to conduct a successful campaign.  As of right now, I've only raised enough money to compete seriously with Ken Longmyer.  If I win the primary, I will raise enough money to compete seriously with Tom Davis.  While I'll never raise the same amount as him, I certainly can raise enough to conduct a campaign that will get our message out.  I've already raised more than double what any challenger to Davis has, and that's as a first-time candidate for office in a primary. 

I've found two obstacles to raising money.  First, I have self-imposed restrictions on who I'll take money from (i.e. I accept no PAC money).  I'll still be successful in raising money with those limitations (as was John Edwards) through hard work, and having a message that folks respond to.  Second, like most people who have worked hard to get where they are in life, I don't like asking for things from others.  This primary has taught me not only how necessary it is to ask, but how well people respond when you believe in what you're doing.  I have lost whatever reluctance I had when I began this effort. 

RD, you can count on me to do the work and to have the creativity to get the resources we need to take on Davis this year.

Oh yeah, he's also trying to spread the lie that Webb's campaign paraphernalia isn't union made.

How do you plan to demolish this myth that Tom Davis is moderate if you are the nominee?

He's been able to maintain this facade because we haven't run an effective campaign against him in a long time.  To change that misunderstanding on the part of voters, we have to touch as many of them as possible with the truth.  It takes hard work:  going to doors, calling, mailing, earned media, etc.  There is no substitute.  And that's what my campaign offers Democrats in the 11th this year -- the energy and the resources that can deliver that message.

Keep up the good work and look forward to your victory in November. 

We - folks in your district and all Virginians - will be lucky to have such an outstanding Congressman. 

But seriously - George W. Bush polls in the low 30s in your district. George Allen polls only slightly higher. Tom Davis has traditionally won tons of crossover votes. How do you tie Davis to Bush and Allen?

Another race that we hope this one mirrors is Connie Morella's race in Maryland 2002.  She was very popular in her district, and had as much (or more) of a reputation as a moderate than Davis.  People there realized, however, that her presence and votes for the Republican caucus were harming the nation and their District, and voted in Chris Van Hollen.  The national picture may be so bleak that voters in the 11th District come to the same realization, with or without us helping them come to that conclusion.

She was "liberal" in the sense that Harris Miller is a "liberal": she mouthed some coffee table issues to please her constituency but had a very anti working families agenda.  She represented the kind of people that think "I'm not a racist, my maid is a Filipina" meanwhile they live in a 95% white neighborhood and think their SUV is eco-friendly because it's named "Tahoe".  There were plenty of trust fund Democrats that agreed with her: unions are for the little people. She was exceptionally ineffective even after gaining seniority, she should have been put in charge of some committees that affect Federal workers which is big in the DC area, instead she got Harris Miller's Y2K committee which she used as a bully puplipt to promote the ITAA guest worker proposals.  You have to do more than say "I support education", you have to back it up.  The Dems finally put some muscle into a campaign but Van Hollen barely won and redistricting helped (they had to add a little of PG county and chop off the northern more conservative parts).  Moco is Fairfax with Alexandria added to it and with better traffic.  Tom Davis will be tough to knock off. Who knows, there could be a Democratic tsunami in which case Andy has a fighting chance.  Of course a guy "born fighting" at the top of the ticket will help all fighting Democrats in November.

Morella was able to survive as a Republican in a heavily Democratic district by earning a reputation for independence. She opposed her party's positions on abortion, gun control, gay rights, and the environmental movement, voted for government funding of contraceptives and needle exchange programs for drug addicts, and favored the legalization of medical marijuana. She also received the support of organized labor and opposed many tax cuts. She voted against declaring English the official language of the United States and in 1996 against a bill overwhelmingly approved by Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton, to combat illegal immigration. Morella was the only Republican in the entire Congress to vote against approving the use of military force in Iraq in 1991 and in 2002. Indeed, by many surveys, her voting record was consistently one of the most liberal.

Morella was active in human rights, women's health, and domestic violence issues in Congress, and served on the Science and Government Reform Committees. She was U.S. representative to the 1994 U.N. International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo and co-chair of the Congressional delegation to the 1999 U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. Among the legislation she sponsored were the 1992 Battered Women's Testimony Act, which provided funds for indigent women to hire expert testimony in domestic abuse cases, and the Judicial Training Act, which funded programs to educate judges about domestic violence, especially in child custody cases.

Morella's politics came under pressure after her party took control of the House in 1994 Congressional elections. Not only did she did not sign the Contract with America developed by her colleagues, but she voted against many of its provisions. She did not openly challenge the new House leadership until 1997, however, when she voted "present" for Speaker of the House instead of for the incumbent, Newt Gingrich. In 1998, she was one of five Republicans to oppose all four articles of impeachment against Clinton.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=%22contract+with+america%22+1994+%22Connie+Morella%22&btnG=Search
Also ...
http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/text/cwasign.txt

That's the scam she ran: "I'm a liberal" but deep down she wasn't pro-middle class or working class.  That wikipedia article is bull.

Tom Davis employs Linda Safavian, wife of the allegedly (-- I say this because his trial is continuing)ethically compromised David Safavian.  Do you see any problems with such employment?

Area congressmen have naturally supported federal employee interests.  How effective do you rate Tom Davis on this issue?  Recently retired, it seems to me that federal salaries have barely kept pace with, or slipped behind, inflation.  Has he really done much for federal employees?

What percentage of the time has Davis voted with the Administration?

What is your position on repeal of the estate tax?  What was Davis' position?

Do you support legislation that would get American soldiers out of Iraq by the end of 2006?

Do you support the Federal Marriage Amendment?

Do you think the House should hold impeachment hearings in regards to President Bush to determine whether there are grounds to impeach him? 

What do you think of the President's faith-based initiatives?

1) The most powerful piece in our campaign was a one page flyer we issued in August, 2005.  In that, we highlighted a day where six brave Marines were killed fighting in Iraq; and Tom Davis spent the day discussing whether he was going to subpoena Rafael Palmiero.  The fact that our Government Reform Committee was focused on steroids in baseball for months, and failed to make any effort to do anything to reform government, is disturbing to say the least.

2)  This is just one example of the questionable hiring practices so prevalent in Washington, and perfected by Tom Delay and his colleagues.

3)  Tom Davis hasn't done more in that area than any other area member of Congress, but certainly has a better sales team.  The fact is that AFGE and other federal employee organizations have been disappointed in his performance for federal employees over the past few years, although they have noticed that he has recently shown a new interest in their issues now that he wants to run for the Senate.

4)  Davis has voted with the administration nearly 90% of the time.  I think the percentage of Eleventh District voters who would be as consistent in siding with George Bush is pretty small.

5)  I am against repealing the federal estate tax.  Davis voted for repeal.  How he and his colleagues could do this in the middle of a war with the largest deficit in history is mind-boggling.

6)  I support the Murtha Resolution, and would do whatever I could in Congress to end the war in Iraq and get our troops home.

7)  I do not support the Federal Marriage Amendment.  Not only is this effort misguided, it angers me that with all the issues facing our country, our elected leaders believe this is an issue they should be spending time on.  I think most Americans would agree that Osama bin Laden is a lot bigger threat than gay marriage, and that maybe the administration should be devoting their energy to finding him, and less to trying to amend our Constitution to take away rights of our fellow citizens.

8)  Congress should investigate all the misdeeds of the Bush Administration, including its intentional use of misinformation to justify a war, and its illegal wiretapping efforts.  If grounds are found to impeach the President, it should be done.  Tom Davis voted to impeach Bill Clinton for lying about having sex in the context of a "perjury trap" set by right-wing idealogues.  His failure to do anything to hold this administration accountable in the face of its malfesance should be enough for Eleventh District voters to vote him out.

I have excerpted the portion dealing with a Virginia congressman and would like your opinion of his actions:

Wendell Rawls, acting executive director of the Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan group that has conducted many investigations of money and politics over the years, said Monday that some trips could be considered legitimate for educational purposes. But he pointed out that the study found multiple ethics violations from members of both political parties, and that many trips were paid for by corporations that had business interests before Congress.

Mr. Rawls also questioned the amount of spending on some trips. For example, he said, former Representative Thomas Bliley, Republican of Virginia, and his wife went to London at a cost of $31,171 for four days in July 2000. Their air travel tickets were valued at $11,938.49 each, and were paid for by the Brown and Williamson tobacco company. The former congressman's public filings listed the purpose of the trip as meetings with officials from British American Tobacco and other trade officials.

"I would ask if every constituent for Representative Bliley had the same access as the people at Brown, Williamson," Mr. Rawls said of the former chairman of the House Commerce Committee. Mr. Bliley could not be reached for comment.

There is some concern locally about what this will do to traffic and general congestion in the area - if this does become an issue how would you address it?

Do you generally support this higher density growth and if so, do you have any plans to promote or encourage it (both locally and nationally) should you win the seat in November?

In all honesty, I don't know enough about the project to know whether it will be good for Vienna, is well-planned, and addresses the affordable housing and transportation problems we are suffering from in Northern Virginia. In general, we will have to have some well-planned high-density growth in the area.  Hundreds of thousands of new people will be moving to this area over the next two decades, and building sensible housing that takes into account transportation and affordability needs is essential. 

While I will make every effort to bring federal resources to help local communities deal with housing and transportation issues, I will not abuse my office by wielding my influence to color zoning decisions for political gain.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/11/AR2005051100757_pf.html

One politician who spoke to Davis says the congressman told him straight-out that he opposes Pulte Homes' MetroWest project because "all it does is produce Democrats."

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III said he will intervene in a contentious local issue by proposing legislation to scale back a massive development planned next to the Vienna Metro station, a project he acknowledges is near his own neighborhood.

The Northern Virginia Republican appeared at a community meeting this week that attracted many opponents of the project. He said he attended as a homeowner...

The project is now in the midst of the rezoning process. During this process, the developer offers a package of contributions that are designed to offset the impact of the proposed development.
U.S. Rep. Tom Davis (R-11), who represents the area, has stated that he plans to block the project which he says is too dense.

http://www.timescommunity.com/site/tab5.cfm?newsid=15516781&BRD=2553&PAG=461&dept_id=506096&rfi=6

I was at your kickoff meeting a few months ago, and I thought your speech was fantastic. You spoke very movingly about money in government, and I've had a tough question nagging me for a while...

What amazes me is the fact that I as a voter, citizen, Virginian, have so much less opportunity to influence government than do the very wealthy and large corporate interests. 

Since the 1976 supreme court decision that said  that "money is free speech", how can regular people ever hope to compete for political influence when they are up against corporate entities.  Corporate entities are legally "persons" who are immortal, have no body to incarcerate, have no soul to save, are legally required to maximize profits first and foremost, and because of the resultant massive concentration of money, they retain millions or billions of times the effective freedom of speech than could accrue to any individual?

Sorry for the rambling question, it's a lot to take on.  I appreciate your thoughts on the subject.

Anyway, you've got my vote, Andy.  Keep up the good work and give 'em hell.

I guess I'll just have to phone bank and chip in a couple of dollars.

Even under the current system, individuals can compete with special interests by being engaged, educating themselves on their elected leaders, and voting them out when they are ineffective or pander to lobbyists too often.

But I think the current campaign finance system needs more radical change.  On my website you'll see my proposals on public financing of campaigns, lobbying reform, and the ways I think business in Washington needs to be changed. It will be an uphill battle because so many in Congress are like Davis and rely on special interest money and influence to stay in power.  However, it is fight that can be won, and one that must be made.

Rock on.

I say it's worse but, being older and from Georgia, I would have no idea about getting bashed into the boards.  The only ice we had back then was in our "co-cola."

"Absolutely not, say Webb supporters, many of whom are passionate young bloggers who admire Webb's early opposition to the Iraq war. They question Miller's commitment to Democratic principles and are joined in opposition to Miller by some union officials, who have clashed repeatedly with him over the issue of exporting American jobs overseas."

"In blogs such as The Modern Patriot and Raising Kaine, Miller is derided as a "sleaze," "a liar" and a "fake Democrat."

Let's see, well "slavery was going to happen anyway, might as well promote it and help it along".

Same reasoning.

He's  thinking he's sounding great not realizing most Democrats think NAFTA, CAFTA-DR and the China PNTR are the worst thing negotiated in 100 years and are against them.

Look at the battle in the house on CAFTA-DR, it was driven by the Dems to stop it.

6 days.

A couple questions:
1) When I saw you at the debate with Mr.Longmyer, you said exactly "“You can go down the list of bologna that this administration has pulled that would be impeachable offenses”
  If you're elected, you will be in Congress with the likes of Rep. Mollohan, and Jefferson. Do you feel that they should step down? Would you take money from either of them for your campaign?

2)At the same debate regarding immigration you said "Build a big fence, are you kidding me?”

“I believe in giving people a way to become citizens. There has to be a path for the people who are here now”.

Does this mean you don't support either the House OR Senate plans? Would you create a Sanders-Hurst-Pelosi bill?

Thanks again.

I look forward to your answers.

I would hold my Democratic colleagues to the same standards as Republicans.  While I guess nothing should be surprising at this point in Tom Delay's Washington, I think the corruption that has come to light this term notwithstanding any ethical oversight in Congress is remarkable.  I would not hesitate to call for the resignation of any member of Congress in the face of evidence of wrongdoing, and have consistently called for high ethical standards and regulations to be created and enforced in Washington.  It's unfortunate that your former boss does not agree with me.

2)  While neither bill is perfect, The Mccain-Kennedy Senate bill is certainly closer to my preferences.  It provides for 370 miles of triple-layered fencing.  The House bill calls for 700 miles of double-layered fencing.  I'm not opposed to fencing in certain areas.  But fences are not the solution to our border problems.  We need to hire more border patrol agents and invest in technologies -- like infrared cameras -- that can make border security more efficient.  And we need to work with Mexico -- not against it -- to make our border more secure.

What we should be talking about here is the fact that Davis supported the Sensenbrenner legislation that would make it a crime for churches to aid undocumented immigrants.  The Sensenbrenner legislation and it's accompanying rhetoric about fortifying our borders and making felons of 11 million people is unrealistic, and is really political gamesmanship designed to play on fears of the electorate.  As an attorney who has worked significantly in the federal system, I can tell you that our courts would collapse were our government to attempt to enforce such standards.  What we need is real discussion on the issues we are faced with so many illegal immigrants in our country and our pourous borders.  And what we are getting from Congress today is not a mature discussion of those issues.

Vince, on a personal note:  we disagree on many issues, but I have been very impressed (as have some of my colleagues) with your passion and your hard work on behalf of the causes you believe in.  I understand that you are moving out of the area to continue your education.  The best of luck to you, I know you have great things in your future. 

On the geostrategic front, the theory is that lots of the money we spend on oil imports goes to regimes that are not our friends, and possibly to terrorist groups as well.  On the environmental front, the idea is that we need to get off of oil in order to confront global warming.  Tom Friedman has even called for "making energy independence our generation's moon shot."

Would you describe yourself as a "geo-green?"  In general, if you are elected to Congress, what would you do to wean the United States off of its "oil addiction" and to keep the polar ice caps from melting?

Thanks.

Some things we've been proposing are discontinuing our subsidies of oil companies in the face of record profits, using those savings to invest in alternative energy research, getting with every other nation on Earth in regards to the Kyoto standards and global warming, legitimate reforestation programs, and teaming with industry to make being green a profitable venture.  We have some great stuff on the website.

Anyway, things aren't looking very good economically right now.  If elected to Congress, what would be your top priorities to deal with this situation and save us from endless reruns of "that 70s show?" :)

This administration has spent my children into debt, and there appears to be no end in sight for this reckless spree that Bush and Congress have engaged in.  And the price will have to be paid right as the highest demand is put on non-discretionary spending by the Baby Boomers.  I would make reining in government spending my top priority as an incoming Congressman.

Another huge problem we are about to face are the needs of millions of retirees who are having their pensions and health benefits eliminated as their corporate employers seek bankruptcy protection.  Steps must be taken to ensure that bankruptcy isn't used to beef up corporate profits at the expense of retirees, and that our pension guarantee system is up to the challenge of funding shortfalls that ensue.

The economy faces challenges, but I think with the mechanisms in place they can be addressed.  If we get a Congress with the courage to address them. 

The 11th is the only district with a "double primary" with a Dem Congressional the same day as the Dem Senate primary.  Have you noticed that more Miller supporters seem to be for Longmyer and more Webb supporters seem to be for you?  Or am I reading this wrong?

Since neither you nor Longmyer have any real cash, why should someone support you over him? 

Also, who would you support in a primary for Chairman in 2007, Gerry Connolly or Leslie Byrne?

Another reason is the campaign's message and policy proposals.  I think our message of reforming Washington and standing up to George Bush is resonating.  Our detailed white papers are much different that the usual platitudes put out by campaigns, and if we can communicate them I think they will make a difference. 

Finally, I'm ready for a scrap.  I have gone up against the Republican attack-machine as an attorney a number of times, and won.  I won't back down from a fight with Davis or his cronies, and that is what Democrats seem to want this year. 

As to Gerry and Leslie, I'd be undecided right now.  I know what Gerry does, I'd like to hear what Leslie would do in the job. 

  Thanks for getting us the flyers.  We will be handing them out later this week!

-Dan

I hope that as momentum builds in the race over the next few weeks you all will get involved in turning this one blue.  I think we can pull one off this year.  Kerry only lost the 11th by .5% in 2004, and Tim Kaine took it by 13% in 2005. Davis has never gotten a hard run, and he is about to.  I can promise you that you won't see any candidate work harder than I will work, or fight harder than I will fight.

Good night!