Can't aFORD not to forget TN (loboforestal - 9/18/2006 11:43:13 AM)
On Sunday afternoon I attended a fundraiser for Jim Webb sponsored by Partisans for Virginia, an LGBT advocacy group. I should point out that at least 1/3 of the people at the event were straights, not that it matters. This diary, which is being written Sunday evening while it is still fresh in my mind, is one persons+óGé¼Gäó reflection on the event, on reactions I heard to the MTP debate, and a discussion I had with Mac, whom if you don+óGé¼Gäót know about, you should. Keep reading to find out what I mean.
First, I have not abandoned education as an issue, I can assure you. It is merely coincidental that is my 2nd Webb diary in as many days. But given the impact of the MTP debate and my experience on Sunday (when, I remind you I am writing this),this seemed the most important thing about which to blog.
I had not originally planned to attend this event. It had nothing to do with the sponsorship, but rather the heavy load I have of prep for the forthcoming school week. I had gone to a bloggers+óGé¼Gäó brunch (organized by Mark Kleiman, whom I know from Haverford), and when I returned I watched the tape I had made of the MTP debate between Allen and Webb. While there were some points on which I thought Jim could have done a bit more, on the whole i think he more than held his own against Allen, which thus gave him the stature of an acceptable alternative to the incumbent, which by itself represents a huge threat to Allen. More about this anon.
As I looked around the various threads on dailykos and raisingkaine, I encountered a reiteration of an invitation from one of the hosts of today+óGé¼Gäós events. I had decided that - given there is another debate tomorrow - there were some ideas I wanted to pass on to the Webb campaign, and since I knew the host who was posting decided to go.
First, a couple of my observations about MTP. I saws Allen make a number of serious mistakes, including dissing Colin Powell, and not fully supporting John Warner, on the question of the Geneva Convention Common Article 3. I thought Webb knocked that one out of the park, and wonder if Allen continues down this path whether you might see a statement from Powell that he cannot endorse Allen even if he does not endorse Webb - Powell lives in Virginia, which would give any remarks he might make that much more weight.
There were several items that had come up in the debate for which I thought Webb should be prepped tomorrow. I know better than to try to communicate that to a candidate at a fundraiser, so I was hoping to find a friendly face, and I did.
First, Allen had made a point of calling Webb +óGé¼+ômy opponent+óGé¼-¥ several times. At one point Jim somewhat objected, and then Allen repeated it. I fully expect that Allen and his people will believe they have gotten under Jim+óGé¼Gäós skin on this and will use the same tactic at tomorrow+óGé¼Gäós debate before the Fairfax Count Chamber of Commerce (which should be an Allen friendly audience, and which is being moderated by George Stephanopoulous). I think Jim should be prepared for some verbal jiu jitsu. If Allen repeats +óGé¼-¥my opponent+óGé¼-¥ Jim should be prepared to say something like:
+óGé¼+ôwell if instead of doing proper oversight you vote with the president more than 90% of the time, and if the only bills you have introduced until recently were for tax breaks on behalf of companies importing appliances made overseas, than I am proud to be your opponent.+óGé¼-¥
Allen also refused to commit to serve a 6-year term as senator - he still hopes to run for president. If that comes up tomorrow, Jim should respond:
+óGé¼+ôI note that Mr. Allen will not commit to the people of Virginia to serve a full term. I hereby promise that if the people of the Old Dominion see fit to elect me, I WILL, God willing, serve my full six year term on their behalf, and not take time away from representing them to seek other office.+óGé¼-¥
Finally, and this is small beer, Allen tried to make an issue of Saddam paying money to the families of suicide bombers in Israel. The first time he said the amount was 35,000, the second he escalated it to 45,000. I don+óGé¼Gäót know if Webb wants to go there, but I would note that Saddam was trying to join what the Saudis were already doing, which was offering 25,000. It is an opening - you use it to criticize Saddam but do not make the same criticism against the Saudis, who initiated the practice.
People were generally upbeat about the debate. So was Jim, as was clear from his remarks. he was introduced by Jay Fisette of Arlington Count Board, the first openly gay elected public official in Virginia, who talked about the long conversation he had had with Jim on issues of importance to the LGBT community. Jim in his remarks made clear that it is simply wrong to exclude people from full participation in society (although I should note that he does not endorse gay marriage) - that includes protection against job discrimination and for the right to adopt. He made clear that he took these positions because it was the right thing to do, and whether it helped or hurt him politically he would stand by them.
I mentioned that I was looking for a friendly face to communicate with Jim indirectly. I did not feel comfortable doing that with any of the campaign staff present, except Mac. Let me explain. if you spend any time near the Webb campaign you will see an older gentleman with one arm. That+óGé¼Gäós Mac. He is the only one of the radio operators from Jim+óGé¼Gäós Vietnam service who survived, and at the loss of his arm. When Jim finally decided to run, Mac turned his restaurant over to his son, came up (and is living in Jim+óGé¼Gäós basement) to serve as his driver and trusted confident. There is another former serviceman, Phillip, who wrote Jim while Phillip was at the Naval Academy. These are two men who have given up their other pursuits in life to help Jim Webb in any way they can, because they so believe in him.
I had a long conversation with Mac. We have chatted in passing in the past. He had not known until today that I had also served in the Marines, albeit only stateside -- when I gave that qualification his response was that didn+óGé¼Gäót matter, I had volunteered to serve, so that we were brothers in arms.
When Jim was considering running, he called Mac and they had a two hour conversation. I have Mac+óGé¼Gäós permission to write about this. Mac raised all the reasons Jim shouldn+óGé¼Gäót run, why he might not want to be a senator. Jim+óGé¼Gäós response was +óGé¼+ôbut I think I could make a difference.+óGé¼-¥ Mac agreed that the points I wanted to raise with Jim were worth pursuing, and took my notes and promised to try to follow up. He also noted that after Allen+óGé¼Gäós weak performance today (something already noted by some conservative bloggers) Allen+óGé¼Gäós handlers would be telling him to go after Jim hard tomorrow.
One other comment from Mac worth notingl We compared how Webb had defended his tracker, Sidarth, versus how Allen had abandoned his first tracker, Hunter Pickles, when that gentleman got into some trouble for crashing a private event - Hunter was basically thrown overboard. Mac noted: +óGé¼+ôyou know where Jim would be if someone was throwing me to the wolves? Between me and the wolves.+óGé¼-¥ Jim is loyal to people, and believe me, those who know him are incredibly loyal to him, as both mac and Phillip have shown in the ascrificaces they are making, as his Annapolis classmates (some of whom are conservative Republicans) have shown in their support of his candidacy. Jim may not be a politician, but he is clearly a leader, one that people who know him willingly trust and follow.
i talked with several other people. Todd Smyth was pretty certain that Stephanopoulous would bring up Webb+óGé¼Gäós Reagan ad, precisely because Russert didn+óGé¼Gäót. He even thinks George will play the ad. I+óGé¼Gäóm not sure i agree, especially on the video part of it. I do agree that there is likely to be a real focus on the torture issue, which Russert only touched in passing.
Jim was clearly somewhat tired from all the recent campaigning, and staff got him out of there to get him rested and prepared for tomorrow. But he is clearly also energized by the response he is getting. He noted that his ad buy had been only 100,000 in two market, but that partly as a result of the response from the Allen campaign, they had gotten enough replays in free media to be the equivalent of buying several million dollars worth of time.
Money still matters - it is no joking matter, the amount of money that Allen will dump into this race. If you can help Webb , I assure you that your money will be going to a competitive race that Dems have a real chance of winning.
I will not see the debate tomorrow - i will be teaching. I will try to catch up with video later.
And I apologize in advance for the meandering quality of this diary, but I am writing it quickly before I have to return my focus to planning (still not complete) for the forthcoming school week. I hope this has broadened your understanding of why Jim Webb is a unique candidate, and the nature of the race in Virginia.
Do with this diary what you will.
2) I have contacted one of the front pagers to see if the problems I am having at dailykos can be fixed. If not, I may repost the diary there just after midnight to get it up as quickly as possible, although by then it will be out of date after today's debate (which I will not see).
Hope this is of value to people who see it here.
Thanks for bringing up the trackers. I saw Allen's other tracker a couple of times at Buena Vista. He was not interacting with anyone there - totally alone. I thought it was strange that he wasn't hanging out with his friends.
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has raised the amount offered to relatives of suicide bombers from $10,000 per family to $25,000, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Wednesday.
That's $25,000, not $35,000 as Allen stated yesterday.
More importantly, CBS News noted that:
Saddam is not the only one giving money. Charities from Saudi Arabia and Qatar  both U.S. allies  pay money to families of Palestinians killed in the fighting, including suicide bombers.
What next, is George Allen going to use payments from Saudi Arabia and Qatar to suicide bombers in order to justify invading THOSE countries as well? Or do they have chemical or biological weapons too?
1. China - 1,306,313,812
2. India - 1,080,264,388
3. United States - 295,734,134
Let's ee, that means China's population is 4.4 times larger than the US population. India is 3.7 times bigger.
So which country is, as George Allen stated yesterday, "six and seven times our population?"
By the way, here's a fun game: go through the transcript of yesteday's Meet the Press interview, and find every instance of a mistruth, distortion or untruth by George Allen. Should be fun!
Along with the $35K comment noted above, I'd say he's got a thing for exaggerating.
With all the prep he does I seriously doubt it's that he can't keep his facts straight (although that is possible). More likely, the political version of "the fish I caught was THIS big" - and everytime the fish gets a little bigger.
I stand by my vote [to authorize force in Iraq], and the vote was based on the evidence and information before us. And we had a choice. We had a choice whether to listen to the critics and do nothing, and then have this world more dangerous if, if we were right.
This statement is filled with errors of fact and logic. Where to begin?
First, was the vote really based on "the evidence and information before us?" That's highly dubious. Seems to me that the neocons and other right-wingers had made up their mind to invade Iraq no matter what, and then proceeded to distort - one might say "torture" - the evidence in order to justify their a priori conclusion.
Second, a huge false dichotomy: did we REALLY have only two choices, invasion or "listen to the critics and do nothing?" Of course not. In fact, Colin Powell had been busy in the summer before 9/11 pressing his plan for "smart sanctions" against Iraq. We also had the option of further containment of Iraq, possibly with a stepped up air campaign if we felt it necessary, to keep that country in check. Another option would have been to finish the war in Afghanistan, including total defeat of the Taliban (now resurgent to our failure to defeat them then) and Al Qaeda (where's Osama?). And I'm sure there were other options as well in dealing with the non-imminent threat posed by Iraq.
But that's George Allen for you: wrong facts, wrong logic, wrong conclusions. Just like his political soulmate, George W. Bush. And we see where THAT has led us! God help us.
[Iraq] is a central battle front in the war on terror, and it’s not just the president or the vice president or me saying that, that’s what al-Qaeda says...
No, George, you're dead wrong. As Jim Webb said yesterday, "We didn’t go into Iraq because of terrorism, we have terrorists in Iraq because we went in there." So, we've CREATED a central battle front against "terrorists" - NOT a monolithic group by any means, by the way, and conflating them is a huge, probably intentional, error. This kind of convoluted, pretzel "logic" is insulting to our intelligence, unless George Allen truly believes his own drivel. In which case, he's living in LA-LA land. Or should I say "L.A. land," as in Palos Verdes, right down the road from the Los Angeles/Hollywood area where Allen grew up?
They do have freedom of religion in their constitution where rights are not enhanced nor diminished on account of religious beliefs. They do have the right of women and men to express themselves without fear of retribution. They do have a judicial system that they’re trying to put together....It is a fledgling representative democracy.
Yeah, tell that to the thousands of innocent victims of torturing death squads. Or, tell it to the millions of Iraqis who are afraid to leave their homes because they could be kidnapped or killed. Or, tell it to the Iraqi leaders who want to turn the country into an Islamic fundamentalist regime and blame the Jews for all their problems.
Again, George Allen is living in la-la land with his pal George W. Bush. In contrast, Jim Webb is firmly grounded in reality. I guess it comes from actually fighting n a battlefield, studying national security policy, and knowing what the hell your'e talking about. Sadly, George Allen has no clue and no interest in any of that, only in what George W. Bush tells him to rubberstamp. Basically, George W. Bush says "jump" and George Allen says "how high?" Is that what we want in the US Senate, representing Virginia? Right, I didn't think so.
Anyone who has studied government will tell you that the key to running any country is legitimacy, and not some piece paper. Our Constitution works because Americans respect it and abide by it (I'll save Shrub's actions for another day).
The Iraqis, while they may have a constitution in theory, do not respect it, do not recognize the Iraqi government as legitimate (especially the Sunnis), thus what is written in the Constitution may as well be Martian. And until the Iraqi people feel that their government is not a puppet of the United States (much like Afghani's feel "Mayor of Kabul" Karzai is a puppet), the violence will continue.
Ads exposing Allen, in his own words, is Webbs only chance. It's the only issue that will move numbers in Virginia.
The politician that controls the message wins, it's that simple. Allen is on the ropes lets see if Jim has the instincts to knock him out.
Politics is just like football, find your opponents weakness and pick at it until it causes a hemmorage.
It's "Macaca" stupid.
He is really pumped up for the debate today. The crowd was very, very friendly, open to his speech and well, everything just came together for a fine afternoon with the next US Senator OF AND FROM Virginia.
Thanks one and all for coming out. Our home never looked finer with all the cheering fans for Jim. There were several elected officials who came out to cheer Jim on.
County Board member Jay Fisette gave a point by point speech on how Jim differs with Allen on GLBT issues.
Jim believes the Right wingers are going to push the MARRIAGE AMENENDMENT down everyone throats and attach him with it as a reason not to vote for him in November. He said he is not afraid of what they may do, that he stands by his conviction that the Amendment is wrong. The crowd roared. He said he saw a glimpse of this already in the Washington TIMES.
The VOTE NO, Commonwealth Coalition is fighting really hard on this measure, so is Governor Tim Kaine. The measure however may still pass, so the right is banking on taking Jim down with it. Clever, but well, the bloggers are onto them.
Jim is pissed in the tone Allen refers to him in. Expect Allen to try to bully Jim again, I don't expect he going to take it.
I am predicting a very interesting debate.
=)
1. He doesn't want Webb to get anymore name recognition. I know, seems kinda silly given how many times Webb's name was said during MTP, but the less it's said the better for Allen.
2. Disrespect. Dehumanization. Derogatory. Allen is trying to send a message that he is better than Webb, and he knows it, and you should too. In other words - MORE OF ALLEN'S BULLYING BEHAVIOR. Not really what we want in a senator who supposedly represents all of us.
I also noted that when Webb did call him on it (although they were both talking at the same time), Allen backed off a bit. There was less use of the "my opponent" for a while. But by the end it seemed to come back again.
My Opponent WILL be used more so that WEBB's name is NOT used. That is right on the money.
Allen is a bully, simple as that, and you know he knows it and he's gotten away with it. Just ask his sister.
A spate of new polls just out from Rasmussen shows that Dems have widened their leads in three key Senate races:http://electioncentr...-- In Ohio, Dem Sherrod Brown now leads GOP Senator Mike DeWine by six points, 47%-41%. Last month, a Rasmussen poll showed that Brown's lead was statistically insignificant.
-- In Rhode Island, Dem Sheldon Whitehouse is head of GOP Senator Lincoln Chafee by eight points, 51%-43%. A little over two weeks ago, Rasmussen had Whitehouse ahead by only two points.
-- And in Montana, after a series of bad gaffes by GOP Senator Conrad Burns, Dem Jon Tester is ahead of the incumbent by nine points, 52%-43%. They were tied at 47% in August, according to Rasmussen.
Note that all three trailing Republicans are incumbents.
VICTORY in the Senate.
Keep it up gang!
But we can't ignore Claire McCaskill's race.
Ooooh. Klobuchar is killing Kennedy in MN (though that's not a pickup -- but the GOP thought it could be because of Dayton's unpopularity).
Wonkette, being snarky about Allen's football family=tolerance defense.
Also, as an apology for Confederacy-worship, “I grew up in a football family†is fairly useless. Yes, his father yelled at guys both black and white for a living. TOLERANCE!