Anne Holton, Megan Beyer Unveil "Women for Obama" Virginia Team [UPDATE: Conference Call]
By: Lowell
Published On: 2/6/2008 12:20:56 PM
First Lady Anne Holton to Unveil Women for Obama Virginia Leadership Team Today
RICHMOND, VA - U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's campaign will unveil its Women for Obama Virginia leadership team during a conference call this morning headlined by First Lady Anne Holton.
Joining Holton for the call will be Megan Beyer, Hampton City Treasurer Molly Ward and Laverne Chatman, president of the Northern Virginia Urban League.
UPDATE: I just got off the call.
*Anne Holton strongly endorsed Barack Obama for President. Holton said she "respects Hillary Clinton," but believes that Obama is "the right man for the job at this point."
*Holton gave three main reasons why she's supporting Obama: 1) His judgment, ability to listen and bring people together; 2) Our desperate need to "tell the world that it is a new day" (and Obama's ability to be a "wonderful spokesperson for America"); and 3) Obama wins the electability argument in Virginia "hands down" -- if he can win a swing state like Virginia, he can win across the country.
*Holton announced that the campaign will be putting out a list of "150 prominent, top-notch Virginia women" who support Obama.
(continued on the "flip")
*Megan Beyer said that what's struck her over the years is the the "pervasive cynicism" out there. Barack Obama can inspire people to overcome that.
*Beyer added that Obama reminds her of RFK, makes her "spine tingle."
*Beyer believes that "this race transcends both race and gender."
*Beyer added, half jokingly, that Obama had "the strengths I like to think women have" (e.g., ability to listen) and declared that -- playing off of Toni Morrison -- "He'll be the first woman president!"
*Laverne Chatman said that as an African American woman, now she can honestly look into the face of an African American child and tell them that they can be president.
*Chatman added that Obama reaches the hearts of people, and said she was inspired by the "not red states or blue states but UNITED States" line.
*Rich Boucher's Chief of Staff, Becky Coleman, said that Obama is strong on issues that affect rural America. She specifically mentioned "affordable and accessible health care," as well as that Obama is "strong on community colleges."
*Coleman does not believe race will be a factor in this election, saying, "I think we're past that."
*Holton answered my question about electability by saying point blank that Obama is more electable in Virginia than Hillary Clinton.
Comments
COMMENT HIDDEN (Ben - 2/6/2008 12:24:55 PM)
Uh, I think that Anne Holton and Megan Beyer (Lowell - 2/6/2008 12:25:54 PM)
are accomplished women and leaders in their own right.
I agree with Lowell (Scripple - 2/6/2008 12:45:21 PM)
And let's wait to see who is on the women's leadership list when it comes out -- also, you're right, Megan Beyer and Anne Holton are two fantastic women who are accomplished and have worked very hard for Democrats in the past!
Wasn't Anne Holton a Judge and Doesn't Megan Beyer have a radio show? (WillieStark - 2/6/2008 1:07:09 PM)
I think that makes them a bit more than just the wives of powerful men.
Holton went to Princeton (Lowell - 2/6/2008 1:10:21 PM)
where she graduated magna cum laude with a degree in economics. She then graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School. More from
Wikipedia:
Following graduation from law school, Holton served as a law clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Robert R. Merhige, Jr. in Richmond, Virginia. From 1985 to 1998, she worked as an attorney for the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society, where she helped create an award-winning volunteer program in Richmond. From 1998 to 2005, she served as a Judge on the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court for the City of Richmond, She resigned from the bench following her husband's election as Governor in December, 2005.
Since becoming First Lady, she has fought single handedly for older youth to stay in foster home. She is the leader of a nonprofit organization named "For Keeps" dedicated to promote the placement of older foster children. Following Thomas Jefferson's daughter, Martha Jefferson Randolph, she is the second daughter of a Virginia Governor to become First Lady of Virginia.
If that's not accomplished, I don't know what is!
Well I guess that also discredits Hillary, doesn't it? (Rebecca - 2/6/2008 1:22:40 PM)
Hahahaha! (Scripple - 2/6/2008 1:30:55 PM)
Good point!
Both lists are silly (Eric - 2/6/2008 1:54:43 PM)
It's great that both teams have prominent supporters and that those supporters will be working hard for their candidate. But they don't need press releases and conference calls and a bunch of rah-rah to announce it. Nor do
we need to fuss over which names are on which lists as if it proves our point for why our chosen candidate is better than the other. Just plain silly.
Translation. (Lowell - 2/6/2008 1:56:11 PM)
Eric says "Bah Humbug!" :)
Every time Ben opens his mouth (True Blue - 2/6/2008 2:20:43 PM)
He gives Clinton a black eye.
Is Ben Tribbett secretly working for Obama? Every thing Ben has done and said has rebounded on him and increased support for Obama.
Ben Tribbett is the worst flying monkey ever.
So, poor Ben.... ha; can we (Teddy - 2/6/2008 2:56:45 PM)
get back to the serious question of choosing our next president (and forget the Democratic penchant for circular firing squads?). What are endorsements really worth, anyway, in the long run? And of course Obama has to have a Women for Obama group, given the endless pundit narration of how mature women came out and saved Hillary as a solid block of voters in, say, New Hampshire. What else would Obama do? How about a Men for Hillary, or an Asian Americans for Obama, or Caucasians for God? Oh, I forgot, we have that already over at the Huckster's.
Unbelievable, Ben (spotter - 2/6/2008 5:56:09 PM)
Anne Holton was a prominent judge and distinguished attorney. She is the daughter of one of our better Virginia governors. Hillary Clinton's alleged "35 years of change" primarily consist of her time as a "wife of," the first lady of Arkansas and the U.S.
Anyone who lives in the D.C. area should know that a lot of prominent women are married to, hello, prominent men. There's really no surprise in that, as the Clintons argue, they are a team.
What's really insulting to women is that you seem to think they have some sort of obligation to vote for the female candidate, and not for the best candidate.
Women for Obama Virginia Leadership Team (Lowell - 2/6/2008 6:03:14 PM)
First Lady Anne Holton Chairwoman
Del. Kris Amundson Co-chair
LuAnn Bennett Co-chair
Megan Beyer Co-chair
Laverne Chatman Co-chair
Rebecca Coleman Co-chair
Lisa Collis Co-chair
Hon. Julia A. Connally Co-chair
Sen. Janet Howell Co-chair
Sheila Johnson Co-chair
Ethel Kennedy Co-chair
Sen. Mamie Locke Co-chair
Sen. Louise Lucas Co-chair
Hon. Marian VanLandingham Co-chair
Del. Vivian Watts Co-chair
Hampton Treasurer Molly Ward Co-chair
ooo... (elevandoski - 2/6/2008 9:41:52 PM)
interesting seeing Lisa Collis there.
so does that mean Mark WON"T endorse Hillary? (teacherken - 2/6/2008 10:07:01 PM)
or are they going to pull a stunt like Charlie and Alma Rangel and split there votes?
According to that WaPo article... (elevandoski - 2/7/2008 10:30:08 AM)
Mark Warner won't endorse either Hillary or Barack.
Impressive list! (Ingrid - 2/7/2008 12:22:37 AM)
Women for Obama in Rappahannock Region (Lowell - 2/6/2008 6:10:17 PM)
See
here for an Evite to "join women from across the Rappahannock Region in support of Barack Obama, candidate for President." Thanks.
I think we all know what Beyer was saying (Lowell - 2/6/2008 8:02:17 PM)
n/t
I didn't mean to imply anything different, Lowell (aznew - 2/6/2008 8:05:00 PM)
I was criticizing (or attempting to criticize) the Post, not Beyer, and showing how the error gets compounded.
That's cool (Lowell - 2/6/2008 8:10:59 PM)
BTW, did you see that Mark Warner's wife, Lisa Collis, has endorsed Barack Obama? Rock and roll! :)
How about women in cabinet positions? (elevandoski - 2/6/2008 9:43:56 PM)
Viola Baskerville, Jody Wagner and Kate Hanley come to mind. Anybody know where they are?