I attended the 30th annual Congressman Bobby Scott’s picnic yesterday. Democratic activists from all over the region attended. In addition to the various city council members and other local elected officials, the attendees included Democratic Caucus Chair Brian Moran, Senators Creigh Deeds, Maime Locke, and Yvonne Miller, Delegates Maime Bacote, Kenny Alexander and Lionel Spruill, Democratic challenger in the 1st district Shawn O’Donnell, Democratic challenger in the 2nd district Phil Kellam, Governor Tim Kaine and former governor and presidential aspirant Mark Warner. (I hope I didn’t forget anybody – I’m doing this from memory.)
The event itself is really a time for people to talk politics and eat hot dogs and hamburgers. As usual, it was a rousing success. I wouldn’t dare to estimate numbers (since I’m pretty bad at that) but it was a good crowd, including a number of people that had never attended before. This year, Congressman Scott requested that campaigns not bring literature and the like, and for the most part, this request was honored.
The event itself is not a time for lots of speeches but we did hear from Kellam, Kaine and Warner, in that order. (O’Donnell arrived late.) Both Kaine and Warner spoke on behalf of Jim Webb.
What can I say about Mark Warner? The man’s speech was electrifying, even better than the one he gave last year. If he is giving similar speeches across the country (he mentioned that he has made 61 trips to 28 states over the last 8 months of his “unemployment”) then he should certainly be making inroads into the consciousness of Democrats everywhere. If he somehow does not win the nomination this time, I hope that he will consider being the number 2 man on the ticket. I know there is a lot of talk of him running for governor again in 2009 should he not get the nomination, but I hope he only does so as a last resort.
Congressman Scott, compared to some of the other speakers, is a bit soft-spoken. When he took the microphone after the other speakers, it was almost as if someone turned down the volume. But don’t let his soft-spoken nature fool anyone: he has a steel will and a tremendous ability to have his views known. After recognizing all of the people who made the event possible, he exhorted the crowd:
…and Vote NO on the amendment!
Well said, Congressman. Well said.
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VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
It was my first time being there and it was a great event. I and everyone I knew was glad for making the trip up to Newport News.