Some final thoughts...

By: Ingrid
Published On: 11/3/2006 2:04:22 PM

When I and many others were petitioned by a group of bloggers late last year, seeking our support of the Draft Jim Webb movement, we could never have imagined that, days before the election, we would be on the verge of changing the state's and the country's direction.  During a challenging primary campaign, we all had complaints, suggestions, advice for the campaign and the candidate.  We thought we had an imperfect campaign.  Well, we did, but some of us "armchair campaign managers" criticized everything from the lack of mail from the candidate to the fact that Jim was timid, had to learn how to work a room or walk in a parade. 

And here we are: Jim Webb, the best candidate, and the best campaign of the year.
In "Webb, Tester and Angelides: The Best and Worst Campaigns of 2006" , Randy Shaw writes about Jim Webb's campaign...

A winning campaign plays to a candidateGs strengths. This means highlighting WebbGs record as a Marine, as opposed to having 1988 Democratic Presidential nominee Mike Dukakis make believe he is a tough guy by having him riding around in a tank (or 2004 nominee John Kerry going duck hunting to prove he understands the common man).

A winning campaign stays positive until their opponent goes negative, and when that negative attack occurs, it hits back so hard that the opponent does not recover. When Allen used racial slurs, and raised a controversy about his heritage, many campaigns would have jumped all over these issues to, as one consultant has put it, Gǣride the media wave.Gǥ

But Webb refused to comment on AllenGs problems, and was criticized for not Gǣtaking advantageGǥ of the opening. The wisdom of WebbGs strategy became clear when Allen ran commercials attacking sexual passages from WebbGs novels about Vietnam.

These attacks gave Webb the chance to remind voters that he had not commented on AllenGs prior problems, but that now that his own character had been attacked, he had no choice but to set the record straight.

Which he did. After blaming Allen personally for the attacks on his writing---saying Gǣa fish rots from the headGǥ--- Webb listed all of the positive reviews his books have received from Republicans like Senator John McCain and columnist George Will.

Webb then delivered the finishing blow to Allen when he revealed that one book the Senator attacked was on the recommended reading list of the US Marine Corp.

Check out the entire article.  It's a great read, and discusses my other favorite candidate: Jon Tester for U.S. Senate in Montana.

When all is said and done, the individuals who managed Jim's campaign, from full-timers like Campaign Manager Jessica Vandenberg, Grassroots Coordinator Josh Chernila and blogger Lowell Feld to the volunteer army all over the state, deserve much of the credit.  These folks know the ropes.  They will have taught us how to run a campaign from the bottom up.  And I am so proud to have been a part of it, from day one!

Comments



Nice Photo... (James Martin - 11/3/2006 2:06:32 PM)
From a Great Event! :-)


Whenever Webb called for us (Teddy - 11/3/2006 3:19:29 PM)
the volunteers swarmed right out of the woodwork: every age, every color, every status in life, to do whatever was required... there was no money at first, but the many willing hands made up for it.  This has been, and will be until the very end, a campaign nurtured from the bottom up, by what Jim Webb called his ragtag army. Don't stop now. Ingrid has shared a wonderful commentary, and we thank her. Along with those she named add Ingrid; she was too modest to include herself.


Funny thing... (CommonSense - 11/4/2006 9:47:52 AM)
When this campaign started my first thought was simply, here comes yet another politician going for office. Ho-Hum. They are all alike, get the votes, go to Washington (or wherever) and do their own thing once they get there. I haven't been an active participant in twenty-five years, why bother? My partner saw things a bit differently (maybe being a Marine vet recognizing leadership when it presented itself?) and began to work tirelessly for Webb. As often happens in a relationship, I found myself “dragged” along. Buena Vista in the rain; crazy vehicular maneuvers trying to place signs in “just the right place” along a 70+ stretch of major highway; sitting in an initially empty Webb office in Charlottesville once a week; handing out info and bumper stickers and yard signs; mailings. Then talking to people and seeing a light come to their eyes and hope shining on their faces when they talked about Webb. Discovering that all they really wanted was to be heard and to know that somebody was listening and on their side.
And a funny thing happened on the way to an election.
I began to understand that here, for once, was a real person running on what he believed in.  That here was a candidate that actually stood up and said what he thought, and stood behind it. That here was a candidate who would not change his spots once elected. There here was my senator.