I attended Delegate Lionel Spruill’s Pancake Breakfast this morning. Lots of people turned out for this 8am event. Helping to serve breakfast was Democratic Caucus Chairman Brian Moran. Senate candidate Harris Miller was also in attendance.
I got a chance to talk to Miss Virginia aspirant Erin Hildreth, who holds the title of Miss Portsmouth Seawall Festival. This bright young woman should do well in the pageant. And, she’s a Democrat. It is so refreshing to meet young people who have looked at the parties and decided that the values put forth by the Democratic party are to be embraced.
I then headed over to the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee Breakfast. The place was jammed! Fellow Hampton Roads bloggers VB Dems say that there were over 150 attendees and I believe it. VBDC is to be commended for being able to draw such a crowd, especially considering that VB currently has only one elected Democrat. Dominic Melito, who I think helped put together the breakfast and who served as MC, announced the attendance of 10 or 12 current or former electeds and candidates.
Of course, not everybody there was from VB. Some, like myself, had come over from Norfolk to hear Harris Miller and Jim Webb speak. I saw several people who were from the NCDC. And some came from other cities to support Webb in the straw poll. Regardless, this was an impressive turnout.
Jim Webb was there when I arrived. Miller came up just as I did. Striking was the difference in the candidates. My own observation of Webb standing over by himself while Miller worked the room was reinforced by a comment someone made to me afterwards who had noticed the same thing.
Webb won the coin toss and got to speak first. This was the first time I had seen Webb in person. I thought he did a good job, although he was tossed some softball questions. (Note to Dom: next time, don’t give these guys 15 minutes to speak. That’s too long! Give more time for questions. 10 minutes isn’t enough.) He left the building immediately afterwards, so I didn’t get a chance to talk to him.
A number of people left the room when Webb did, which I thought was rude. Miller got up to speak and his demeanor was markedly different from Webb’s. Webb is a thoughtful, serious man and comes across as such. Miller told a couple of jokes and put the room at ease. He gave his standard stump speech (which I almost know by heart, because I’ve heard it several times now) and took some softball questions as well.
The outcome of the poll was not a surprise. This was a mostly Webb crowd. I doubt if either candidate turned many votes today. I do know of one person who came in the room undecided who voted for Miller but my guess is there were very few undecided voters there.
As the group broke up, it splintered into Webb supporters and Miller supporters. How sad. Where I stood during this joint appearance I was surrounded by mostly Webb supporters. One young man and I exchanged pleasantries during the speeches. Afterwards, I shook his hand and said that I hoped that we would be on the same side on 6/14.
This has been an extremely unpleasant primary. The discord that exists between the Webb factions and the Miller factions is disheartening to me. I stand by my endorsement of Miller as my candidate of choice but I certainly hope that we are able to come together as a party on Wednesday, united in the common goal of beating George Allen in November, regardless of the nominee.
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I had lunch with some folks and the issue of ideological purity versus politically expedient came up. We were talking about the marriage amendment and someone said the argument could be made for supporting the amendment, particularly as it relates to electability.
I was incensed. I have to say that there are few absolutes in this world but doing the wrong thing just to get elected is one of absolute no-no’s to me. Isn’t that why so many people think that the Democrats and the Republicans are two sides of the same coin?
I think there is a very slippery slope in politics, one in which a candidate starts out with very firm ideas of what they believe. Then the consultants get in the mix and they do some polling. Next thing you know, the candidate’s position has been tweaked a bit, to say things a little differently, to appeal to a larger group of voters. This leads to the candidate saying things that they really don’t believe, just to get elected. Because, once elected, they all believe, they can revert back to their true position.
It they are lucky enough to woo enough voters with their BS message, they get elected. But then how do they revert to their former – true – beliefs? They can’t. They’ve boxed themselves in. Besides, there is another election just around the corner, another fundraising phone call to make. Pretty soon, they no longer even know what they believe.
This is why candidates should start out being true to themselves and not listening to the spinmeisters of consultants. Either the people agree with their positions or they don’t. It’s that simple. You cannot sell you soul and then expect that once elected, it somehow comes back. Honesty and integrity are the very best qualities of people, in my opinion. I want that inall of my elected officials.
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More thoughts on the Marshall/Newman amendment. First of all, as someone correctly pointed out to me, I’ll not refer to this amendment by any other name than this from now on. This amendment has little to do with marriage and everything to do with the codification of discrimination.
A lot of people out there seem to think that twenty years from now, we will be amending the constitution again to remove this horrible language. Well, I don’t want to wait twenty years. You see, I’m old enough to remember the time prior to MLK Jr’s assassination. And I remember the older blacks at the time calling him a trouble maker and saying that we (black people) should be patient because things would change “in time.” Thank goodness a lot of folks didn’t buy this argument and fought for the civil rights of black Americans.
In my mind, we are facing a similar challenge with the LGBT community today. Things are a little different in this case, however, because being LGBT is something that can be hidden, unlike being black (at least in most cases). This is one of the reasons why the LGBT community is almost invisble. So many people are afraid of coming out of the closet. While I understand their fears, I think those in the closet are doing the community a great disservice. Like the blacks who stood up, along with our white brothers and sisters, to face racism, the LGBT community is going to have to stand up and, shoulder to shoulder with our straight brethern, fight these insidious challenges to our civil rights.
Twenty years is a long time – a lifetime to me. Twenty years from now, I’ll be four years older than my father was when he died. Which is why I don’t want to wait – because I just might not live long enough to see it. The time to fix the problem is now.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
What do you see in Harris Miller? Suppose you aren’t warm about Webb – fine. But Miller has a horrific record on labor. I know personally because I have, as an IT labor proponent, fought tooth an nail against Miller along with other activists.
Miller’s lobbyist activity caused us unrepairable harm. His well funded organization has stepped all over IT workers. We have documented clearly how he is rabidly anti-labor.
I just can’t imagine how elected Democrats could support him. Did you know that blacks and hispanics have extremely low representation in IT when compared to other occupations? Black women in IT are almost non-existant. The reason is because the industry has made it a mission to exploit cheap foreign workers and not build up our own domestic workforce.
Harris Miller has been the front-man for that mission. Harris has never worked for an IT company and is not an IT executive. He is a lobbyist working for an IT association. In 2002 when we lost over 100,000 software jobs, Harris was working hard to prevent any restrictions to offshoring and insourcing of low cost labor. And he in fact won most of the time.
I am begging Virginia voters to not support this person. You put other Democrats in a position where we are FORCED to turn against the party. A Democrat supporting Harris Miller would be like a conservative Republican supporting a lobbyist for abortion clinics. It goes against what I always thought the party was suppose to represent.
You may not get all warm and fuzzy about Webb. I respect that. But you should get sick to the stomach over Harris Miller. When I heard he was running for Senate as a Democrat, I did.
Roy – I understand and respect your opinion regarding Jim Webb. I laid out my reasons for supporting Harris Miller here.
Vivian is correct on a number of levels and most importantly by pointing out that there comes a time when a person has to stand on principle. Jim Webb was a loyal Republican for a long time supporting Reagan, Bush, and Bush. IT workers may perceive themselves as damaged professionally by outsourcing but far many more people have been hurt because of the policies of the people Webb has backed. Any real Democrat cannot close their eyes to this.
Winning elections is the name of the game; but whom exactly will we be electing? A Republican who decided that they were really a Democrat because the people they were so excited about and sold their souls for turned out to be disasters? What will they be on June 14th? There is more to being a Democrat than saying it; you either have those values in your heart or not. Virginians say they want change I believe they want real change not the same thing with a different label.
Don’t be so quick to give the party away to the Johnny-come-lately branch. With it, you will always get the kind of backbiting, smearing, lying, and attacking that have become hallmark to the Republican Party and the Webb campaign. If our new Democrats want credibility let’s see them act like Democrats, work for the party and for those people who embody Democratic principles and values. That’s how we will win elections.
“Vivian is correct on a number of levels and most importantly by pointing out that there comes a time when a person has to stand on principle. ”
I don’t fault any of you for standing on principle. I would never ask anyone to disregard their principles.
My contention is that voting for Harris Miller would require most Democrats to disregard their principles. Do you stand by Harris Miller’s on globalization and outsourcing?
I’m not in this because of the war – labor is my issue. But, if you look at the war record Jim is better on that. He wouldn’t cut and run – and wants to get out of Iraq just as much as anyone. Unlike Miller he opposed the war before it even started.
And regarding the nasty politics – it turned nasty on day two with Miller delivering the first blow. This latest incident – to warp a flyer (admittedly it was not a smart political move to release the flyer) into racism was just wrong on so many levels.
Some people don’t really care who gets elected as long as it isn’t Allen. For the anyone but Allen crowd, let me put it this way. If you vote for Jim Webb some of the far-left will not vote or vote for an independent. Many more independents and moderate Republicans will cross over.
If you vote for Harris Miller, folks in the middle and moderate Democrats won’t hessitate to vote Republican. Many others simply won’t vote at all in the race.
Out of all the campaigns in the United States this is the only one that the national labor movement is taking any significant interest in. We normally don’t get involved in primaries – and speaking for my own organization we rarely endorse candidates or oppose them. Harris Miller is a lightning rod and if he wins the primaries things will get much worse for him. You will see labor endorse Allen – which under normal circumstances is unthinkable. Harris Miller is not “normal circumstances.”
One final point..
We (meaning labor proponents) came up with the “anti-Christ of outsourcing” thing unaware that he was Jewish. Now that we know, we are working on a more sensitive name for him that describes his anti-labor views without being miscontrued as an attack on his religion. So if you guys want to attack anyone on that it should be us IT labor proponents. That name was invented long before Miller was running for Senate and at a time nobody even knew he was Jewish. Miller is an English surname so honest mistake.
Of course I know this explanation won’t cause the Miller campaign to not capitalize on the bogus charges, but that is the truth. But since when did the truth really matter in politics? IMHO when campaigns cry wolf over the race card or any other issue they lose credibility amongst voters.
In summary,
1) do you support Harris Miller on labor issues? I notice no mention of labor in your reasons for supporting Miller.
2) is there anything Harris Miller did while an ITAA lobbyist he has apologized for or would like to apologize for now? Jim Webb apologized for any offense that flyer caused. Will Harris Miller apologize to IT workers for what he did to us while an ITAA lobbyist?
Roy – I am not a one-issue voter. Never have been and never will be. I look at the totality of the issues that a candidate says that they stand for. I think I was quite clear in my endorsment of Miller as to my reasoning. Labor for me is like war is to you – not a burning issue.
There is more to Harris than labor just as there is more to Jim than war. I think we do a complete disservice to the candidates when we attempt to boil them down to only one issue.
War IS a burning issue for me personally – just not to our organization because we are focused as an organization on labor issues.
On a personal level (not speaking for the organization) I opposed the war before it started, and Jim is a strong anti-war candidate. I not only opposed it in mind, but in action as an activist. Jim was writing articles against the war prior to it starting while Harris made no public statements on it that I am aware of. I don’t recall any public statements by Harris on any issue other than technology related issues at any time before he became a candidate. All of his technology statements were biased in favor of industry.
What about Harris donating to Republicans – and the excuse that the ITAA board requested that he do that?
Because his BUSINESS was to influence legislation what makes you think all the donations weren’t just business expenses? If he would donate to Republicans for the business, are you naive enough to believe that he was simply trying to help the country by donating to Democrats – or was he trying to pull them in on his agenda as a lobbyist? There would be no need to donate big money to Republicans – they already support the agenda of big business. Of course he would donate big to Democrats.
Even if you aren’t big on labor as you say, the ways in which Miller opposed us such as bogus white papers and false statements on labor conditions was just dirty. He couldn’t win his argument based on facts, so he cherry picked data and mislead Congress.
I can provide you with ample evidence supporting that statement if you would like. If you do any cursory research on the web you will find so much data on Miller’s record as a lobbyist. It isn’t hard to find.
Do you really think that I am unaware of Miller’s background? Why is it so hard for you and others to realize that there are people out here who just happen to not agree with you? Do you somehow think that badgering me will make me change my mind? Reasonable people can disagree. I laid out why I’m supporting Harris.
You haven’t actually answered any of my questions in regards to your support of Webb and his positions on labor – other than “that isn’t so important to me”.
Why won’t you defend (or oppose) his specific positions as a lobbyist and on labor? That is the 1000 pound gorrilla in the room – and if you can’t defend his actions and positions on the ONE issue where the majority of his opposition will come from Miller is in big trouble.
You are a REAL politician. Getting any answers from you is like pulling teeth. I give up with you not because of a simple “agree to disagree” moment but because you dodge the questions. They weren’t hard questions – and it isn’t like you are some high ranking politician. Why are you so evasive? Why don’t you even attempt to defend your candidate on the big issues that he will get hammered on should he make it to the general election?
I won’t “badger” you anymore because it doesn’t appear you will answer the questions anyways.
Unlike the "organization" you purportedly represent, I'm a private individual who has chosen to support Harris Miller. I have no responsibility to anyone other than myself so I have no responsibility to answer you or anyone else's questions on my support. I made it quite clear in my endorsment of Harris why I was choosing to support him. I said it before – the labor issue is not my issue. I don't have to defend anything because I'm not the candidate. I urge you – once again – to read what I said in my endorsement.
Sorry, I didn’t realize you wished to remain private on this. Might I suggest you not blog about something you wish to remain a private issue? Most people usually don’t blog about private matters.
Sir, you are ridiculous. I think my endorsement of Miller has just gotten under your skin. My endorsement of Miller is quite public. Read it here. I don't think you have ever even bothered.
I read it. It is a fine position to hold on those specific issues and I can agree to disagree with you on some of them – and some of them I agree on. But it doesn’t address the questions I asked of you – and you also don’t wish to answer them because it is private. So I am dropping it out of respect to your privacy.
My only suggestion was that you not blog on private matters or matters you don’t wish to elaborate on. This is like kissing in public and then getting mad because people are staring.
Do you want to drop this? We can drop it now. I am perfectly willing to accept your position that some of your views on Miller are private. I’m not interested in going around in circles on this issue or “badgering” you if your views are private.
Lawson, how is the harranging thing working for you?
Don’t feed the troll.
Alice, how is the smearing of a good and decent man going? I hope you aren’t proud of what is going on.
I don’t think I fit the definition of troll or harranger. I had simple questions which none of you care to answer. I didn’t call you names – why must you attack me with name calling?
If any of you knew the Harris Miller I know your views of him would be entirely different. This isn’t a matter of difference of oppinion. This is a matter of character. One day you will come to realize what I am talking about – hopefully not too late.