Endorsements, And Webb On Colbert Report

Today, Claudia Kennedy (whom I like very much--but not as much as I once did), the first woman to attain the rank of three-star General in the U.S. Army, endorsed Harris Miller for U.S. Senate, and launched an attack on James Webb, a fellow veteran, alledging sexism from an ascertian Webb made over 20 years ago that women shouldn't be on the front lines in combat.

First, I think that Democrats should follow Ronald Reagan's "Eleventh Amendment," (with a little word change) which, as you know, says "Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Democrat." At the end of the day, we're all Democrats, and we'll all be united in the goal of defeating George Allen. If we strain relationships too much, then Democrats may not be willing to support some folks in future runs (read: Miller 2009, Kennedy 2008). Remember, folks, we're all friends at the end of the day.

Second, it's pretty petty for Harris Miller to have someone else attack Webb for him. If Miller wants to take his campaign in a negative direction, he should at least have the testicular fortitude to do it himself. It looks to me that Miller is trying to solidy the female vote in his corner with this thinly veiled attack on Webb from the prospective of "He doesn't want women in the Army."

George Allen is scared of James Webb. So is Harris Miller, apparently. This race should be not about who can make the other look the worst. It should be about showing the people of Virginia that George Allen isn't acting in their best interests, and that the Democrats can do better. These two candidates should show what they want to do, as opposed to what Allen is doing. At the end of the day, the voters in the Democratic primary will decide who is the better prepared candidate to take George Allen out.

So, here's a question. Here in Southwest Virginia, we have several high-profile Democrats, and I'm anxious to know where they'll fall on the primary. Rick Boucher, Joe Johnson, Bud Phillips, Dan Bowling, and Phillip Puckett (and former Delegate Jackie Stump) are all, as far as I know, undeclared, however, one of Boucher's polling people is working high in the Webb campaign.

Any thoughts on who'll be endorsing Webb in the coming days and weeks?

[UPDATE: I just finished watching James Webb on the Colbert Report, and he did great on the Iraq War questions and national security questions (Colbert even said "I don't think I won that round. I think I'll skip it."). He was pretty candid, and presented himself well. Colbert mentioned "Whiskey Riverr," the movie Webb wrote, that is in production right now. My favorite quote from Colbert had to be "I understand George Allen is dumb as a post," (or something very close to that) and my favorite quote from Webb, which I can't word-for-word recall, was the statement that got him the biggest applause line. After watching this, I feel really good about this race, and I think we can do it.]

-Neal