I headed out bright and early this morning to Delegate Lionell Spruill’s pancake breakfast in Chesapeake. I got there a little after eight and there was a good crowd, including a number of folks wearing Webb T-shirts. Jim Webb and his wife were there, along with Phil Kellam. I sat with Phil and chatted for a bit, ribbing him (as usual) about his stand on the so-called Marriage Amendment. Given that Webb was standing near us, I asked him to explain to Kellam why he is against the amendment. Speaking with a conviction I’ve not heard before, Webb plainly laid out the ramifications of the amendment on unmarried couples. Will it be enough to change Phil’s mind? I don’t know, but I believe it made an impression.
The people flowed in and out for breakfast, so Webb addressed the crowd twice. In addition, he chatted with people one-on-one. For many, this was their first chance to see and hear Webb. As I moved from table to table, I heard people speaking favorably about him. Because this gathering was at a church, and because many of the people there were black, I went to this breakfast with two things in mind, both of which I asked attendees about.
First, I wanted to know if the endorsement of Allen by blacks was having any effect on the black vote. This group was admittedly a Democratic one, so as expected, I didn’t get anyone who would admit to supporting Allen. (Interestingly enough, I spotted one of the four ministers that was at the Allen/McCain rally in the group. I didn’t get a chance to talk to him, though.)
The second thing I wanted to know was where they stood on the so-called Marriage Amendment. I had approached Del. Spruill earlier on the possibility of handing out Vote NO lit at this breakfast. Spruill, who is strongly against the amendment, said I couldn’t because there were going to be some ministers there who were supporting the amendment. Many of these ministers are from churches that Webb will be visiting tomorrow, and they had told Spruill not to bring Webb if Webb was going to speak against the amendment. So no lit, just conversation.
Unlike the Allen question, a number of the folks admitted that their pastors had said that they were against gay marriage. There was some confusion, though, as when I asked if they were voting NO, some told me they were, even though they were clearly against gay marriage. (Such confusion is not unusual, by the way.) Of course, I took the opportunity to explain why they should be against this amendment, how it isn’t about gay marriage at all. Having Del. Dwight Jones, chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus and senior pastor at First Baptist Church in Richmond come out against the amendment this week was powerful information to share with them. Every single person that I talked to said that, after further consideration, they were going to vote NO.
I got a chance to chat with Webb about his church visits tomorrow. He seemed a little intimidated by the prospect of visiting 17 churches on one Sunday. I told him not to worry – he would be fine. With some churches having two or three services on Sunday, it wouldn’t be too bad, with short stops in each church. Somebody then mentioned that 17 churches equals 17 offerings 🙂 I mentioned that I put a $100 check in the plate at each church I visited last year when I was campaigning. Seeing Webb’s eyes get wide, I quickly mentioned that, of course, I only attended one or two churches each Sunday. (When I campaigned, I stayed for the entire service. That is a luxury that a state-wide candidate cannot afford.) He seemed to relax after hearing that 😆
I guess what flashed in his mind was the $750 he paid last night for his appearance at the NAACP statewide conference. For all the courting of the black vote that George Allen has done, seems he never got around to joining the NAACP:
Allen spoke first. During an hour long give-and-take before about 200 NAACP members, Linda Thomas, president of the organization, asked Allen if he had ever officially joined the group. “If you’re offering me a membership, I accept,” Allen replied.
After the appearance, Allen went in a back room with Thomas, filled out the lifetime membership form and was asked for the $750 fee.
“Oh gosh – you didn’t tell me that,” Allen said.
After inquiring about the less-expensive plans, Allen wrote the full check and asked for a receipt.
Webb, without further prompting, opened his speech with the quip: “I’m going to bite the bear before the bear bites me and buy a lifetime membership.” Wanna bet that the NAACP sees a bit of a surge in memberships from this?
Kudos to Delegate Spruill for another fine pancake breakfast. The event was well-attended and included a number of local officials, including Chesapeake Vice Mayor Dwight Parker, Delegate Kenny Alexander (89th-Norfolk), and Portsmouth Clerk of Court Cynthia Morrison. The food was good, the company was great. I think Webb picked up some solid votes today.
Technorati Tags: Jim Webb, Phil Kellam, Virginia Marriage Amendment
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
SO, Kellam was in Chesapeake, but he blew off the scheduled Sandbridge debate?
I don’t know if he made the Sandbridge debate or not. He left Chesapeake early.
Webb also attended the Norfolk State-Florida A & M game.He look much younger in person.
Vivian, help me out will you. Webb’s going to 17 churches in one day for real? Are some of those at least in the afternoon?
Nice diary by the way. And I loved your op ed that the vb dems posted. But it scanned in choppy or something. Strange.
This is so frustrating.
William – I knew the NSU game was on the schedule but I heard he was going to Richmond to join Wilder for the Va Union game. Wonder if he made that?
Kathy – yes, he’ll get them all done – and he’ll be a tired puppy afterwards 😦 He said today that Spruill told him that Tim Kaine has the record, visiting 14 churches on one day. While I know of churches with 3 services in one day (7, 9, 11) I am not aware of any that hold afternoon services anymore. (A lot of churches used to have afternoon services when I was growing up.)
As for my article, try here.
MB: Let me clarify one thing I said. Many of the ministers present were from churches Webb will be visiting tomorrow. About half of them – according to Del. Spruill – are amendment supporters.
As for the frustration – I understand. That’s why I never stop talking about the amendment. I’ll talk to anybody about it. I work it into every conversation. I know that if we can explain what the amendment really means, people will vote NO. But unless somebody says something, a lot of folks are reading the first sentence and stopping. Plus, with editorials like this one, spreading misinformation (and using Creigh Deeds’ vote as a part of that :grrrr:) then we have to work even harder.
I planted 2 Vote NO signs in my neighborhood this afternoon. I have encouraged everybody that has mentioned to me that they saw my op-ed to Vote NO. Just a few minutes ago, I got 2 emails: one from a neighbor, who wants a yard sign, and another from an internet friend of mine. He & I discussed gay marriage a year or so ago and on a whim, I sent him an email this afternoon. This is a guy I got so angry with that I called him a “homosexual bigot,” a term that he readily agrees applies to him. But after reading my op-ed and thinking it thru, he’s Voting NO.
I know there’s not much time left before November 7. I’m giving every free moment I have to defeating the amendment.
Vivian:
The game with Union was on Webb’s official schedule. Seeing as I’m sure Webb is dying for a Wilder endorsement, you can bet he’ll take whatever opportunity he can to kiss Doug’s ass. Not that I blame him in any way. Hell, if I were running for statewide office, I’d have been doing a lot more than Webb. Doug is a very important endorsement. I doubt Allen will get it, seeing as Mayor Wilder has said some pretty critical things about Allen recently. But there’s no guarantee he’ll endorse anybody.
I didn’t check the official schedule. I’ve been too busy to do that. As for the Wilder endorsement – I did ask Webb about that at the NAACP dinner earlier. I know he’s been calling him regularly.
I won’t be surprised if Wilder sits this one out.
Wilder WILL sit this one out, and BTW-more than half of Richmond hates Wilder at this point. The man has made some enemies. Therefore, I don’t worry about the endorsement anymore.
Vivian-I love this diary, and I thank you for it. Michael Brown (of the Webb camp) tells me all the time about the 14 church record. I KNOW that Webb will be tired (hope he’s asleep now, actually) but it will be a necessary sleepiness.
I’m guessing that by the just passing reference to Phil Kellam that he was not much of a presence there.
Hate is a strong word, and I should not have used it here. But I stand by the fact that Wilder has some explaining to do to the city of Richmond.
Few voters will notice that Wilder didn’t endorse anyone. It might have helped Webb if Wilder had endorsed him, but it won’t hurt him that he didn’t. I hope that makes sense.
Vivian, you said that Wilder was with his wife today. Do you know why Hong doesn’t appear with Webb in any of his ads, photo ops, or in his literature? Twice this week I’ve been with groups of people who were shocked to learn that Webb is married. One group of neighborhoods insisted that I had to be wrong because they’d never seen any literature that mentioned his wife or any pictures of a wife with Webb. They all insisted that he was a single man! Same thing happened at another community meeting last week. When Webb appeared in pictures, this week with Clinton, and previously with Hillary, and all the other campaign photos, Webb is always alone, no wife. Webb’s most recent literature, that my neighbors got, shows Webb with three of his four children, but, again, no wife. Do you know if this is intentional on the part of the Webb campaign to make it appear that he doesn’t have a wife, that he’s a single man? Why would he want to give that impression? It seems rather strange to me since most voters like the idea of a married man. Don’t they? Why is the Webb campaign not showing Hong with Webb? Any thoughts?
Jaime, do you have any idea why this is?
Thanks all,
Janie
RB – Phil wasn’t there long. I had forgotten about the Sandbridge debate but I see from this morning’s Pilot that Kellam pulled out on Friday.
PJ & Jane – I don’t know how much of an influence outside of Richmond Wilder has left. I wonder if it is not a media creation.
As for Webb’s wife – I don’t have the answer to that. Maybe she’s not a campaigner. Lots of spouses don’t participate in campaigns. Warner’s wife stayed in the background a lot. Plus, she is pregnant so maybe she’s not feeling well.
Pure speculation on my part as I really don’t know.
Thanks Vivian. Perhaps you’re right about Hong, but it does seem like he could use her picture in campaign literature. Someone must have made the decision to not use her image in anything. I can’t imagine why. Family pictures are usually helpful in campaigns but perhaps they have some reason to give the impression to voters that Webb is single, with only three adult children. I assume the four daughter did not want to be in any of his pictures. I can certainly understand that, with campaigns being so nasty today.
I suspect that John Warner’s wife stayed in the background so as not to remind voters that he’s had a large number of wives. Five? Something like that.
I am surprised that Kellam would pull out of any debate. If nothing else, it’s good for free publicity and a chance to get his message out to more voters. Very odd, to say the least.
Vivian, I do love your writing and your blog. You are, by far, my favorite democrat blog. I learn so much, you are so sane, so smart, and able to debate without ever getting nasty or mean. I do wish we had more democrats like you. It could change the discourse in America today and we would all benefit from that.
Janie
Janie-
Some might be friendlier if you changed your tone. And, it’s DemocratIC.