Never be afraid to stand with the minority when the minority is right, for the minority which is right will one day be the majority. - William Jennings Bryan

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Let's Play Nice

In case you hadn't heard (and, if you're a regular blogger who hasn't heard, you've been living under a rock), we've got a primary coming up in June. And, in until then, we've got to learn to get along a little better.

We've got emotions running extremely high on both sides. But, let's remember, we are all trying to accomplish the same thing: defeating George Allen in November.

Now, I'll openly admit that early on in this campaign, I was opposed to the idea of a Webb candidacy, and vocally so. But, after a good deal of reading, studying, and thinking, I changed sides and became a Webb supporter. After hearing more and more about Harris Miller, I came to dislike him, even, at one point, on one blog, vowing not to vote for him if he were the Democratic nominee.

I went too far.

Don't get me wrong; I'm still 1000% behind Webb, and I still would never vote for Miller in the primary, but that's just my personal decision. If a majority of people who vote in the primary come to a different personal decision, I'll hop on the bandwagon like all of us should.

Back in June of 2005, I'm sure you all remember it, we had a big primary for the Lt. Governor nomination. Initially, I was for Puckett. When I decided it wasn't going in his favor, I jumped ship and went to Chap Petersen. When Leslie Byrne won the primary, I was big in favor of her. It doesn't matter who carries the banner. It doesn't matter if the more charismatic guy gets the nomination. What matters is that we do what's right for the party, what's right for the state, what's right for the country. And the right thing for our party, state, and country is to support the Democratic nominee.

Keep on campaigning hard for James Webb or Harris Miller. I'll be campaigning big for Webb. But, on June 14th, we all need to unite behind the nominee. Because any Democrat is better than a Republican.

What I'm getting at here is simple; Let's play nice. We're all Democrats. We all want George Allen seeking gainful employment in January 2007. So let's stop this circular firing squad we've started, and start taking the fight to Allen.

I'll take a pledge (and it would be good if the other folks would, too) right now. For the remainder of this campaign, I won't be attacking Harris Miller. I won't be pointing out all of Haris Miller's bad points. I don't want people voting against Miller. I want people voting for Webb. I fully intend to point out James Webb's strong points, his stances on the issues, and why he would make a better Senator that George Allen.

Just my two cents.

-Neal

2 comments:

Alice said...

I saw this comment earlier, and wished I had known that FCDC would be honored by an appearence by Cranwell, 'cause I would have brought a copy with me.

Anonymous said...

Neal,

I can't tell you how much I wish we could play nice.

Unfortuantely, the Miller campaign dragged this primary in to the mud and has shown no willingness to climb out: First Miller made the egregious mistake of calling Jim Webb a misogynist, then a racist, and finally, most sickeningly, an anti-Semite (a smear created by Ms. Marshall and subsequently picked up by the most strident right-wing reactionary bloggers).

Nothing's stuck, but it has managed to distract from Webb's message of Honor, Fairness, Justice, Beating George Allen, and working to return to American Greatness.

I wish we could have a debate on issues and the relative strengths of these candidates, because if that were allowed to happen, Harris Miller would not get 25% of the primary vote.

Unfortunately, the only way Harris Miller can be competitive in this primary race is to try to smear Jim Webb with as much slime as he can make up. Against George Allen, Harris Miller is unelectable in Virginia.

You'll notice that none of the above is an attack on Harris Miller, but rather an assessment of the situation Miller himself has created. The tenor of negativity he has set for this primary can only serve to weaken both our candidates for November as we work together to unseat the ringleader of the failed conservative circus of unconstitutional incompetence we see in Virginia today, GeorgeBushAllen.