So I’m hearing that a Democratic Party tracker was kicked out of a George Allen event in Norfolk this morning. The event was the Republican Party of Norfolk’s Dutch Treat Breakfast, which was held at Cagney’s – a restaurant in my neck of the woods, by the way – at 8am this morning. Allen was scheduled to speak and the event was listed on his public schedule. The event, I’m told, was open to the press.
What, pray tell, was Allen comfortable in saying in front of Republicans and the press that he couldn’t say in front of a Democratic tracker?
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Just giving George the benefit of the doubt here, maybe the tracker was blocking people’s views? If you’ve ever been to a Norfolk GOP event at Cagney’s, you know how tiny the room is and how quickly it gets packed. The few times I’ve been with a candidate, I had to stand in the worst possible place to film and the video was pretty much useless. You’d have to stand right in the aisle and block half the people’s view if you wanted to get anything decent. If he got there late, that’s probably what happened.
I’m hearing that he wasn’t allowed in at all. And yes, I know the room is small.
Maybe the campaign kicked the tracker out because they thought there was a chance that Allen would act like a bully and try and humiliate the tracker again ala M*****
But surely the press would report that, right?
Through the miracle of minaturized electronics, the “other” tracker was neither dissuaded nor detected and recorded everything from prior to walking in to well after leaving. You people think your lilly white candidate is above it all but he is not out of reach at public events. Recoding unbecoming conduct is the next best thing to catching Allen calling someone Mac**a, Ni**er or other similar gaffes but we know he is more careful now and this won’t happen.
Nonetheless, someone on former Senator Allen’s staff or an attendee has a problem with brown people? Someone had a mouth problem… sounded like a staffer. Surely this is an isolated incident.
A tracker is a kid with a camera. Your candidate must be capable of smiling at these kids and answering simple questions like he used to.
Watch your language, please. That’s why your comment ended up in my spam filter.
Must be something about Cagney’s then. I got kicked out of the Loyola Meet and Greet by Karen Hurd. According to her it was for supporters of Ben only, AKA “not you guys”
That’s not much of a meet-and-greet, then.
Max, I think her organization has the right to pick and choose who attends, not that I agree with it. She has due cause to suspect you were there not to support Ben.. However I think that move on her part does not bode well for student volunteers.
Max, were you kicked out of last night’s event?
I am not really savvy about stuff like this, but isn’t a “meet and greet” and opportunity to expand the depth of your supporters? If everyone there is a supporter, why host it? I think I know for whom I will vote in the fall, but I also want to attend, at least one, meet and greet for each Northam and Loyola. Otherwise, how will I have a good sense about my inclinations being correct or not?
Seems shortsighted on Karen’s part to act this way.
Yes, I was kicked out, along with Tyler Spires, who is a former chair of the ODU Cr’s and a longtime GOP volunteer/staffer. Granted I am supporting Ben’s opponent in the primary and have been very critical of him for not actually living in the district, but we were perfectly behaved and did nothing to warrant Karen’s behavior.
I guess it was my mistake for thinking a meet and greet for a candidate running in my district would be open to the public, even *gasp* those who aren’t supporting him. I wanted to see if he talked about Norfolk issues or if he was still pretending the Congressional campaign was still going on.
And Turbo, you’re right, she can kick out anyone she wants, but if what I found out last night is true, which I’m almost positive it is, then student volunteers are going to be the least of her worries.
It’s definitely worth noting that Josh Clark, Loyola’s Political Director, said hi to me, shook my hand, and had no problem with me being there. He knows full well how I feel about Ben and what I’ve said about him in the past.
One of his consultants, Chris Woodfin, was also there, shook my hand, and was fine with me being there. Debbie Pavon, the Secretary of the Hampton Roads Tea Party, said hi to me by name when I walked in the door and didn’t have an issue with me being there.
Loyola’s campaign wasn’t the issue at all, it was Karen Hurd who decided that freedom of speech and freedom of the press were less important than her quest for political power.
They removed the tracker for the same reason you’d hide the whiskey if you knew a recovering alcoholic was coming over….they removed the temptation for Allen to say something dumb.