I just got back from a rally held for Thelma Drake and George Allen. Others in attendance included Councilman Randy Wright, Virginia Senator Nick Rerras and Delegate Leo Wadrup. As I arrived, protesters were set up at the entrances to the parking lot, on the little strip of public property. They were not allowed to come onto the property where the event, billed as the “Fall Family Festival,” was held. The card I received in the mail said that Senator John Warner was to be there as well, but he did not attend.
Since I was not a part of the protest (as far as they knew 🙂 ) I was allowed to enter the event. Here’s what greeted me:
Ugh!
According to Allen’s calendar, he was supposed to be there at 4pm so I got there around 4. Allen was running late; the speeches started around 4:30pm. Shortly afterwards, camera crews and reporters started arriving, including one crew from CNN. A few minutes later, Allen, accompanied by his wife, Susan, and former pro football player Deacon Jones, arrived. Drake introduced him.
Allen spoke about the four “F’s”: faith, family, freedom and football. Just about everything else he talked about has been said in every debate that I’ve ever seen. “If you pay taxes, work for a living, and care about your families, you should be on the A-Team.” Um, no. “I want to protect our freedom. I believe this is the land of opportunity for all. And I want to preserve our foundational values.” Uh oh. Sensing that he was among like-minded folks, Allen used the New Jersey decision as a rallying cry for supporting the amendment. (Needless to say, it was really hard for me to sit through this.)
During the speeches, the protesters – who numbered about 25, I’d say, gathered at the back of the area, again on public property, and shouted various things. As the speakers were using a microphone and the protesters were so far away, I don’t know if anyone was able to hear them. This picture was taken from the back of the crowd listening to the speeches, to give you some sense of how far away they were.
After the speeches, the reporters gathered for a bit of Q and A. I was in the midst of this group, when I was able to capture this shot. One reporter asked about the racism charges, and Allen promptly trotted out his “get out of jail free” cards: Benny Lambert, James Holley & Deacon Jones. I bit my tongue, wandered away, and listened as some reporters were talking to Deacon Jones.
As I approached, Jones was emphatically saying that Allen was not a bigot. I have to wonder: what did Allen promise Jones in exchange for his support? I know he promised HBCU funds to Lambert, and Hope VI money to Holley. But Jones? No idea. And honestly, it was a good thing that the rally was over, as my ability to keep my mouth shut was just about to run out.
As I was chatting with the reporter from CNN about the money promised to Lambert & Holley, a lady was standing by. She made some comment to me about something and then started up about the marriage amendment and the Bible. I told her that I wasn’t going to argue with her about it – she is entitled to her interpretation of the Bible and I am entitled to mine. She kept on. The CNN reporter backed away, saying she didn’t want to get caught in the crossfire. The lady was joined by her sister, and kept after me: “What kind of Bible do you read?” 
as if to insinuate that somehow her bible was more correct than mine. Or perhaps it was because I was one of about oh, say, two black folks there that she thought I may be one of those “black muslims” or something. Whatever it was, I really had to get out of there.
On my way out, I chatted with a couple of reporters, including Bob Lewis from the AP and one from the NY Daily News. The fellow from the NY paper, whose name escapes me, was talking about the person there who was dressed up as a monkey. While I told him who it was, I’ll leave it for you guys to try to figure out. Let’s just say the reporter was quite surprised by who was in it.
I did talk to a few folks about Voting NO but this crowd was obviously not the place to do it. One of them is a fellow that I know, who was holding a Vote YES sign in his hand. If nothing else, I believe my conversation with him made him think a bit about the amendment and its potential effects.
Oh – and I see why Allen was late. He was watching a football game over in Portsmouth. For a guy who holds the UVA record for interceptions in a game (5), he still is fascinated with it. He threw some balls into the crowd at the rally. The funniest thing was that the people catching them had to give them back!
UPDATE: Pilot reporter Mike Gruss was also in attendance at the rally. Read his piece here. Funny – the newspaper shows a picture of Allen similar to mine. Interesting tidbit from his piece: Deacon Jones, who is stumping for Allen, cannot vote for him as he is a California resident! Now what was all that stuff Allen was saying earlier about Webb’s California friends?
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Vivian, you are a riot! I don’t know if I could do this.
I’m impressed.
And yes, I’ve got one more F for Allen . . .
A “feral, piss-pants desperation” candadacy , a prominent showcase of the Yes-on-Amendment -1 nutjobs, and a punt-pass-and-kick demonstration…no wonder John Warner stayed home. This is embarrassing.
This post is about your podcast with bearingdrift folks. WOW Vivian, I can not believe you. I thought you were more educated than that, phil kellam! what a waste, Thelma shows more leadership qualities than pelosi, i mean phil. Thelma could do more for the 2nd district with democrats in power than phil could ever do.
It would have been fun to accompany you at the “Fall Family Festival” in Norfolk, Vivian.
I understand how important voting NO on the amendment is, but I am just as concerned about the fact that it over-rides some other important issues. Specifically, the “not raising taxes” issue.
Once again the republicans are promising not to raise taxes. Of course, they don’t explain how we will get our country out of the astronomical debt we are incurring due to the war in Iraq. I believe it is somewhere around $10 trillion dollars (beyond my conceptual grasp). Without some sort of tax, who will repay this dept and how will it be paid? Oh, I forgot, most of us will be gone by the time payment is due. I guess that is the nice part about running up the deficiet… “if we ignore a problem long enough, it will become someone elses problem”. That is my very own quote. I find that it works quite well in politics.
Yes, perhaps the democrats suggest that there will be some tax increases, but it is quite possible that they realize one cannot get blood from a stone. Americans are use to getting what they want when they want it. It also has a problem with being asked to pay for any of it. Americans also want less government in their lives. My question is: How do we get all the perks we want, pay down the national debt, keep government at a minimum in our lives all without raising some taxes???
Just thought I’d throw that out for whatever it’s worth. Something to chew on!
Donna: I have determined that the self-centered stripe that runs down the back of Republicanism extends even to their own progeny – let the kids pay back the debt (I’ll be dead). There are a certain number that believe that if only they can get rich enough, quick enough, and abolish the estate tax…they can pass on their bucket of gold. This is known as Bold Republicanism.
Funny, we were saying the same things about Democrats when they were in power. It seems like the party in power becomes the Big-Spender Party, and the party out of power (which cannot get their pet projects funded) becomes the Party of Fiscal Discipline.
Can we get a Balanced Budget Amendment now?
Well, Jack, that’s because you and the rest of the “we” put party above principle. Who was it, again, that managed to move the US out of deficit spending? Please.
Aahh! Yes! There are the devoted Republican, as well as Democratic supporter, who will “crawl through broken glass” (a quote I heard Sunday on one of the political programs) to vote their parties regardless of platform.
This is truly the joy of being an Independent voter. I don’t have an etched in stone affiliation to any party, and I do have a mind of my own with which to think, ponder and make decisions that I feel would be in the best interest of most Americans. Therefore, I vote for the person best qualified (in my opinion).
And unless one has a serious case of CRS, it just wasn’t that long ago that we did have a balanced budget! Hellllloooo!!
The deficit is being reduced much faster than anyone would have predicted because of TAX CUTS. It ALWAYS WORKS. If democrats want it to go down even more quickly, they’ll have to cut programs and cut taxes further. Since democrats never met a tax they didn’t love, or a government program, both of those things are unlikely to happen under democrat rule. We can expect higher taxes and MORE government programs.
Vivian, your report was terrific. I loved your pictures, particularly the one of George and Susan. That’s a great shot! I do love Susan Allen, a very gracious lady. I proudly wear my big button that says “I support Susan Allen’s husband”.
If it helps you to feel better, I have seen ONE ‘vote yes’ sign in NOVA and quite a few ‘vote no’. But a few miles out of Fairfax county there are many, many, ‘vote yes’ signs.
Deacon Jones is a long time friend of the Allen family. It’s not surprising that he would be here for them. It’s rather snide of you to imply that there is anything else involved. Are you implying that Deacon Jones could be bribed? With what? He’s Allen’s friend, and his supporter. He can’t vote for Allen and Michael J. Fox can’t vote for Ben Cardin. But they can both support their friends, and/or favorite candidate.
Jane! Think a Little!!! Just where did this deficit come from?Hint…Hint… it wasn’t there right before George Bush was elected. Face reality! You can’t blame this on the democrats. They haven’t have control of the Presidency or Congress… BUT the money is gone! Why aren’t you asking George Bush what he and his congressional cronies did with the money? Wasn’t it Bill Clinton’s who was able to use his “never met a tax he didn’t love” policies that created this surplus in the first place. Put the blame where it belongs and quit using the “they’ll raise taxes scare tactics”. It was George Bush and his high spending Congress who pissed it away. Get a reality check…
BS, CONGRESS writes the budgets. Nixon didn’t balance the budget, Congress did. Clinton didn’t balance the budget, Congress did.
Still, it would be nice to see the President veto some spending. (BTW, it was a Republican Congress that passed the line-item veto. Too bad the SC scrapped it.)
Christ, Jack, you’re just another one of them, aren’t you? GOP or nothing, principles, facts, and country be damned.
No, but I do think the Republican Party ideas and ideals are better for the country than those of the Democratic Party. While no Republican office-holder sticks to the party platform, and there have been some disappointments, it is rare indeed when a Democrat candidate is better on the majority of issues than the Republican. (BTW, I did vote for a Democrat in the last election, but he lost anyway.)
Jack, I’m not nearly as nice as Vivian, so I’ll tell you this – you’re full of shit. There is no such thing as the Republican party platform beyond “Republicans Above Everything.” If the past six years haven’t opened your eyes to what lies Republicans claims of favoring smaller government, fiscal restraint, or taking responsibility are, there’s no hope for you. Rather than (pointlessly) attempt to engage you, and people like you, in a conversation on the merits, I think you ought to be ridiculed. We are so long gone from the days where the primary differences between Democrats and Republicans were on issues on which reasonable people could disagree. Who ever thought I would have longed for the days where the argument was over the policies of Dole and Clinton? Instead, I’ve got to deal with troglodytes who can’t extract themselves from the Bush cult of personality long enough to meaningfully participate in our democracy.