Anonymous is a Woman has posted a lengthy missive about why she will not support Harris Miller in the general election, mostly based on a recent Miller mailer, shown below (click to enlarge). She says:
This is the ad that burns any bridge back to party unity because it’s the ad that declares that Miller would rather see the party lose than elect anybody but him. And that’s plain selfish.
I’m not sure exactly what she saw in the ad but everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion and I respect her for at least having one. But I totally disagree with her.
First, the most important thing for Democrats is beating George Allen in November. Isn’t that what all the Webbheads have been saying? Webb is supposedly the more electable candidate, so we should look past his flaws because he can beat Allen. So what you are saying, dear lady, is that being ideologically pure is more important than winning? Or is that only if your preferred candidate is not the nominee?
Second, if it is the people’s – the Democrats’ – choice to make Miller the candidate, we have a responsibility, as Democrats, to support him. Isn’t that what party loyalty is about? Or is party loyalty only a Republican thing? In 2004, a lot us D’s were unhappy with the choice of John Kerry for our presidential nominee. Kerry had his own baggage and let’s be real, no candidate is perfect. A website – Kerry Haters for Kerry – was born to deal with the frustration. But even though they preferred other candidates, they supported him.
On a personal note, I understand all too well what it is like to be the party nominee and not get the support of supposedly “good Democrats.” I’m not alone in having experienced this. A conversation I had yesterday with another person who ran as a D and did not get the party support shows me that time does not really heal the wounds. They get scabbed over but the next time you see the party eating one of their own, the scabs come off and the wounds are as fresh as the day they occurred.
Finally, you gotta give anybody who runs for office their props. Whatever makes us crazy enough to take on the seemingly endless 21-hour days (which could be 24 hours except that you need a bit of sleep) of running from one event to another, seeing another chicken dinner (not eating it, mind you, not because you’re not hungry but because you need to talk to folks and you can’t do that with a mouthful of food), knocking on doors and sometimes having them slammed in your face, spending time on the phone calling people to ask them for money (a humiliating task for those of us who have made our way in this world without help), dealing with reporters who have no clue as to what is going on, keeping staffers and volunteers pumped, regularly biting your tongue because every person you meet is a potential voter and/or donor, seeing your family only at events because they are all asleep when you crawl into bed and more is worthy of respect. Any candidate for any office knows what I’m talking about.
Why do this? Because the candidate believes in public service and believes they can do a better job at it than the person they are trying to replace. They want to serve us. And for that, they should be commended, not condemned.
I’ll say it again: I am a Democrat and will support the nominee in the general election. Do not let them win by dividing us.
(Hat tip to The Right Angle for the mailer photos.)
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
You are doing the right thing, Vivian. However, how did it make you feel when you experienced the lack of support from the “good Democrats”? And how can that be changed? Of course, technically, if a committee member does not support the nominee, he or she has to resign from the committee. But often, these people continue to be influential in party circles, long after the election, whether they are committee members or not. How would you deal with that?
How does a Democratic candidate win a general election when they’ve made a living outsourcing workers and destroying their families?
In order to win, we must attract people who would not ordinarily vote Democratic. What about Harris Miller would make anybody think he can do that?
Ingrid – it was – and is – a horrible feeling, which is why I feel so strongly that saying you won’t support the party nominee is wrong. And it’s wrong for all of us who call ourselves Democrats, not just committee members. Committee members should, of course, be held to an even higher standard. They should be removed from the committee. If you don’t want to support the nominee, call yourself an independent, not a Democrat.
Paul – I am well aware of the outsourcing issue. But besides that, have you read anything else about Miller and what he wants to do? Neither of these candidates is one-dimensional, so I have difficulty with the portrayal of either one of them as such. I don’t buy the argument that Republicans are going to cross over and vote for Webb in the general any more than I buy the argument that Miller is only an outsourcer.
Harris Miller (his tactics and pandering) are the reason the democrats tend to lose in Virginia. Miller’s tactics aim for the support of the left of the liberal branch of the democratic party. Pandering to a minority of the electorate may win the primary, but there would be no way to steer back to the center in time for the general. It is the reason democrats the minority party, have been sthe minority party and will continue to be that…..until it is realized that to win elecions one must get around 50.1% of the vote or better.
Webb on the other hand appeals to a much larger percentage of Virginia’s electorate and panders to no one. He is progressive on social issues, strong on defense, and widely respected. Webb threatens to draw in progressive minded moderates who lean GOP on issues of defense, national security etc. If we turn him away, thousands of others statewide who are thinking about coming back to the Democratic party may decide they are still not welcome. Webb is a harbinger to the GOP. When they lose the centrists, they lose the country, and I am all for that.
Webb can win, Miller has little or no chance of breaking 45%.
Terrible spelling. Sorry. I hope you can decipher it.
I ask all of you the same thing: will you support the party nominee, regardless of who you prefer in the primary?