Beachmom & FedUp , hide the children!!

[Island Blue]

I just heard that Chimpy is coming to Virginia Beach tomorrow for a fundraiser for Thelma Drake. I know you'll be disappointed that you can't actually attend - it will be at a private residence. If you could go, it would cost you $5,000 a plate. (Yummmm. $5,000 worth of fried fish and hushpuppies.) I think it's time for Kellam to ask JK to come down for a fundraiser. :)

[fedupinBushcountry]

1. She has no shame

I guess having Cheney here a few months ago wasn't profitable enough. She is nothing but a rubberstamp for this administration, I hope this does her in, but you never know with these damn have more idiots here.

[beachmom]

2. Drake is definitely playing an all-or-nothing stakes game

She has saddled up with the president for the duration of the ride, living or dying with the King. If JK raises money for Kellam, though, it will need to be done incognito, because there are some serious "Swiftie like" veterans around these parts plus all the big military players who believe, well, everything that Webb said. There is no changing these people's minds. Plus the Pat Robertson set, who would NEVER vote for someone who is pro-choice. That's the reality, at least with the people who consistently vote every time.

On a related topic, have you noticed, Fedup, all of the LTEs in our paper in favor of Webb? He really does have a pretty good grassroots organization with the steady stream of letters. The paper definitely favored Miller, but it appears there are many Democratic activists in our area who want Webb. I'm not sure how it's going to go down in the primary. But everyone brace yourselves, because us Virginians may be stuck voting for someone who thinks the SBVT "had a point about John Kerry" whose "loyalty should be questioned". Sigh, sigh, sigh.

[JohnKleeb]

3. It's annoying isn't it

I want to like Webb ut a lot of his past statements make me uneasy. I also think the activists are being fickle minded here, they hated using the electablity arguement in regards to Kerry in the 2004 primaries but the biggest arguement I see in favor of Webb is that "He can beat George Allen." Honestly I don't feel that's a good arguement. I don't feel Miller is the more electable of the two I just feel more partial to him than I do Webb. Webb hasn't ever run for office here I know. Webb's supporters need to argue better than" He's got military experience, opposes the Iraq War, and he can beat George Allen if they want to win. BTW Delegate Ken Plum who is the husband of the lady who runs my kid brother's preschool has endorsed Miller as has newly elected delegate Mark Herring whose district is in where I go to community college. Miller seems to have a better grasp of the issues than Webb does to be honest. THat's another reason why I favor him. He even seems to understand foreign issues better than Webb who was once an asst defense secretary and naval secretary. I haven't seen any polls though. Name recongization won't be a factor in who wins.

[beachmom]

4. You're right -- it could go either way

What is troubling is that now Minority leader Harry Reid as well as Durbin have come close to endorsing Webb. Miller was asked to run for Senate, then Webb-come-lately shows up, and now the Party has turned on him. I would call this the opposite of Hackett, where Brown was in the race from the beginning, and Hackett the Iraq vet joined late, and THEN was rebuffed by the party. Here the party is coming very close to endorsing the Republican vet; I think they should have stayed out of it. What will Kerry do if Webb wins the primary? Probably, not get involved, but politics are a funny place, and getting rid of Allen is very important. And what about Max Cleland -- what will he do? Will Webb make "peace" with anti-war Vietnam vets? In one of the letters in the paper it mentioned a Vietnamese group that endorsed Webb (probably a group of ex-pats who lost BIG TIME with the Communist takeover of the country -- I have a Vietnames friend whose parents used to have servants in Vietnam and had to live in a tiny apartment in America because they lost everything, so I understand this POV). So changing his tune on Vietnam is probably not an option for Webb.

[Mass]

5. I think you may be surprised. I think he will fundraise for Webb in this

case.

Apparently, Kerry and Webb met last Friday (it was in the WaPo), and I do not think he is a man who lets personnal issues go ahead of winning. They may not campaign together because apparently, Kerry is too left wing for VA (that was Kaine's view at least), but I dont think he will stay uninvolved. Allen's seat is too important.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/13/AR2006051301005.html

And on Friday, Webb had a private meeting with the party's 2004 presidential nominee, Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry.

[beachmom]

7. Well, I'll be damned!

Kerry is more a grown up than me!! I wonder what WEL thinks . . . (I think she's taking final exams right now). Or MH1 for that matter.

Politics is about compartmentalizing, isn't it?

I have to say that I decided not to actively fight with Webbies about Kerry anymore, because I feel like people know now and will have to weigh that evidence. Miller isn't perfect either, and I just didn't feel like going on the negative. But I will be voting for Miller in the primary.

[JohnKleeb]

8. She's not done yet?!?!?

Wow I've been done for two weeks now. I think honestly even though I don't like Webb I like that Kerry will raise money for him if he's the nominee. It shows that he don't hold grudges and is forgiving and sees the big picture. I'll be voting for Miller too.

[TayTay]

9. I'm not surprised either. He builds alliances with them at hand

You don't get to pick the people whom you have to work with all the time. You have to make do.

From Frontiline The Choice 2004
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/choice2004/interviews/winer.html
The alliance with Helms. Did that surprise you?

Yes. It was not something any of John's staff would have been adult or mature enough or experienced enough to see or to believe possible. What John said to us very early is, "You need friends. Make friends. Give people a chance to work with you. If they feel you can trust you, you may be able to trust them. See if you can build trust. I'm not going to miss the opportunity of working with Jesse Helms. He feels very strongly about these issues."

He chastised us for assuming that because the politics were so different on so many issues, that you couldn't form a close alliance that would work. He was very clear about that. I mean, that's a conversation I remember with precision. "Don't take your enemies for granted. Don't assume that they're enemies." Or, "Don't take people who differ with you for granted as enemies. They can be your friends. They can be your allies."

He was right about Jesse Helms. Jesse Helms was loyal and trustworthy on everything that he made a commitment on to John Kerry. I know that John Kerry tried to be as loyal and trustworthy back to Sen. Helms.

[beachmom]

10. Thanks for posting, Tay Tay

Reason number 894 why Sen. Kerry would make a great president. You've GOT to form alliances even with people who differ greatly from you, like say Egypt or Saudi Arabia, but have the same goal -- peace in Iraq. Same with Webb. I'm still voting for Miller, but obviously, I will vote for whoever wins the nomination in November.

And as I said upthread, I'm no longer engaging in primary fights except about the issues at hand. People at Kos and DU know about what Webb has said in the past, and with that info, the Virginians will make their decision.

[JohnKleeb]

6. Really? I had not heard about this

Re: Reid and Durbin endorsing Webb. I think Kerry and Cleland will endorse Webb if he wins the primaries but they will keep their focus in the other races. This race isn't at this point in time looking to be the closest one, I think Kerry should turn his attention in regards to senate racecs to Missouri, Pennsylvania, Ohio where the polls actually do show the Democratic candidate running neck and neck with the Republican and some cases like with Bob Casey in Pa actually beating the Republican. I think they should have stayed out of it too. I've been to Webb's website and he really has little details that's the link and I have Miller's issues page linked as well. The netroots are so damned fickle honestly. They'll cry like no other that Kerry was NOT liberal enough for them but they go and support a guy like Webb who has said many disparaging things about the anti war movements of past and copmares affirmative action to the worst actions of the Soviet Union, even a critic of AA would think that bullshit, the worst parts of the USSR were the killing and sending to camps of political dissidents. I think Webb's supporters are delusional if they think he won't have an uphill battle against Allen. I think Miller understands our state much better than Webb and Allen do. Miller may be a Nothern Virginian but I think he can connect with rural blue collar voters much better than his detractors think. Either way I really wish we had stronger candidates like someone who has been in office here. I really like that some of my favorite state delegates like Janet Howell and Ken Plum are backing Miller though. Plum's wife is a really kind lady, I've met her a few times when I've gone to my brother's preschool and Del Plum himself is a great guy too but he's not my state senator, I have Tom Rust who is a republican but great. Oh and also Miller got endorsed by the Virginia Partisans, a GLBT organization that I haven't heard of but it seems that he may be favored by the Gay Rights orgs. I think what will happen if there are debates Webb will definely try to make himself to be the populist and Miller to be the big bad businessman. Even though Webb was affiliated with a very pro big business presidential administration. This whole race is driving me insane honestly. I want to like Webb as I've said but I think he's a bit arrogant and I don't think we have definitive proof that he can beat Allen. Polls are polls. No one had Truman beating Dewey in 48 and he did.

http://www.webbforsenate.com/issues/issues.php#educ

http://www.miller2006.org/agenda.jsp