It seems that a lightbulb has gone off at the Jim Webb campaign headquarters. Webb is finally doing something to attract the black vote. His brief appearance at the Norfolk NAACP dinner was his first foray, as far as I can tell, into the community, although he did have other events planned for that day that were rained out. I understand he attended last weekend’s “Battle of the Bay” football game between HU and NSU. The latest copy of the New Journal & Guide, a local black weekly, features a full-page Webb ad. I see that 3rd district Congressman Bobby Scott endorsed Webb on Tuesday. His weekend schedule reflects appearances at the NAACP state convention, Delegate Lionell Spruill’s Pancake breakfast, and an NSU football game in the company of Spruill. (I’ll bet the Sunday morning schedule will include church attendance with Spruill.)
On November 7, we will know if this was too little, too late.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Funny,
I got an email this morning from someone who was invited to the pancake breakfast but could not attend for family reasons. He noted that Webb will finally make his way over (I assume to the 4th), but he also wrote, “…as if that is going to change our minds in a heartbeat.”
At this point, anything Webb does with the AA community may be seen as token. Even if Webb (or the campaign) has seen the light, he is in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”
Note to any future Democratic candidate: Never take the Black vote for granted, and don’t wait until 20 days out from a state-wide election to personally solicit Black votes. It looks cheap, and it is.
Hey Vivian. The Daily Press article I link to in my post (which you also linked, thanks) claims that Webb will be doing stops at 14 chruches this weekend. That’s a big weekend for Webb, and it’s great to see this outreach.
What did you think about Wilder’s cancellation to appear with Allen? Same old same old, or newsworthy?
Vivian:
I’ve read something about Webb visitng 14 churches on Sunday. It sounds like Webb is finally moving in and courting the black community. My question is this: Is it too little too late?
Fairfax Dem what’s your options? Vote for Allen, who is most likely a closet racist. Stay home, effectively a vote for Allen. Or vote for Webb, who isn’t as polished with AA’s then say Bill Clinton. Then again who is?
If AA’s want to view the “black vote” as something to be courted ad nausem, then the black vote will be treated differently. You can’t have your cake and eat it to.
No, wait a second here, Ffx Dem. Webb has not made very many appearances in the Hampton Roads area period. Outside of his VB campaign HQ opening several months ago and 2 or 3 small fundraisers, he has not been here, and people of all races in the Hampton Roads area have not been afforded the opportunity to meet him. Evidence that a lot of people of every race are equally thrilled to have Jim here this weekend is the fact that Delegate Spruill is anticipating as many as 1200 people at his pancake breakfast. And if I was at all a football fan, I’d be the NSU game as well coz I too thirst all and any opportunity to meet and greet Jim Webb (assuming it doesn’t cost me big bucks $). The only thing cheap around here is me.
Webb’s race is more of the same from the Dems who have been taking the black vote for granted for years now. Personally I only stay with the party because there’s no way I could support the Republicans. The Democratic party counts on that enough black people feel the same way. However, if the Republicans continue to court the black vote, while the Dems don’t, my party could be in trouble.
Angela yea right. This has been the biggest year of courting of the black vote by the GOP ever. Lynn Swan in PA, Steele in MD and a host of other AA candidates. The myth of the black republican is dead.
RIP 2005-2006
Okay, we all agree that Webb has been late and feeble in courting the A-A vote.
So should he be punished by reelecting Allen? Should all Democrats, and all Virginians, and all Americans be punished by letting the Republicans continue to control the Senate?
Jeez … Webb’s not my ideal candidate either. But this is 2006, and it all really comes down to “D” or “R” — not black or white, not rich or poor, not gay or straight, not ego or pride or hurt feelings or anything else but “D” or “R”.
We need Virginia and America to go “D” — right now, nothing else really matters.
If I remember correctly Barrak Obama made an appearance weeks ago with Jim in Northern VA.
It continues to baffle me how George Allen (DEFINITELY NOT A CHAMPION OF WOMEN OR OTHER MINORITIES) can even imagine in his wildest dreams that any self-respecting woman or minority would take him seriously, much less vote for him.
I don’t agree with Webb’s stance on affirmative action but I don’t see it as racist. He believes affirmative action was created to “right” the wrong of slavery and should only be used to benefit African Americans in order to right that wrong. (I’ve always agreed with the inclusion of others, especially Native Americans, women, and Asians who have also suffered discrimination since the beginnins of this nation…)
However, I respect Jim Webb for his honesty and I believe he cannot be bought out.
I don’t expect my elected official to be perfect…or agree with me 100% of the time….that would be inhuman. But if anyone honestly looks at Webb and Allen….Webb is the better choice for ALL Virginians….(Unless you are in that top 1% reaping all those benefits at the expense of the rest of us).
Buzz…Buzz…Mosquito
I think some of the commentators are being a little unfair to Webb about his failure to more aggressively court the AA vote. As a complete political unknown he’s had to introduce himself to the entire state. Many people had either never heard of him, or only knew him as a guy who wrote Rules of Engagement. Look how responsive Allen’s “macaca” crowd was when he started criticizing Webb as some fiction writer hobnobbing with Hollywood moguls. Those people didn’t even know that Webb wrote the definitive history of their culture (Born Fighting).
Webb’s also been criticized for not being a big fan of affirmative action for everyone. Well, he’s got a point, which is actually very well spelled out in Born Fighting. There’s been a tendency for a long time in this country to treat whites as members of a gigantic prosperous, powerful bunch called the WASP. Coming from the hardscrabble people of Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Arkansas, and having witnessed the poverty and lack of opportunity for and discrimination against mountain people, Mr. Webb has suggested that affirmative action should be limited to those for whom it was originally passed, who were the victims of a concentrated and government sanctioned apartheid system. He’s got some great facts and figures delineating the differences between actual WASPs and the mountain folks. Take a look.
With no political base, no money, no name recognition, and no plan until he was drafted to run he’s had to cover an awful lot of territory.
Phriendly – I missed the reference to the 14 churches in the DP article in your post. I assumed (correctly, I might add) that a trip to Hampton Roads with Spruill would include visiting churches. That’s one of the things that Delegate Spruill always does for the candidates he supports.
I don’t think anyone is trying to “punish” Webb. On the contrary, I think it is appropriate for us to discuss what has to be a part of his winning strategy: black voter outreach and black voter turnout. Without the black vote, Webb loses. It’s really that simple. Combine that with no opponents in the 3rd & 4th CDs, then there is no reason for the black vote to come out. That’s what I’ve been saying all along. It happened in the primary and it could happen again.
Eileen is right: Webb hasn’t been down here. And when he has been, he hasn’t been in Norfolk. I know that a part of the problem is a bit of inside baseball, but the reality is that Norfolk is the Democratic stronghold of the region. You cannot ignore voters and just hope that they will come out and vote for the D. It doesn’t work that way. No mail, little TV = low voter turnout for Ds here.
All the NoVA people think that Webb’s stand on AA is where the problem lies. Let me repeat it for the umpteenth time: the AA issue has NOT played out down here because NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT IT. Sure, the insiders know, the electeds know, but they aren’t out there talking about it. It hasn’t been brought up in the New Journal & Guide. And Allen hasn’t brought it up. So most folks down here have no idea what his stance is. It is not a factor. The lack of presence is the factor.
Too little too late. This 11th hour visit to churches is condescending and patronizing. This is the same guy who first opposed Affirmative Action, but has now qualifies his answer to gain the Black vote. At the same time, he has offered nothing to indicate how he is going to help minorities. He speaks in platitudes and yet attend fund-raises with folks who sell confederate flags (Ben Jones). I wouldn’t believe anything he says.
Furthermore, this hurry mentality speaks volumes. Obviously, the Webb campaign is realizing that Allen and the Republican Party are making inroads with the minority community.
Phriendly – sorry – I forgot to mention the bit about Wilder sending a surrogate to the Allen appearance. That he did so doesn’t surprise me. Wilder is going to be cagey right up til the end, but he will endorse Webb. Webb told me himself at the NAACP dinner that he has been calling Wilder regularly.
The only question I have about a Wilder endorsement is what effect it will have outside of Richmond. Does Wilder’s endorsement mean that much anymore? I don’t know.
Doug Wilder’s counsel to Webb means alot to me. Because Jim Webb listens and Doug Wilder knows. Doug Wilder is the partner Jim Webb is looking for to make economic opportunities happen for the folks that need it most. Leaders both.
4theGipper
So what’s your point? Anyone who sells confederate flags is some kind of racist? Anyone who might want to own a confederate flag is a racist? And because Webb associates with Jones that makes him unbelievable? Actually, I’ve never heard of Ben Jones selling confederate flags, so I’d like to know where you got that from, but as for the assertion that Webb speaks in platitudes, the whole point of the campaign is that he doesn’t. If he were the type to speak in vague generalities and platitudes then he would have been all rah rah with slogans about expanding affirmative action and expanding opportunities for black people, and he would have been at all the events gladhanding and telling people what they want to hear. I suppose you would have found that believable.
You want to know what Webb will do to help minorities. How about putting the focus where it rightly belongs, which is what will he do to help the people who are presently being crushed by this administration’s policies, and its spending spree, and its support for factories and businesses moving overseas and depriving the average blue color working stiff of all races and ethnicities of a decent living? Why are we still allowing ourselves to be sucked into this distinction between poor whites and poor minorities, as if poverty hurts less if you have less melanin in your skin?
Right now the biggest issue facing the country is this appalling travesty of a war. And right behind it is the question of whether we will allow the Bushies to keep giving tax credits to their friends and forcing us and our children to shoulder the cost of this constant cycle of borrowing and spending. On issues of the military, and foreign policy, and terrorism, and defense expenditures Webb has wide knowledge and understanding. He can jump right in and contribute, and it will benefit all Americans.
Then there’s the issue of the economy at home and the lack of real free trade. I know that Webb is a neophyte in this area, but he’s an extremely bright and hardworking man who’s willing to consider other opinions and to weigh the issues before taking a position. He has passion and abhors injustice. He’ll come up with something. Maybe you and I won’t agree with it, but it will be logical and defensible.
Allen is a mediocrity who says what he thinks his minority constituents want to hear. His sporadic and half-hearted efforts on behalf of minorities are linked to his political aspirations. He’s not doing it because he thinks it’s the right thing to do because the issue of whether something is the right thing to do probably rarely occurs to him, if at all.