watch this space
Ask Tom Davis what was more important than voting against Bush's pro-torture bill. And if he still hasn't completely freaked out and/or threatened to cut off federal spending for you and your town, go ahead and ask him the questions about Allen below.
This is gonna be a short obvious one.
Tie Davis to Allen. Make Davis denounce Allen. Ask Davis if Allen should drop out of the race. Tie Davis to Allen. Make Davis denounce Allen. Ask Davis if Allen should drop out of the race. Tie Davis to Allen. Make Davis denounce Allen. Ask Davis if Allen should drop out of the race. Tie Davis to Allen. Make Davis denounce Allen. Ask Davis if Allen should drop out of the race. Tie Davis to Allen. Make Davis denounce Allen. Ask Davis if Allen should drop out of the race. Tie Davis to Allen. Make Davis denounce Allen. Ask Davis if Allen should drop out of the race. Tie Davis to Allen. Make Davis denounce Allen. Ask Davis if Allen should drop out of the race. Tie Davis to Allen. Make Davis denounce Allen. Ask Davis if Allen should drop out of the race. Tie Davis to Allen. Make Davis denounce Allen. Ask Davis if Allen should drop out of the race. Tie Davis to Allen. Make Davis denounce Allen. Ask Davis if Allen should drop out of the race. Tie Davis to Allen. Make Davis denounce Allen. Ask Davis if Allen should drop out of the race. Tie Davis to Allen. Make Davis denounce Allen. Ask Davis if Allen should drop out of the race. Tie Davis to Allen. Make Davis denounce Allen. Ask Davis if Allen should drop out of the race. Tie Davis to Allen. Make Davis denounce Allen. Ask Davis if Allen should drop out of the race. Tie Davis to Allen. Make Davis denounce Allen. Ask Davis if Allen should drop out of the race. Tie Davis to Allen. Make Davis denounce Allen. Ask Davis if Allen should drop out of the race.
That is all.
Reportedly, when confronted with his anti-gay policies outside a meeting with local Log Cabin Republicans, Davis lost it. So, apparently we can add thin skin to Tom Davis's vulnerabilities as we head toward the last six weeks of the campaign. Is it possible that Davis is worried, if not that he'll be re-elected, but that his prospects of succeeding John Warner in the Senate have been damaged? It is more imperative now than ever to press Hurst's strengths.
Hurst has a less compromised character.
Hurst can deliver for the 11th, arguably more if the Dems win a majority in the House.
Hurst can be a real agent for badly needed reform.
Hurst's policy positions are more in line with clear majorities on both foreign and domestic policy.
If voters were motivated to do a little research on their own, Hurst would win handily. The Republicans from Bush on down are running on a theme of smear and fear, desperately trying to convince voters that they should just stay home that things can't get better, and if anyone even tries to argue for change they're playing into the hands of our enemies. Just how desperate the Republicans have become is evident by their arguing that after almost six years of inept corrupt Republican government, our troubles should all be blamed on...Bill Clinton?!
All we can do is keep spreading the word. Encourage people to think for themselves. The mainstream media can't be expected to focus on the race in the 11th. Davis can afford to buy many more ads than Hurst. I understand Hurst acquitted himself very well in the debate. Maybe there will be more debates. Cox Cable Channel 10 will be broadcasting the one debate I know of on the following dates and times. I encourage readers of this blog and other bloggers and commenters to publicize these broadcasts, and, again if anyone knows how to record them in a digital format for uploading onto youtube (via dvd recorder?), please please do so.
10/06 @4p
10/07 @930p
10/11 @630p
10/21 @930a
A commenter wants me to rhyme,
and post about hollywood slime.
She should get her own blog.
Not on mine should she hog
my reader's valuable time.
Yet I promised a post in verse form,
and my feelings for her are quite warm.
So, this post is for her.
With it I am sure
She'll sleep snuggly all night in her dorm.
"Dad," she is apt to protest,
"your post will not lead to my rest."
"In fact, I feel gruff
'bout that personal stuff,
and I live in an apartment, not a dorm.
'night
Well, I scrolled forward on my Cox cable system to see what it said for ch. 10 tonight and nothing showed about the debate. I contacted the station by phone and e-mail but nothing yet. Some more poking around yielded a Sept. 7 press release from the Fairfax League of Women Voters, a co-sponsor of the debate, that said ch. 10 would be taping the debate for later broadcast. I still may tune in just to see, but it looks like we'll have time to set up a taping, unless someone brings a digital camcorder to the debate. I really hope Hurst takes advantage of this opportunity to knock Davis down a few pegs.
Oh yeah, George Allen today admitted his grandfather was Jewish. No apology for getting all indignant yesterday about having to publicly address it. Nor did he apologize for seeming to say that asking someone whether their grandfather was Jewish was "making aspersions." Instead, he continued to attack the reporter for asking and claiming that his mother's reputation was being impugned. He says his mother wouldn't talk about why her father had been imprisoned by the Nazis and in general wouldn't talk about the past. I read in another blog today about Allen's sister's book, Fifth Quarter, and her telling about her and Allen's mother's seemingly sarcastic attitude toward the people in a church service, calling the cleric a hypocrite, the collection plate holders, vultures, and the sermon about sins, guilt inducing.
I'll probably suspend blogging and commenting on other blogs for the evening, unless I hear some news I can pass along.
I want to keep focus on tomorrow's crucial debate. Remember go to http://www.hurst2006.blogspot.com for more details. Also, please know that the debate reportedly will be televised on cable channel 10. And, one more time, please please please can someone who knows how record the debate in a digital format that can be uploaded on youtube?
Now that that's out of the way, I just have to use my blog to further advertise George Allen's curious reaction to being asked at today's debate about whether his grandfather was Jewish. Allen seemed encouraged by the audience's immediate booing after the question was asked. [note to audience - WTF? - are you really that careful about respecting Allen's privacy or do you sense that even the suggestion that, heaven forfend, Allen has a Jewish ancestor may hurt his electoral prospects?] Anyway, Allen got all indignant and trumpeted religious freedom. Unfortunately, Allen got a little too open again (remember how he just happened to blurt out a "made up" word to belittle a person of color that just happened to be the same word used to belittle people of color in his mother's native land?) and likened being asked about having a Jewish ancestor to casting "aspersions."
The Virginia blogs are kind of in the middle on this, equally criticizing the questioner and wondering about Allen's feelings about Jews. Consequently, this probably wasn't a knockout blow for his re-election campaign.
In terms of Allen's Presidential prospects though, it should be noted that wonkette has already picked this up as has huffingtonpost.
See for yourself at http://www.wonkette.com.
o.k. details on tomorrow's debate can be found, probably among many places, at hurst2006.blogspot.com.
I wish I could record the debate in a digital format for uploading on youtube (and everywhere possible).
I implore people who know how to do this to do so. Would a dvd recorder yield an uploadable product?
All right! I've got my mojo back! Webb did a very good job on Meet the Press yesterday, and I read that unsolicited individual contributions of $100,000 were made to his campaign in the first 24 hours after the debate.
Now, it's time for Hurst to shine!
Tomorrow is a debate with Davis and, thanks to Bryan at ambivalentmumblings.blogspot.com, I've learned that it will be televised by cable channel 10. I know this is available to Cox subscribers. I'll post more later with more details as I learn them.
This is HUGE!!!! Hurst can really make some progress in leveling the playing field.
I encourage everyone who reads this to spread the word.
I also ask that someone who knows how to do these things tapes the debate in a way that will make it uploadable to youtube or somewhere, so that it can be seen by anyone anywhere anytime.
Tell your friends, tell your neighbors, tell the Hurst campaign.
Incumbents have had too many advantages for too long.
I just posted the paragraph below in the comments at ambivalentmumblings.blogspot.com. For some reason, I can't post comments at Nate's Hurst blog. Nate wrote about the two debates between Hurst and Davis. If I don't get some comment action soon, I may suspend this experiment. Of course, there could be events that prompt me to post, and who knows, maybe I'll come up with a great idea to get Hurst the good free publicity he so badly needs.
If undecided voters can be persuaded to get up and go to a debate, surely they can be persuaded to sit snugly at home and surf the web. I really hope the press and some local tv channel (Channel 8 on cable?) covers the debates. This race ought not to be a contest. Davis may have come to Congress when it wasn't quite so shameful to be a Republican, and he may have been able to dole out just enough constituent service and pander to federal employees to allow him to beat the cannon fodder the Democrats served up. This November could and should be quite different. Andy Hurst is principled, energetic, and can provide a much needed breath of fresh air. Moreover, the national trends are very favorable for Democrats, and even Virginia, especially Northern Virginia, is turning blue. If nothing else, the pragmatic truly independent voter should take into account that Andy would likely be in the majority while Davis would be pouting watching Waxman really do something with the Government Reform Cmte. If the voters return Davis yet again merely because he has more signs in the medians, more ads on tv, more slick crap in our mailboxes, or just because he's the devil they know and they didn't make any effort to discover Andy before election day, they deserve what they get, and what they'll get is two more years of servitude to a corrupt and frankly evil Republican leadership and likely Davis trying to succeed John Warner in the Senate in 2008. C'mon 11th District put a stake (metaphorically speaking) in the heart of Davis.
Wow! Exciting news! http://www.ambivalentmumblings.blogspot.com has announced an Act Blue initiative on behalf of Hurst. I found out about it from Nate's unofficial Hurst blog (I don't know the URL off the top of my head, but if anyone asks in the comments, I'll look it up for them.).
I commented on the post at ambivalentmumblings and cited a Firedoglake post (http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/09/12/great-news/#more-4459) about the incredibly great Act Blue video "Had Enough" that's being adapted to more and more Dem campaigns. It would be great if someone could do this for Hurst.
This could generate exactly the type of dump-all-incumbent momentum that Hurst needs. Now more than ever - I just saw a slick Davis ad during Hardball.
Day 2 of the experiment - I'm a little less optimistic today and not just because I only got one comment to my inaugrual post. More on that comment in a bit. Rather, I think the Dems nationally and even the Webb campaign in Virginia are not really going to be able to afford to divert some of their momentum to Hurst. Webb had a pretty good day, because Allen kept the "macaca" story going by again sort of apologizing instead of really apologizing and because some group of vets put up an ad spotlighting Allen's vote against body armor for the troops. On the other hand, Allen's goons are trotting out some old sexist stuff Webb said long before he probably ever thought he'd be running as a Democrat in our more enlightened age. The Webb / Allen race is going to get so nasty that I don't see Allen and the Republicans folding. At least right now I'm just not going to pray for that miracle. And as I said yesterday, I'm not going to pray for the miracle that would doom Davis. Now, it's possible that Allen's taint could get on Davis, but if he's been able to escape the stench of his actual colleagues on the Hill thus far, I don't see how he can't just remain aloof from Allen's troubles. I suppose Davis could be baited into condemning Allen in some way, but I'm guessing he's too smart for that. In fact, given his relative youth, exuberance, and relative political inexperience, I can see Hurst screwing up this way before Davis. To sum up, I think it's still the case that Hurst will need serious money to buy visibility and name recognition, and I have no idea where that money could come from. On the other hand, I still believe there's time for a dump all incumbent meme to catch fire and partly burn Davis and partly suppress turnout of independents who may be otherwise inclined to go with the devil they know. It would take some sort of moral outrage, however, because in the 11th, it's not the economy stupid, the housing market is just a bit cooler than it's recent red hotness, and gas prices are coming down.
Now, on that one comment on last night's post. Please see my reply to fightthepowder in that comment thread. [update - my apologies for posting my reply three times.]
I may come back tonight, but likely I'll not post again for 24 hours, because I can't do this from work. I will check for comments tonight, and I can check for comments at work.
Thanks again for your time and attention.
This is an experiment. I'm going to indulge my armchair politicking with a focus on a particular race. This would be in lieu of actually volunteering or even associating with the campaign that I hope wins. I'm fully aware I may be talking to myself here, but here goes. My first step after posting this is changing the name of this blog. I'm open to suggestions if you don't like what I pick.
The race is for Virginia's 11th Congressional District. The seat has been held for a bunch of terms by Tom Davis, a Republican, who served in the leadership and is presently Chairman of the House Government Reform Committee. The challenger is Andy Hurst, a youngish attorney who, though a Democratic activist, would be a first-time officeholder if he wins, and I hope he does.
Today is Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2006. The election is eight weeks away. Davis has much more money than Hurst, and, though I haven't seen a recent poll, I'm guessing that Davis would be comfortably ahead, if only because he's won handily before, he's a relatively moderate Republican in a District that is about evenly split (though trending Democratic lately), and he has far greater name recognition.
It seems unlikely that Hurst will win, but a surprisingly close race could seriously dent Davis's future which could include trying to win John Warner's seat in the U.S. Senate if the very old Warner decides to retire in 2008. Hurst does have several factors working in his favor: 1) this is turning out to be a bad year for Republicans both because of Bush's unpopularity and because of corruption problems, even some coming close to Davis; 2) Jim Webb is making a lot of headway in his race to unseat George Allen in the Senate and could provide assistance to Hurst in dollars, appearances, and coattails; and, 3) Hurst just may be a better candidate, but here my bias is definitely showing.
So, what can Hurst do to help himself? Somehow, he needs to become known and seen as a realistic alternative in the face of Davis's experience and greater name recognition which will be pounded home in many more tv ads, signs, and other paid media. Debates will help, and I think there may be at least one.
Last year, I volunteered for a guy running for an open seat in the Virginia House of Delegates. A relatively small geographic area was in play, money and name recognition were about even, and it really seemed that my phone calls and door knocks could make a difference, and they did. I just don't think my doing this for Hurst will matter. I don't think this blog will either, but it's a cheap, easy, and, for me anyway, fun way to try. Thus far, the mainstream Democratic blogosphere (the ones who need to know will know which sites I mean) hasn't given any attention to the Davis/Hurst race. The established Democratic Northern Virginia bloggers are doing their best, but they appear to be preaching to the choir. So, where am I going with this? I'd like to see Hurst hit the big time blogophorically. It's a chicken and egg type thing. Thus far, it seems as if the mainstream Democratic blogosphere is concentrating on races that appear at least a bit winnable. I don't think Hurst will break through unless something significantly changes to make him seem like a possible winner. I'm clueless how to effect such a change as opposed to waiting for a miracle.
The reason why I'm inaugurating this pipe dream tonight is because for some reason the Webb over Allen momentum is building and making the front page of the mainstream Democratic blogosphere. Specifically, Allen's macaca flap is being kept alive and just today the blogosphere has picked up on the inept way Allen has tried to move beyond it, ironically by holding last Saturday an "ethnic" rally. If Allen starts to tank, the spotlight will be focused on Virginia, and even if Hurst has done nothing by himself to excite other dreamers, Davis could start looking like the next juicy target to take down. Ironically, the undecided voters in Virginia 11 may be very resistant to believe that Davis is all that bad, after all they themselves voted for him before, maybe several times. On the other hand, sheep are sheep and though their hearts may not be in it, they could be persuaded that change is imperative. Additionally, others may just be turned off and stay home, leaving the door open for motivated Dems and motivated independents to carry the day.
I'm going to bed tonight feeling a little more optimistic for having done even this small something.
I strongly encourage anyone who reads this to comment on it and spread the word that it exists.
I thank you in advance for feeding my addiction.
