YEAH!!

Thank you Jim for running.

Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

I thought you guys fixed it so we couldn't repeat post.

Now its time to start raising money for Webb. Hes going to need it against someone as well-funded as Allen.

Time for a round of applause!!

You can also have a sour grape salad with that.

And RTD, you should be ashamed of yourselves.  Truly.

Richmond Times Disgrace.

It worked.  What we did back in late December and January worked.  What everyone has done since that seed first sprouted...I am pleased, but more relieved.  Now the real work begins.

Congrats to Jim and particularly to you, Lee, and Josh.

Congratulations and deepest thanks to all of you.

You guys did great!!!

Everyone here did an excellent job.

no big deal.  Webb's a Republican who did this and that terrible offense - shake heads at Va Dems. act slightly baffled. move on to next Bush tout blurb.

Almost gave you a troll rating. Didn't see that you were hypothesizing what the press would say, not your own opinion. My apologies, kathy.

Miller had the money, not the intense grassroot support. Hey but Webb needs both to win in November - Money and intense grassroot support.

tonight and snatch some of the Miller finance staff before they sober up.  Call time begins in the AM for Democrats.

"voters decided between a traditional and unabashed liberal (Miller) and a former Republican (Webb) whose populist campaign was aimed at so-called Reagan Democrats namely, rural, white moderates"

Miller a "traditional and unabashed liberal"?

Webb is a "former Republican", according to ABC.

This is such superficial crap. It sounds like it was written by someone who spent too much time with the Miller camp.

If Miller is a liberal then.....

I think as the race goes on people, including those who supported Miller, will begin to realize what a good candidate Webb is and how nicely his views (the real ones, without the spin) match with what most of us want in a Senator.

Suburban, near urban, hi-tech, wired voters won for Webb

It'll take a while for them to close their mouths first. Then they will have to figure out some spin.

It appears that they are attempting to maintain the racial divisiveness theme.  (expletive)

Are you a Democrat?
Are you from Virginia?
Have you read up on Harris Miller's background?

An unabashed Republican does not call himself a Democrat.  But I'm going back to enjoying myself rather than explain further.

A lot of people still don't know much about Miller's background. They just assume that because Miller shouted all along that he was the "true" Democrat or whatever that was, they can take his 100% word as truth.

Sincerely.  I am way too defensive after all of the smears. 

James Webb supports civil unions, James Webb opposes the Iraq War, and had the support of organized labor in this primary.

None of those positions are "Republican Lite".

We should welcome a former Republicans like Webb who are disgusted with the neo-con creeps that are leading that party.

If we are to snub Reagan Democrats-- we can count on being a minority party for a very long time.

We need to reach out to white, male rural voters and bring them back into the party. We can't only target African Americans, women, gays, and intellectuals and hope to win a few swing suburban votes to barely put us over the top come election time.

How do we do that? We run candidates like James Webb, who will be a lot more effective at talking with them and convincing them to stop voting on abortion and start voting to protect their jobs.

about Webb and you will learn that his social views match very nicely with what most of  want in a candidate.  Let the Miller spin die away.  Go back and read about what Webb actually has said and done since 2000.  You will see a dynamic person who actually matches the progressive vein of the Virginia Democrats much better than anyone else running.

So they understand they really are supporting a real Democrat.

It's clear to me, reading Webb's many statements and positions he is, but they are hard to find frankly.

all supported a Repub?
Pshaw
Sour grapes from you!!
A REAL Dem won - and a REAL Dem can crush Allen.
WoooHooooo

Seriously, look at anything he's said since 2003 and tell me it'a Republican position.  Besides, your argument is basically based on nothing except the fact that Webb was, at one time in the past, a Republican.

You know, former Sen. Don Riegle began his career as a Republican.  As did former Sen. Wayne Morse.  I know this may come as a shock to you, but it is possible to genuinely change one's mind about politics.

Besides, it he's still a Republican, why not just primary Allen?  I have no idea why nobody is asking this (to me) very basic question.

I don't believe that Webb identified himself as a Republican in the past. He says that he agreed with Republicans on some issues like national security policy --but agreement ended several years ago. And he has said repeatedly that he was not in agreement on economic and social issues.

And, in any case, it's a ridiculous charge altogether. Webb's positions are clearly unacceptable in the Republican Party -- which is WE HOPE many Republicans will vote for Webb in November. This is part of the political REALIGNMENT which we hope for.

Perhaps Webb woke up to what the Repulicans are really up to. Too bad more people aren't doing that. We also need to wake up to the Republicans in Democrats' clothing who are among us.

Bring the Miller supporters back into the fold.  Miller can do whatever the hell he wants, the walking pond scum.  But Miller supporters are important to beating Allen in November, and we'll need their help.

Congratulations to all who worked so tirelessly these past several months.  Tonight's success would not have been possible without the lazer-focused efforts of many individuals.  But keep in mind that tonight's success would not have been possible without Chuck Schumer and his statement on behalf of the DSCC.  Contrary to the post of several nights ago from someone who quoted a DSCC staffer he had met at a party who stated that Webb would win by better than 65% - the DSCC knew that all the signs were for a narrow or better Miller victory.  There are only 6 or so seats in-play, and it was vital that VA be added to the pool.  No disrespect to Harris Miller, but without Jim Webb, Allen was an automatic reelect.

My opinion is that we dodged a bullet.  Miller pasted bulls-eyes on the backs of likely primary voters - then he called them, mailed them and visited a small portion of them - he had a plan.  The press made it clear that he had run a smart campaign - they certainly didn't say that about us. In fact Larry Sabato made it clear that ours was something less than a good campaign.  And remember what Jim said at HQ on Memorial Day weekend before we hit the street, when he talked about the Battle of Kings Mountain and how every soldier was an officer and had to make their own decisions, and that we were in the same circumstances...we all had to do the best we could and use our own judgment etc.  That was all very romantic, but I confess that it didn't fill me with confidence.  We need a focused, strategic plan for the campaign as well as a focused brigade of volunteers.  Allen is the much tougher fight.

So thanks again to all who worked so hard, but thanks also to Chuck Schumer - you may have pulled our chestnuts from the fire.

Thanks also to John Kerry--his endorsement and his presence at the rally really meant something to a lot of uneasy Dem voters, IMHO.

I want to let Lowell know.... right here and now.. he is the reason for this. He saw this vision of Jim Webb.

I know everyone in Richmond is grateful to Lowell for all of his work.

We are grateful to everyone for their hard work. It has been a hard 5 months.

Time for sleep.... for now!

I just came from the victory bash @ the Crystal City Hilton. Jim's victory speech was from the heart and had enough mojo to make the fuzz on your arms stand up. The points that resonated most for me were:
1) That it is time to welcome folks back home to the Democratic party
2) That George Allen has not provided leadership other than leading the George Bush rubber stamp / lapdog brigade
3) That our ragtag brigade of 2500 volunteers has an uphill fight ahead against an incumbent with very deep pockets.
4) That this campaign will be waged from the moral high ground of talking about the issues that matter rather than distracting and intentionally divisive social issues like the idea of amending our "sacred constitution" with prohibitions to gay marriage.

I would have loved a word or two on (alternative) energy policy to his repertoire since our current fossil energy policy is so intimately linked to the Iraq war. Actually, our energy policy basically IS war right now. At any rate, the speech hit home. Despite his surgery tomorrow a.m. Jim sounded scrappy & ready for a takedown of George Allen.

Deafened after a Nine Inch Nails concert, coming home to find a Webb victory on my comp.  Plus my contract with my firm got extended for months.

Man, now all I need is a woman and I'll have heaven on earth.

But seriously, some thanks are in order.

First, thanks to Lowell for telling me about Jim Webb.  When I first heard the name, all I knew about him was that he was a writer and that he'd beaten Ollie North in a boxing match.  But the more I saw, the more I knew that Wbebb had a chance to be a transformational figure in VA politics.  Thanks Lowell, for getting me involved in what promises to be a hell of a race come fall.

Thanks also to my fellow Webb volunteers.  We literally couldn't have done it without you burning that shoe-leather, making those calls, bugging those family members, and having those one-on-one talks.

Thanks to Harris Miller, for sahowing that Jim can take a beating and come out on top.  That sure was a tenaciius race you ran, Harris, and that kind of enery I have to respect, even if it was directed in what I personally thought was the wrong way.  I underestimated your determination, and I sure won't do that again.

And thanks most of all, of course, to Jim Webb, withiut whom this great effort would just be a cool idea on a few bloggers' heads.  I salute you, Jim, and I look forward to calling you my senator.