At the request of Julie Jakopic, Deputy Chair, ADC, we led off with a moment of respectful silence for the men and women serving in the Armed Forces of the United States followed by a beautiful rendition of +óGé¼+ôGod Bless America+óGé¼-¥ by John Alex Golden and presentation of the Grassroots Award. The evening ended with thanks from Susan Kellom, ADC Chair.
The crowd was in good spirits because, as William Euilie, Mayor of the City of Alexandria pointed out, +óGé¼+ôWe seem to have no Republicans elected to public office in our City.+óGé¼-¥ He laid that to the outstanding candidates the Democrats ran as compared to the (pitiful) Republican offerings. Laughter and cheers rewarded his comment.
Congressman Moran began slowly with rambling and often mumbled remarks lauding numerous key Democrats present+óGé¼GÇ¥ but fortunately the chocolate truffle cake for dessert ameliorated the obligatory political massage. Suddenly Moran caught fire and tore into the immorality and un-American policies of current Republican leadership in Congress and the White House, especially compared to the sacrifices of the World War II generation, and contrasting the high respect in which America was held after 9/11 to how low we have sunk in the esteem of other nations since. He thundered through the list of Republican outrages from a foolish and illegal war to monstrous budget deficits and endless tax cuts: +óGé¼+ôtax cuts pure and simple for the major contributors to the Republican campaign, and we pay for it by passing the bill to our children. On the other hand, we refused on a straight party-line vote to raise the minimum wage even a small amount.+óGé¼-¥ He pointed out that cuts in education, health care, and many programs for the less fortunate and for veterans could easily have been paid for by raising the taxes paid by those earning a million dollars annually from $101,000 to $110,000--- yet again on a party-line vote the idea was crushed.
This was red meat for the partisan audience which encouraged Moran with cheers or boos and catcalls where appropriate. This may explain why, when Jim Webb spoke, he let Moran+óGé¼Gäós fire and brimstone stand, and concentrated instead on emphasizing party unity. He explained he had met with Mark Warner, and today had had a press conference with Tim Kaine, and that Harris Miller, his recent primary opponent, would stand with him at the upcoming Democratic Rally in Charlottesville on Saturday the 24th.
Apparently Webb+óGé¼Gäós advisors felt it was fence-mending time, since so many Alexandria officials including on the Alexandria City Council had endorsed Miller, but now the audience happily and repeatedly cheered Webb, and the J-J program was replete with ads and comments praising him as the man who would beat George Allen. One experienced elected official told me in no uncertain term, however, that, while Webb was impressive, intelligent, and likeable, he was going to have to become more of a politician, and do so immediately+óGé¼GÇ¥ what he meant was: get out among the people a lot more, and serve up some substantive policy talk and plenty of red meat for supporters+óGé¼GÇ¥ like Jim Moran.