Once word was received that George Allen would concede today at 3 PM, the Webb campaign immediately planned an event for 4:15 or shortly thereafter, where Jim Webb would claim his victory. An announcement was posted on raisingkaine, emails were sent out by the campaign and by various groups supporting Jim, including Veterans for Webb, of which I am a part. Realistically I did not have the time to go, but I was not going to miss this celebration.
We began to gather at the plaza at Courthouse where months ago Jim had his first formal event in N Virginia. In fact, it was the day he declared. He had a small event in Gate City, in the southwestern part of the state from where his fatherGÇÖs family comes, but then he came to our neck of the woods, a short walk from campaign headquarters, and officially announced, after being introduced by his former wife, the mother of 3 of his 4 children.
People had Webb signs, Webb buttons, Webb stickers. Coming as I did on short notice from school, I had little Webb paraphernalia available, and was unwilling to run home to get more, as I did not want to miss a single moment. mI managed to scrape up one button and two Veterans for Webb stickers that were on the jacket on the back seat of my car and which I transferred to my shirt and my hat. As I walked from wear I parked a friend slapped a bumper sticker on my back. I figured, why not, we didnGÇÖt need it for any more cars! We had WON!
As the crowd began to build, we began to greet one another, volunteers, public officials who had endorsed as far back as the primary, paid staff. The word heard most often was GÇ£CongratulationGÇ¥ closely followed by GÇ£thanks.GÇ¥ People were acknowledging to one another the work, the sacrifice, the commitment that had been offered that had helped to make this victory possible.
Eventually Chuck Schumer, Tim Kaine and Jim Webb spoke. It was before a huge battery of cameras - still photographers and live video and video tape. Hone Le Webb, very pregnant, was on the platform with them. Dozens of public officials and candidates like Judy Feder were behind, along with many Firefighters for Webb in their distinctive yellow and other Webb supporters.
One of the most powerful moments was when Jim was introduced. Philip Thompson handed him a bag from which Jim took out his sonGÇÖs combat boots which he had worn throughout the campaign, held them up and announced that the campaign was over.
It was natural for people to want to celebrate. The Veterans for Webb had already agreed to gather at a nearby Irish pub. The timing was appropriate, for as Jim had noted, tomorrow is the birthday of the Marine Corps and the following day is Veterans Day. As it happened there was a group of Marine veterans from Vietnam in the mid 1960s who were having reunion that many of us greeted.
But many other volunteers joined us, as did most of the paid campaign staff. There were hugs, there were high fives. And what was special was the congratulations offered to the volunteers by the paid staff, even as we congratulated them back. When Jessica the campaign manager or Adrienne the assistant campaign manger arrived, they were greeted with cheers.
People shared their highs and lows from the campaign. We looked backward and forwards, to what we might all be doing next.
There was no distinction as to role in the campaign. We all knew that in a narrow victory like this we had all played an important role.
Many of us were sought out by the press while we were on the Plaza. Reporters from as far away as Norway wanted to know why we supported Jim, what drew us to him. It was as if they sensed that there was something different about this campaign. I know those celebrating the victory of Jon Tester would also talk about what was unique about their experience. But we were so close to the nationGÇÖs capital, and George Allen was so much more of a nationally imposing figure, that fairly or not, we got much more press attention.
I am tired. I am not as tired as campaign staff, some of whom have not had as much as 5 hours sleep in more than a month. This diary is far from coherent. But I needed to share this with those of you who chose to read it.
if you are encountering this on dailykos, you can recommend or not as you see fit. Quite frankly, I donGÇÖt really give a damn what you decide to do with this diary. WE WON. We were 16 points down. Sure, Allen self-destructed, but it would not have mattered if we had not had the dedicated staff and volunteers that we did, if we had not worked like hell to turn out every single vote we could, whether by phoning, knocking on thousands of doors on election day, standing at metro stops to encourage people to vote.
This IS a campaign that was bottom up, that began with people urging Jim to run on our behalf. Later I will do a GÇ£thoughtfulGÇ¥ reflection on my experience of participating in this historic and important campaign.
But for now I also want to return a favor. I am a volunteer who was honored by the professional staff that greeted me with congratulations and thanks, and praised me for all I did.
Whether you read this on dailykos or raisingkaine, I offer the same to you. I say GÇ£CongratulationsGÇ¥ for you were a part of this effort and share in the glory. And I thank you for all that you did.
I remember marching with Jim and about 150 other volunteers through Falls Church in Memorial Day in the days before the primary. At that time my sense was that Jim Webb COULD win, but of course there were quite a few doubts even then. There was still a large question whether or not he would be able to make it past the primary.
Immediately after the primary I figured a wave of support would come in, but that didn't really happen until mid-August--and from there the wave really seemed to pick up momentum when Mark Warner, Tim Kaine, and finally Gov. Wilder threw their full weight behind the cause.
By nature I'm a pretty skeptical person--so I won't be fully gratified until I can see the results of Jim Webb's victory over the course of the next 6 years. However, when Jim Webb promises that "he won't forget his loyalties," as he did today, ordinary Virginians and Americans everywhere have cause to be hopeful.
How gratifying it was to be a part of all this.
He looked worse back at HQ, when he used to come out of the room where he had been making fundraising calls. I swear, I think he'd rather face the V.C. any day than ask for money.
You're right, he has come a long way. And so has Virginia!
I still laugh when I think of that experience. Jim had just declared. He wasn't able to attend the Richmond JJ dinner because of his hand surgery, so this was his first appearance as a Democratic candidate. There were no signs to carry and no time or money to get anything made up professionally, so I agreed to print up signs on my deskjet printer and attached them to some metal sheets I had in my garage so that they'd have some stiffness in the wind. (Can anyone link to photos of the event? Lowell maybe?) My 12 year old daugther and I made up something like 30 or 40 signs before our second color inkjet cartridge gave out. We barely got any sleep trying to make our effort look presentable for Jim's first big showing, but we, along with my husband and 11 year old son (left the 3 yo with grandma), started up early from VB to Alexandria. Others came from Richmond, Fredricksburg, etc.
We had a great showing of volunteers to walk with Jim. Jim, however, never met up with us. It was awful. The parade started. We were in place with our makeshift, and admittedly somewhat dangerous signs (sorry folks, it was the best I could so on such short notice). We couldn't find Jim anywhere. Harris Miller was there with a very small entourage, and he kept running around in front of our crowd shaking hands. It was humiliating. So far as we knew Jim had stood us up. Ben Tribett kept running around with his notepad as we marched trying to get us to say how angry and upset we were, but we politely refused to play into that.
Late in the game we learned that Jim was marching at the back of the parade and that there had been a mix up of some sort.
A meeting place was decided upon, and we all headed over to greet Jim. Where was that exactly, can anyone tell me? Anyway, it was clear that he was fairly uncomfortable meeting his supporters. When I introduced myself and my family and told him that we'd made all the signs up and come from Virginia Beach to support him, he gave me an odd look and didn't know what to say. He was essentially speechless. I wondered from his standoffish expression if he might be considering whether I could be a stalker or something for having gone to all that trouble on his behalf. It was very funny.
Then we all headed over to Theismann's for an after-parade event for Democrats. Anybody else want to pick up the story from there?
All through yesterday and today I have been getting messages not just fom all around the States, but from all around the world, congratulating us/US on regaining our sanity -- an act poved by our repudiation of Bush and all his minions. It's truly *incredible* how much people outside US care.
To my yesterday's "Here Comes the Sun" I have now added -- as of 15:30, "nana nana, nana nana, hey, hey, good bye"
- for persuading Jim and others on the campaign (Steve, Mudcat, Jessica) of he value of interacting with the netroots community
- for helping keep this campaign visible by posting here at RK and at dkos
we all have something of which we can be proud now.
i know i didn't do as much as many of you here but i know that i did a lot more than most did in general.
even on election day i convinced someone in my office (a brand new employee) to vote webb.
i talked to everyone at work that would listen and kept on already supporters to make sure they had the full facts on webb so they could fight back any dis-information.
i donated as much money as i could -- showed up at rallies (even ended up in webb's last commercial), have had the webb stickers on my car since the primary and proudly sat in traffic in NoVa just to get his name out there long before any signs showed up.
i know more about jim webb than any other candidate that has ever run -- and every time i learned something new about him, it made me work harder.
i know that when webb speaks these are his thoughts, his ideas, his heart, his intellect, his passion and he speaks to me and speaks for me.
i will always be proud of my support for webb.
CONGRATS to All and huge thanks to lowell and teacherken (i love your writings!)