I headed to Richmond yesterday afternoon for the annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner. As usual, I had more fun at this event just moving around and chatting with folks than listening to the speeches.
As I needed to get some work done yesterday, I missed the day’s earlier festivities. I got there in time for the Webb reception and got a chance to hang out a bit with some folks, including Del. Don McEachin. No way I’m going to try to mention all of the folks I saw but I met Kathy Gerber, a frequent RK contributor, for the first time. We got a chance to talk briefly about the Juneteenth resolution.
The dinner itself was held in the cavernous Richmond Convention Center and the program started promptly at 7:30pm. Reports of attendance ranged from 3,000 to 4,000, depending on who was speaking. (Kaine at one point said 3,000 and then later said 3,500.) Whatever the number, it was a huge crowd, although I did see several completely empty tables. I ran into Norfolk councilwoman Daun Hester, who came specifically to hear Barack Obama, as did a number of other folks that I talked to. Perhaps next year the DPVA can get one of the other presidential candidates to be the speaker. My personal preference would be Bill Richardson, but no doubt Hillary Clinton would be a heck of a draw as well.
One thing I noticed: at the beginning, House Democratic Caucus chair Brian Moran introduced the Democratic members of the House. Missing from the list was Johnny Joannou. It really stood out – at least to me – that he was missing when the Senate Democratic Caucus chair Mary Margaret Whipple introduced the Democratic Senate members and made mention of the one who was not there. Perhaps there were other delegates missing but it was curious that Joannou was not mentioned. An oversight, perhaps?
Funny moment: when Senator Whipple introduced Benny Lambert, there were some boos from the audience. The folks at my table were confused as to why Lambert was booed. When I told them that he had endorsed George Allen, they were not happy campers.
I’m not going to rehash all of the speeches as there is a pretty good run-down over at RK. The crowd’s enthusiam for Jim Webb has not abated: he received a boistrous reception. As for Obama – well, I was a bit surprised that he was not more warmly received, given his supposed “rock star” quality. It seemed to me that people’s reaction to the earlier parts of his speech – when he talked about Virginia Democrats Doug Wilder, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine – were better received than the latter part of his 45-minute long stump speech. To me, he seemed clearly uncomfortable talking about race, as uncomfortable as the crowd appeared to be hearing about it. Afterwards, I sought out blacks just to get a sense of their response to his speech. Some were clearly supportive, others much less so. Pretty much the response I expected.
Another thing I noticed: a lot of folks walking out with Hillary Clinton yard signs.
Afterwards, I headed to the Marriot to visit the hospitality suites, walking over with Bobby Mathieson, the Democratic candidate in the 21st district. The wait for the elevator was easily 15-20 minutes. Standing in the line was J. Sarge, one of the bloggers I had not previously met. (Gosh, he’s SO young!) I also met Rip Sullivan in the line. Rip is a candidate in the 34th House district.
After hanging out with Del. Lionel Spruill and his guests, and chatting with Harris Miller and his wife for a bit, I made my way to Brian Moran’s suite. It was so packed, I just couldn’t stay. I headed to Steve Heretick’s suite and got a chance to chat with him. Heretick, you may recall, is running for the Senate seat currently occupied by Fred Quayle. He was unaware of the rumors surrounding potential Republican challengers to Qualye. I chided him about reading blogs 😉
Next I headed to Phil Kellam’s suite. I did make it inside briefly (long enough to meet Janet Oleszek) but spent most of my time in the hallway talking to Jon Blair, Ralph Northam’s campaign manager as well as Ralph himself, and Jim Nachman, chair of the Richmond City Democratic Committee.
By this time, it was past midnight so I decided to pack it in and head back to Norfolk. Still seated in the lobby when I got back downstairs was Del. Spruill and his guests 😉 They were having a good time.
A shout-out to the winners of the Grassroots awards, especially Sylvia Ellis of Virginia Beach and Linda Dagley of Norfolk. Also, congrats to the Virginia Beach City Committee for winning Committee of the Year.
Finally – because I just know you’re wondering 🙂 – the best dressed female elected was by far rising star Jenn McClellan. The best dressed male was none other than – wait for it – Brian Moran.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Brian Moran missed mentioning David Poisson as well. I suspect just an oversight. And definitely, Jennifer McClellan for best dressed. Wow! Wearing a red strapless gown, she was gorgeous. There’s your rock star!
Did I miss him mentioning Del. Onzlee Ware, too?
Touching on the previous conversation, how was the the overall black turn out at the dinner?
Very good. I would estimate that 20% of the attendees were black.
One of the things I noticed about Obama’s speech reflected something my brother told me when he went to a show headlined by comedian Louis Black (of Daily Show “Back in Black” fame). No one laughed during Mr. Black’s jokes; the crowd collectively worried that if they laughed too loud, they would miss the next punchline.
The first part of the Senator’s remarks were very similar to the other speaches we’ve seen from him before (and considering the theme of all his other visits have been how awesome Tim Kaine/Jim Webb are, that’s not surprising). But when he got to the story about his about his daughter asking during their announcement tour, “What are we doing here again?” and the laughter started subsiding and he repeated in reflection, “what are we doing here again?” you could hear the sound of cutlery on china fade away, chattering stopped and the pol to my left leaned forward and whispered, “here it comes.”
The measure of greatness for any speach the Governor has given has always been the volume of applause; the true measure of the Senator’s speech has to be the thunderousness of the silence. I checked around afterwards to make sure that I wasn’t the only one who wanted to fling a shoe at the NEA’s table when they interrupted his speech to applaud his statement on better teacher salaries. At the beginning of the evening, I was amazed by how many Virginia democrats turned out to see this man speak, but I was even more amazed by how quiet and attentive they became to hear him speak.
They say that when Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman was first performed, the curtain fell on the final scene to a profound, space-filling silence which no one dared disturb for fear of ruining the moment. I feel like the closest I’ve ever come to that in politics was in listening to Barack Obama speak last night in Richmond. It was something to behold.
“Very good. I would estimate that 20% of the attendees were black.”
any of them read GOTV blog?
anonymous – thanks for posting that. Certainly it is a different take on the speech than I had.
Alice – I really didn’t have a chance to ask folks about blogs.
Good to see race is not an issue with Democrats. Every notice that it is only Democrats who talk about race at every turn, and then say they wish race was not a factor? Very confusing to voters I think.
“Good to see race is not an issue with Democrats. Every notice that it is only Democrats who talk about race at every turn, and then say they wish race was not a factor? Very confusing to voters I think.”
-anonymous
Only to voters that disregard context, but in this world of sound bites and static charged clothes, that’s hardly something to hold against too many everyday people.
I asked how many black people attended because in Vivian’s post (https://blog.vivianpaige.com/2007/02/16/gotv-open-letter/) she expressed surprise at how few black people attended the JJ dinner last year. A republic only works as a republic if it constantly strives to represent as many people as is possible. So when a large group (be they defined by race, gender, economic level or otherwise) is polled as being a major voice in a party and few people of that group appear actively within that party, it is vital that it be addressed and discussed. Methods equivalent to affirmative action may prove counterproductive, but at the same time the dismissive attitudes towards ANY acknowledgement of phenomena are equally if not more counterproductive and simply unacceptable.
“Ever[] notice that it is only Democrats who talk about race at every turn[?]”
Consider the fact that (slightly) more people have traditionally leaned to the Democratic Party but Republicans have kept power because far more of their members are very active. Not to throw mud at Republicans and imply racism, but it really isn’t in their interest for more Democrats to organize and participate. Sorta like how Democrats were not as fond of accepting late post-marked (besides the fact that some of them REALY WERE LATE) absentee ballots from soldiers overseas for the last election, since the military was more in support of Bush at the time.
The key to the confusion you ponder is in your own words though. We “wish race was not a factor” but when 20% is considered a really good turnout, it becomes absurd to deny the fact that it is. Only through acknowledgment can we proceed to understand and attempt to rectify the issue, as we “wish” it to be.
“[W]hen 20% is considered a really good turnout, it becomes absurd to deny the fact that it is.”
I don’t think I was clear that by the above I meant with regard to last year’s surprising “lack of blacks.” When I asked the question of how many black people showed up, I obviously did not know how many yet. It was this question that I am defending and trying to convey the justification of by showing that 20% is considered a very good improvement.
This post is gold. I can’t thank you enough.
Also, I wonder if there were any College Democrats in the hospitality suites?
Boy was it fun!
It was a pleasure to meet you, Vivian, if only briefly.