Posted on 09/05/2006 1:10:03 AM PDT by leadpenny
Senate candidate misses event to visit son, who is being sent to Iraq; Allen campaigns on a horse.
BUENA VISTA--If you were in Buena Vista for yesterday's Labor Day parade, you couldn't miss George Allen and Mark Warner.
Allen was the sole person in the parade riding a horse, while Warner must have shaken every single hand along the parade route.
While both men are potential candidates for president in 2008, that wasn't the focus yesterday. Allen must first fend off a challenge for his U.S. Senate seat this fall, and Warner was putatively in Buena Vista as a surrogate for Allen's challenger, Jim Webb.
So the campaign signs were all about Allen and Webb, and both Warner and Gov. Tim Kaine--who shook his own share of hands--took care to praise Webb, who skipped the annual political event to spend time with his son, a Marine who is shipping out for Iraq this week.
Buena Vista is one of several traditional Labor Day stops for politicians in Virginia. Labor Day marks the kick-off of the fall campaign season, when voters tend to be done with summer vacations and more receptive to the campaigns' messages.
In Buena Vista, candidates put up hundreds of campaign signs, shake hands, kiss babies, and deliver their stump speeches at the end of the parade route.
It's a routine that Allen, Warner and Kaine have performed dozens of times in their political careers. The election changes, but the faces don't.
Kaine called his role in Buena Vista that of a pinch-hitter.
"It is so much more pleasant to be here campaigning for someone else," Kaine told reporters. "It's fun to be with Mark. We've done this parade a few times."
Kaine and Warner both praised Webb's military background, saying it would give him a unique perspective as a senator. They said his independence and willingness to work across party lines is needed, an oblique dig at Allen's high frequency of voting with President George Bush.
"When you know about his public service career, this race is a logical step," Kaine said during a speech that mostly centered on Webb. "He's got a record that really speaks for itself."
Both Kaine and Warner deflected questions about the "macaca" incident--Allen recently called a Webb campaign volunteer of Indian descent "macaca" and welcomed him to America, although the man was born in Fairfax. The incident seems to have driven up Webb's numbers, as recent polls show him statistically even with Allen.
Kaine called the incident "a legitimate issue," but said voters would have to make up their own minds about it. Warner said "character is always a critical issue," but declined further comment on the matter.
Allen brushed off questions about the recent tightening of the polls, saying that the key to winning the race is to "motivate and inspire people behind issues." He thinks voters will choose his stance on the issues and his record.
"Virginians, when you come to Election Day, are going to match up the candidates I think people are going to be much more comfortable with George Allen and my record," Allen said.
Allen paraded through Buena Vista on an umbrella-shy horse, waving at pockets of spectators who braved the chilly drizzle for the event.
He was initially behind Warner and Kaine and the enclave of Webb supporters. But Warner, while working himself into a sweat jogging along the route and frenetically shaking hands, appeared to stop to shake every single one. By the end of the route Allen and the other Republicans had passed Warner by, leaving the former governor jogging alongside floats plastered in Republican campaign posters. Dashing by Attorney General Bob McDonnell and Del. Chris Saxman, Warner shouted, "I'm getting in shape, man!"
"I never thought being unemployed was going to be this hard work," Warner joked to reporters after the parade.
Asked whether his political aspirations had been mentioned by parade-goers, Warner said some people had asked him about the 2008 presidential race. But he did not say whether he's officially running or not.
"I'll make my decision sometime after the election," he said.
The News Virginian Waynesboro, Staunton and Augusta County
The News-Gazette Lexington
Webb is doing exactly what a father should do, but the cynic in me wonders why he had to do it so publicly.
Publicly?
Huh? Was there press? I didn't see any quotes from Webb?
It's a great campaign coup for Webb. I think more Republican leaders should get their kids to sign up for the Military. Could you imagine the surge of patriotism if the Bush Twins signed up. I think those two good looking girls in the Army would get a few hundred thousand extra boys to sign up.
How about the Allen daughters? /s
It's probably not realistic to expect anyone to sign up. What should have happened on 9-12 was for a Universal Service Bill to be place on the President's desk. It would have included a draft and it would have included women.
Come on guys, this is what Webb did : "Webb, who skipped the annual political event to spend time with his son, a Marine who is shipping out for Iraq this week."
Not much of publicity stunt at all. The (title) kinda implies Webb is at the Battleship waiving, as his son 'sails' away.
Interesting view of military service. The current circumstances haven't prevented hundreds of thousands from volunteering over the last few years, to include the sons of Duncan Huner and John McCain. Military service should be something every American young man attempts. With five active services and their reserve components there is really no reason a physically (and otherwise qualified) young man ought not attempt to join.
As regards drafting women, what would be the point if we are drafting all the men we need? If anything, conscription would allow the military to raise standards and eliminate double standards in place to accomodate females. The Army and probably the rest of the services would be able to bring their percentage of females serving back down the the pre-1973 levels.
"The Washington Times" hard copy has a piece in the Metro section but I can't find it on the net:
Virginia
"Allen celebrates in traditional style as Webb prepares son for Iraq duty"
by Seth Mclaughlin
Excerpt:
"As Republican Sen. George Allen, clad in a cowboy hat, rode a horse named Bubba and waved to people along the parade route, his challenger, James H. Webb Jr. drove his son Jimmy, a 24-year-old Marine lance corporal, to Camp Lejeune, N.C., where he is scheduled for deployment to Iraq today."
I don't know what you're talking about. Are you against women being in the military, period?
I should have added husbands, wives, brothers, and sisters after the word daughters to make better sense of that sentence.
What was Webb supposed to do, lie to the press when they surely asked why he wouldn't be at the rally?
As far as supporting the troops and not supporting the mission. That's me. We should have already obliterated a few cities in the ME instead of being bogged down in Iraq.
Oh, and "you people" makes me nervous. You're not a "you people?"
I hear ya. I just disagree with the mission assigned them by the Command Authority.
"You People" You've been here for over four months, so unless you are a sleeper troll, you are one of the FreeRepublic "you people."
"Dad, why are you here? You've been publicly trashing our mission for three years, and now I'm supposed to believe you're here to wish me luck?"
Coop, there are some things dads don't talk to their sons about - - especially when one of them is getting ready to deploy. Been there - on both sides of the fence.
I've been there, too. My father, a Vietnam veteran, would not have been welcome on the flight line had he behaved like Jim Webb. But he never would have been such an ass.
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