It was a beautiful day in Hampton Roads and a number of folks gathered at the waterfront home of the family of Congressman Bobby Scott.Ā People from all over came together for a little food and a lot of politics. Among those in attendance was James Quigley, one of Scott’s opponents. Three of the four candidates for Norfolk’s Ward 7 race were there, as were a couple of the Virginia Beach candidates, and two of the eight Portsmouth mayoral candidates.
In the first video below, Rep. Scott offers brief remarks and then, as is his custom, introduces all of the electeds and candidates in attendance. He needed a little prompting this year – there were just so many. (And yes, Scott introduced Quigley.)
Arriving early and staying late was Senator Jim Webb. In the second video below, Webb gave a little speech and then introduced DNC chair Tim Kaine. In his role as cheerleader for the party, Kaine did his best to energize the crowd.
A great time was had by all.
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VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Vote Doug Knack 2013!!!!!!
Um, I think you’re commenting on the wrong post.
From Sharon? Wonder if it is THE Sharon?
I live in Charles City and am very upset at what Bobby Scott is doing to our country. I don’t think he deserves re-election. I voted for him last election, this November I will be voting for Chuck Smith.
Really? And just what is Bobby Scott – one vote out of 435, I might add – doing to our country?
It would also be nice to know what you expect Chuck Smith to do for our country.
Bobby Scott is a great American (and so is Vivian Paige). Someone gracious enough to throw a huge picnic for the masses, including a political opponent and the opponent’s family and entourage, is a true small “d” democrat. Thanks, Mr. Scott, for your generosity of spirit!
Bobby Scott’s picnic was wonderful.
The opponent that showed up was treated with complete respect by Bobby.
The fact that the Libertarian candidate had the audacity to stand up there with our electeds and candidates was over the top. But the fact that Bobby introduced him shows everyone that our Congressman is a class act.
The fact that these posters say they won’t vote for our Congressman is just a bunch of t party blah. The wouldn’t vote for him anyway.
A few years ago, Rep. Scott asked that campaigns refrain from wearing campaign T-shirts and handing out lit at his event. Since then, folks have respected that notion. As I was parking my car, I saw the Quigley contingent and noticed that they had on campaign t-shirts. I told them that they might be asked to turn them inside out, but no one made them do that. That they were allowed to partake in this event is demonstrative of the inclusiveness of Rep. Scott.
As for allowing Quigley to stand up there with the Democratic electeds and candidates – this isn’t the first time Rep. Scott has done that. A couple of years ago (when rain forced the picnic to be moved) he did the same with an independent candidate, although not someone running against him. That Rep. Scott had done set the precedent for me to do the same at my own picnic.
My problem with the Quigley group was that it was so in-your-face. Yes, this was a public event – but it was organized and paid for by Rep. Scott. It was disrespectful to attend – for the first time – and openly campaign against the host.
Further, I don’t know what their point was. This was not a group of casual voters – this was a group of pretty hard-core Democrats, not a group of undecided voters. What were they hoping to achieve? About the only thing I can think of is maybe a little TV time. No way that was going to happen with Sen. Webb and DNC Chair Kaine in attendance.
As a (somewhat) neutral observer, that’s just how Quigley is; he’ll go just about anywhere, even if it means stomping around a bunch of hard Dems. He’s really not afraid to go into, um, “opposing” territory.
Big question is whether Chuck Smith would’ve been let in. THAT would’ve been a story.
Going anywhere doesn’t get votes, does it? And at the end of the day, it’s always about getting votes.
I have no doubt Chuck Smith would have been allowed in. That’s just how Rep. Scott is.
No, it doesn’t…but in that position there’s nothing to lose. And it does hint at a tolerance for the other side…which (again, in that position) doesn’t hurt.
Did he get any votes? Probably not. But at least he’s actually out campaigning beyond more than a certain circle (did I say that out loud? š )
I will begrudgingly concede kudos to Rep. Scott for enjoying having his opponent there…but only begrudgingly.
but only “begrudgingly” what does that mean.
If they had been turned away that would have been news.
That they showed up in their t-shirts is the story. Their candidate is getting no attention so he has to interject himself into the conversation.
Now he is over at the NNews blog giving a critique of how he was treated at the picnic. How is that for a how do you do.
Import yourself into the conversation.
Hope they enjoyed the food.
It means I’m a partisan…nothing more. š
Oddly enough, I think if they had been turned away, that would’ve been expected, and less of a story.
Thanks Bobby for introducing the guy – you almost forgot to introduce me!!!
Indeed, a great time was had by all. That would include the 17 or so people with audacity enough to wear James Quigley for Congress shirts into Scott’s Labor Day event. And yes, the food was good. It was a beautiful day and looking out at the water was a nice treat.
Why did we do it? It was a pretty good idea that a member of our staff came up with. Unfortunately, he was ill and couldn’t make it, but both James and I liked it and signed off.
The intent on my part was not to be disrespectful, although I can understand how it would be taken that way. It was, as was mentioned, to help “interject” the Quigley campaign into the conversation. I do disagree with the idea that “going anywhere” doesn’t yield votes. We have picked up supporters and votes that way. We did indeed have “friends” that were attending outside our group of party crashers. That they saw us, was a plus. Our presence there wasn’t so much for press coverage as it was to introduce ourselves to the press in a bold and yes, “in your face” manner. One that would be newsworthy just in case we did get some coverage. It was also meant to rally our troops, test our resolve, and even have fun. Guys like Coby Dillard hearing of our turn out there, is also a nice bonus.
We were prepared to be kicked out, but were not anticipating it. Scott is a class act and I doubt that the political juggernaut of the 3rd district was terribly concerned, anyway. There was no intent to heckle and social interaction was cordial on all fronts. I did hear about unauthorized issue statements being made by people other than our candidate, James Quigley, but nothing too bad.
Beyond campaign antics, I had a great time. As a political junkie, there were stars all over. So many elected officials, Bobby had to take out a good portion of time to introduce them all. As I already mentioned, there were friends attending and even an office holder introduced by Scott is directly related to a key staff member.
Seeing Vivian Paige is always a treat. I was super happy to for the first time, shake hands and speak with Joel McDonald, another Democratic blogger, or should I qualify him as Progressive? In any case, I agree with some of his issues and disagree with many, but I always enjoy seeing his comments. It was the first time I met him in person and he was quite fun to speak with. I would have liked to have asked Glenn Nye a question or two about the dynamics of the 2nd district race, but campaign business kept me from pursuing it too much.
I don’t apologize for doing it. We have a job to do. That said, if all we could accomplish by being there was to irritate a few hard core supporters, I probably would have voted against attending. It was additionally nice to see how sitting office holders do their events and this one was done extremely well…. even with unexpected guests.