JJ Dinner 2009 wrapup

UPDATE: As they become available, I will add links to the JJ videos of the candidates.  Click on the candidate’s name below for the link to their video.

I headed  up to Richmond Saturday afternoon after a day of work. I entered the Richmond Convention Center from the back of the building. Once inside, I ran into some folks that I knew, who prompted me to head out front and see the display put on by gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe. Apparently, I had just missed the parade as his volunteers were putting away a stack of signs. The large thingamajig holding up his name was there for all to see, along with signs on every pole. I guess if you got it, flaunt it.

I planned my arrival with around the start of the VIP reception, so after a few minutes, I headed upstairs. One of the first people to come into the room was Senator Jim Webb. As I had my niece, Janna, with me, I wanted to introduce her to the various electeds in attendance. (And yes, there was a test later 🙂 ) The room quickly filled up, making moving around a bit difficult. I did have a chance to chat with a number of people, though, and if I start listing them all, I’m sure to leave someone out. One of the more interesting conversations I had was with Brian Moran’s campaign manager, Andrew Roos.

Shortly after 7, we were asked to head to the dining room. After last year’s event at the Alltel Pavilion, this year’s seemed much more intimate – and I mean that in a positive way. There was actually room to move around, although because we had gotten downstairs a little late, there wasn’t a whole lot of time to do so. I joined my host, LG candidate Rich Savage, at his table, where we were accompanied by his twin 15-year old daughters, Viola Baskerville’s two sons, and several others. My niece joined the other Savage table, whose guests included former Richmond mayor Rudy McCollum.

DPVA chair C. Richard Cranwell started things off by providing opening remarks. Richmond mayor Dwight Jones brought greetings and provided the invocation. Immediately afterwards, Congressman Bobby Scott gave his remarks,and then Delegate Lionell Spruill, Sr. introduced the keynote speaker, former President Bill Clinton. Missing from this was the annual parade of legislators, no doubt a nod to this being an election year and the ongoing issue of whether the JJ Dinner should be held during the session.

What was weird, though, was having the keynote address before dinner. I don’t know what the deal was here – perhaps he had another engagement. Nevertheless, it was worth the delay of dinner as Clinton did a great job, speaking from notes only to make sure he didn’t miss any names of folks to be recognized at the beginning.  He seemed extremely comfortable, reminding Virginia Democrats of the need to come together after the primary. That, along with his urging that Democrats to deal with HOW to do things as opposed to just throwing money at problems, were the two parts of his speech that stuck with me.

It was after his speech that dinner was served. Then the fun started. Each of the five candidates for LG produced videos that were shown at various points during the evening. I found Mike Signer’s a little strange. I mean – did he really intend to imply that the LG just sits around waiting for the Governor to die? In her video, Pat Edmonson said that she wasn’t there because she and her staff were helping out at a local shelter. But then I ran into her coming out of the room a little later. Savage’s video was funny, while Jody Wagner’s and Jon Bowerbank’s were informative.

In between those videos were the speeches of the gubernatorial candidates. Both Terry McAuliffe and Brian Moran had videos of their own introducing them, while Creigh Deeds chose to have two of his children introduce him. McAuliffe was the first of the candidates to speak. I’ve seen him speak before and while nothing he said was new to me, he seemed nervous in his delivery, almost shouting as he read his speech. The little chant thing he had going on with the folks at  his 39(!) tables was too orchestrated for my liking.

From the standpoint of delivery, Moran gave the best speech that I’ve ever heard him give. He was relaxed, his tone even. As big a supporter of Moran as I am, though, I have to be honest: I quickly tired of the zingers directed at McAuliffe. (Recall, if you will, my similar disappointment with Ds attacking Ds at last year’s event.) It is possible to separate yourself from the pack – by your positions on the issues, by new ideas – without dissing your opponent. I had several people come up to me afterwards (not to mention a few phone calls on Sunday) that raised the same issue. I believe Brian Moran to be the best candidate for governor. And I hope he starts believing it, too.

As for Deeds’ speech – well, I missed most of it. I have heard that it was a good one, if a bit unfocused.

During the long evening (isn’t there a way to shorten these things?), we also heard from our three new Congressman and our Senators. Glen Nye introduced Jim Webb, Tom Perriello introduced Mark Warner, and Gerry Connolly introduced Governor Tim Kaine, whose remarks wrapped up the evening. After visiting with some other folks for a bit, I headed back to Norfolk.

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Tons of other coverage of the JJ is on the net, including on The Washington Post blog, Blue Commonwealth, and the AP.