Remember last year, how Creigh Deeds lost the Attorney General's race to Bob McDonnell by 323 votes out of 1,943,250 votes cast? Such a heartbreakingly narrow loss couldn't happen again this year, right? Right?Well....the latest Mason-Dixon poll has Jim Webb and George Allen in a dead heat race, 43%-43%. This poll should make us all VERY worried not because it demonstrates that we can win this thing, but because it demonstrates that WE CAN LOSE it - possibly by just a few votes as with Creigh Deeds last year.
I don't know about you, but after Creigh Deeds lost to Bob McDonnell in November 2005, I kept asking myself, "was there SOMETHING I could have done - put up a few more signs for Creigh, make a few more calls, given a few more dollars - that could have pushed him over the top?" The answer? Maybe, maybe not; we'll never know. Regardless, I made a personal vow that I would immediately institute a "no regrets" policy for future elections. I vowed that I would do everything I could to ensure the victory of candidates like Creigh Deeds who I strongly supported.
This year, of course, my top priority has been helping Jim Webb defeat the 2006 version of Bob McDonnell - the right-wing Republican named George Allen. I feel so strongly about this race that I quit my interesting, secure job with the Federal government in large part to work full-time on this effort (for absolutely no money during March-July, by the way). What I'm asking is that you all join me, not in quitting your jobs (although that's fine if you want to!) but in doing EVERYTHING YOU CAN to help elect Jim Webb. Always keep in mind that we could lose this election (or win it) with just ONE day's worth of phone calls we didn't (or di) make or doors we didn't (or did) knock on.
I don't believe I'm exaggerating when I say that each and every one one of us potentially holds the fate of the country, even of the world, in our hands. It's no joke. Think about it for a few minutes.
And think about this: if we lose this November, even if it's by 1 vote (or by 323 votes), the results will be catastrophic for the nation and for the world. If Jim Webb loses, God forbid, the U.S. Senate will almost certainly remain in Republican hands - in President Bush's and Vice President Cheney's hands, that is. If that happens, God forbid, it means two more years of death and destruction in the Middle East and a world that hates us even more. If that happens, God forbid, it means big corporations and big oil continuing to pillage our economy, more and more people losing health insurance, and more and more polar icebergs melting. If Jim Webb loses, God forbid, it means that the only repairs to our crumbling infrastructure will be "bridges to nowhere," while New Orleans festers, the Constitution is shredded, and the President wields unchecked power to lock up whom he wants, when he wants - forever.
Today, right here in Virginia, we have a great candidate - Jim Webb - and we have a great responsibility! Remember, we can lose on November 7, and we can lose by 1 vote - the vote each of us failed to reach out to get. So, when you see a poll like Mason-Dixon, it's great news, but also very scary news. Polls like this indicate that the election on November 7 could very well come down to the day you volunteered a the farmer's market, or the hours you handed out Webb literature at the Metro, or the time on Election Day when you drove an elderly person to the polls, or the extra $100 you gave to the Webb campaign.
Is our system of representative Democracy a bit of an inconvenience? Sure. Is it exasperating much of the time? Yep. Does it feel hopelessly corrupt and screwed up? Perhaps. But remember this: it is OUR system, the one our Founding Fathers established, and it's the only one we've got. Now, in the weeks leading up to November 7, we have a chance to participate in that system as much as we possibly can. On November 7, the fate of Virginia, the fate of the United States, and quite possibly the fate of the entire world will be determined. And, frightening - or exciting - though it may be, the result could very well depend on what each and every one of us does - or does NOT - do over the next 35 days.
To volunteer for Jim Webb, please sign up here or contact Josh Chernila at 703-778-4080. Thanks.
[pic by waldo]
Lowell Feld is Netroots Coordinator for the Jim Webb for US Senate Campaign. The ideas expressed here belong to Lowell Feld alone, and do not represent those of Jim Webb, his advisors, staff, or supporters.
I first met Jim Webb here in Roanoke last February via Mudcat and have been working very hard for/with him ever since. Of course, I wouldn't give up my own elected office but I have certainly done everything possible to get Jim elected. He and his campaign workers stay here in our home whenever they are in this area and I have driven them to and from various nearby locations whenever needed.
I have participated in numerous efforts and events - from last spring's Shad Planking to Washington, D. C.'s Rolling Thunder motorcycle ride to the Labor Day parade in Buena Vista (on my bright yellow Honda Goldwing motorcycle with no less than eight bumper stickers attached to it and with Dan Gray riding on the back, waving a Jim Webb yard sign) and have served as a surrogate speaker for Jim in numerous locations, all to further Jim's candidacy.
Still, I feel as though I need to do more and now, with only about a month to go, I intend to keep up my efforts through 7:00 P. M. on Tuesday, November 7 and would encourage all others to do the same, or even more.
Jim and Creigh will be my guests at tomorrow's (Wednesday, October 4) Roanoke Kiwanis Club luncheon meeting, and Jim is our keynote speaker there. We will be showing the Webb campaign's new 7 1/2 minute video prior to his 30-minute talk and he will be available for interviews, etc. thereafter. He and Tim Kaine will then attend a private fundraiser here before hosting another event together at Jim's Roanoke headquarters at 6:00 P.M.
Lowell, thanks for your absolutely superlative work on this website and for all your hard work and dedication. You inspire the rest of us and, because of you and thousands of others like you, I predict that we will not repeat the Creigh Deeds outcome with Jim Webb.
Steve McGraw
The Lynchburg Democrats are hoding their fund raiser/ rally Sunday from 3- 7 PM at Cattle Annies. Please join us along with Brian Moran and Shannon Valentine.
Money raised is used to keep our headquarters open year round ( right under the nose of Steve Newman and Jerry Falwell) and to help Democratic candidates.
Central Virginia may be redder than a hot coal but Lynchburg is a BLUE oasis right smack dab in the middle of it!
I recall you took the time to speak to a lot of people "man o man" at that firework display on July 4th....where was that again?...
The real Creigh Deeds will be at the Annual Nelson County Dinner, October 14, in beautiful downtown Lovingston.
This won't be as big as Lynchburg's Cattle Annies event, but it will be very special!
Charlottesville and Lynchburg. Come on down. Or up. You, too, Amherst! Good food, good fun :)
Heck, these events deserve their own diary.