I attended Gerry Connolly's St. Patrick's Day event tonight in Fairfax, and what a night it was! After a sumptuous dinner, lots of green beer, and speeches by the candidates, Connolly announced the results of his straw poll. With 350 votes total, it was:
Constitution "Marriage" Amendment
Against 90%
For 10%
11th Congressional District
Ken Longmyer 53%
Andy Hurst 47%
U.S. Senate
James Webb 58%
Harris Miller 42%
Whoa, was that last result a typo? A bunch of Democratic Party diehards in the heart of Miller territory goes for James Webb by 16 points? Nope, no typo. This is for real. Webb absolutely romped over Harris Miller tonight, in an event where most people thought Miller would win by a 2:1 margin. I don't know about you, but I find that absolutely amazing. I mean, seriously, what else can Harris Miller do now? Spend even MORE money? I mean, c'mon, if Mililer can't win a poll like this, which is totally skewed in his favor, how on earth can he win the primary, let alone the General Election against George Allen?
As if the straw poll results weren't amazing enough, James Webb totally blew the crowd away with his speech. Surrounded by his kids and grandkids - including at least one Marine - plus his former wife Joanne in the audience, Webb grabbed this Democratic audience by the guts with his stirring words about "service to country." Webb specifically talked about how "my family has always served, starting in the American Revolution, up until today." That line got loud applause. As did Webb's next riff on WHY his family served and what it means: "I was a marine, my brother was a marine...we know what it means to be out in the dirt." Webb stressed that "one of the great reasons I'm doing this [running for Senate] is fairness," and also that "these people" - our soldiers - "will be at the top of my list" as Senator.
Finally, Webb got the crowd fired up up by staring straight at them and declaring, "we are not going to yield one inch of Virginia to George Allen:" Southwest Virginia, where Webb's roots are and where he feels most comfortable; Hampton Roads, with its Naval installations; and Richmond, where Webb promised to run hard, referring to his "long experience working with African Americans." Left unsaid was the fact that Webb will do extraordinarily well in Northern Virginia, where it is now safe to say, after tonight, that Webb is well on his way to winning the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.
By the way, it's important to note that the straw poll was taken BEFORE the candidates gave their speeches, so Webb's 58%-42% victory was almost certainly an understatement of the sentiment in the room after Webb's speech. My guess? Post-speech, it was probably 70%-30% for Webb. Oh, and Miller's speech? Let's just put it this way, you could hear a lot of forks clanking on plates, and a lot of loud conversation.
Other interesting tidbits from the event:
*Webb talking to people after his speech about how "we're gonna to go into every area, we're gonna do this from the bottom up."
*A Webb supporter and a Miller supporter both commenting to me, "I was surprised at the margin of victory for Webb."
*A Hurst supporter commenting, "I am disappointed that Andy didn't win."
*Andy Hurst retorting that "I'm kind of shocked [Longmyer] got that little. I thought he'd get 60%" of the vote. Hurst also stated that he is more "worried about the other 600,000 people" than about the 350 in the room tonight.
*Andy Hurst stating, on the record, that he thought the Webb victory was "unbelievable(!!!)" that there was a "real curiosity about Webb" and a "thirst in the crowd" for this candidacy. Wow.
*In response to my repeated questions about why Webb won and Hurst lost (although not by much), Andy stating that he "started from zero...Ken was the the 2004 Democratic nominee."
*A staffer for Harris Miller denying the (strong) rumors that Miller had bought hundreds of tickets for supporters. According to Brian, "Harris [only] bought tickets for himself."
*Andy Hurst's campaign manager, James Walkinshaw, asserting that "we have the energy, we have the vision, and we have the right message." Walkinshaw also pointed out that Tom Davis "has never had a serious challenger" before.
*Miller standing alone, looking lost and not very happy, while Webb looked like a confident, calm rock star, surrounded by enthusiastic people wanting to be near him. I believe that's called "charisma."
*Last but not least, Gerry Connolly saying bluntly about Ben Tribbett: "he better not show his face tonight."
Quite an evening.
P.S. By the way, it's seriously time to start giving Webb the resources he needs to take on George "California Cowboy" Allen, who will have mega-millions. Please go right now and donate to James Webb! We need to raise $300,000 in 3 weeks, and we can do it through the tremendous grassroots enthusiasm we're seeing. Thank you.