Webb wins Virginia primary
Webb wins Virginia primary
Date: Tuesday, June 13, 2006 10:57 PM
<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 1501 -- 06/13/2006 >>>>>
James Webb defeated Harris Miller for the Virginia Democratic primary for
Senator. Considering that Miller spent three times as much money as Webb,
he sure got spanked. The unofficial result is 53.5% for Webb and 46.5% for
Miller, with only 3.44% of the registered voters bothering to show up.
You can view the official results here:
http://sbe.vipnet.org/
The most important thing about Webb's victory is that we won't have to
worry about Harris Miller anymore. Perhaps he will just slink away, but
something tells me that he will probably go back to his shill job at the
ITAA.
The most disappointing thing about the contest between Webb and Miller is
that H-1B was never made an issue. Webb decided to avoid the issue, and
Miller was more than happy to accommodate him. Considering that Miller's
worst vulnerability is H-1B it's shocking that Webb dropped the ball on the
issue.
Immigration in general got scant attention during the campaign. Webb
avoided the H-1B issue and seemed somewhat hazy on sanctions for employers
of illegal aliens. Webb said he wants to go after large employers who hire
illegal aliens but he wants to go easy on homeowners who hire illegals.
On the MSNBC Hardball debate Webb said that the hiring of illegal aliens is
"complicated in terms of enforcement." I'm not sure exactly what he means
by that but it's not very reassuring. Even Chris Matthews made a remark to
Webb that it's not very complicated.
Webb seems to be taking John Kerry approach to immigration - that is tough
talk about borders and soft on everything else. At least he made a big
issue on offshoring, but of course most Democrats so without ever telling
us what they are going to do about it.
Now the Senate race will be between Republican incumbent George Allen and
James Webb. Allen would be very vulnerable on H-1B but you can bet that if
Webb was reluctant to attack Harris Miller on the issue he sure won't go
there with Allen. That's despite the fact that Senator George Allen
recently co-sponsored the Skil Bill to dramatically increase the number of
employment based Green Cards, H-1Bs, and to create the F-4 visa, and
despite his failing grade from Americans for Better Immigration for his
lousy voting record on H-1B.
Perhaps Allen and Webb agree so much about the need for H-1B visas they
don't need to debate.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.wavy.com/Global/story.asp?S=5026977&nav=23ii
Primary candidates play 'Hardball'
Democratic Senate hopefuls Webb and Miller traded jabs in a nationally
televised debate.
BY DAVID LERMAN
202-824-8224
June 9 2006
WASHINGTON -- Virginia's two Democratic Senate candidates clashed Thursday
over whether gays should serve openly in the military and their support for
former Gov. Mark Warner's likely presidential campaign.
In a brief, mostly cordial encounter on MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris
Matthews," Fairfax businessman and lobbyist Harris Miller said he favors
overhauling the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that currently forbids gay
military personnel from serving openly. "It needs to be modified," Miller
said, claiming the policy costs $200 million a year to enforce and hinders
Pentagon efforts to recruit and retain troops.
But former Navy Secretary James Webb, a highly decorated Vietnam veteran,
said he favors maintaining the current law. "I think the military is a
different environment," said Webb, who has told voters he supports gay
rights, including civil unions. "I just think it's a practicality issue."
The two men also differed over their loyalty to Warner, a popular Democrat
who left the governor's mansion in January and is exploring a run for
president in 2008.
Asked to choose between Warner and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton for the
Democratic presidential nomination, Miller did not hesitate to back Warner,
a longtime friend.
Webb, however, said, "I remain undecided."
Warner has stayed neutral in the Democratic primary, which will be held
Tuesday. He initially urged Miller to run and held a fund-raiser for him,
but then held a fund-raiser for Webb when the noted novelist and one-time
Republican jumped into the race in March.
The winner of Tuesday's contest will challenge first-term Republican Sen.
George Allen in November.
The mini-debate Thursday, which lasted about 11 minutes, was televised
nationally on cable and marked only the second head-to-head encounter of
the campaign. The two men are scheduled to participate in an hour-long
debate today on WTOP-FM 103.5 radio in Washington.
While the television appearance exposed few differences on policy issues,
each candidate made clear what he considers his opponent's major weakness
when the two men were given a chance to question each other.
Webb pointed to Miller's "career as a lobbyist"- a job title the Webb camp
hopes will do Miller harm in the age of disgraced former lobbyist Jack
Abramoff. Miller, who served for a decade as president of the Information
Technology Association of America, said he would try to attack the
corruption problem of Capitol Hill by fighting against pork-barrel
spending, prohibiting all gifts to members of Congress, and supporting the
public funding of television campaign advertising.
Reversing roles, Miller played up Webb's shifting party loyalties - an
issue that could hurt Webb with Democratic primary voters. He noted Webb
supported President Bush and endorsed Allen over Democratic Sen. Charles
Robb in 2000.
Webb, a self-described Reagan Democrat, said, "There are a lot of people
like me who went over to the Republican party on foreign policy issues and
national security, who are ready to come home."
On the war in Iraq, which is highly unpopular among Democratic voters in
particular, both men described the war as a mistake. But they differed
slightly on whether they would have voted against authorizing it.
Webb, as he often does, pointed to a Washington Post opinion piece he
authored in 2002 that declared his opposition to an Iraq invasion months
before it began.
Miller hedged, saying, "I wasn't opposing it instinctively" at the time the
decision was made. He noted he did not have access to the classified
information available to members of Congress to make a decision on
authorizing force. But he said it became clear the war was a mistake within
months of invading. "We were told there was weapons of mass destruction,
which was a lie," he said.
On illegal immigration, both men agreed on the need for tamper-proof
identification cards and sanctions on employers who hire illegal
immigrants. But Webb said he would limit sanctions to large employers so as
not to ensnare a homeowner who hires a gardener who may be illegal, for
example.
"It's complicated in terms of enforcement," Webb said.
Both men support Virginia's right-to-work law, which forbids making union
membership a condition of employment. Both also expressed support for gay
civil unions and said they opposed a constitutional amendment banning gay
marriage.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.localnewswatch.com/skyvalley/stories/index.php?action=fullnews&id=194648
Webb wins Senate primary race in Va.
Staff and agencies
13 June, 2006
By BOB LEWIS, Associated Press Writer 6 minutes ago
RICHMOND, Va. - James Webb, a former Reagan administration Navy secretary
who left the Republican Party over the Iraq war, won the Democr, , ) in the
fall.
With 80 percent of precincts reporting, Webb had 69,256 votes, or 54
percent, compared with 58,716 votes, or 46 percent, for Miller. Except for
the Washington suburbs, turnout was paltry across Virginia, a state
unaccustomed to primaries. The last Democratic Senate primary was in 1994.
Four other states also held elections Tuesday, including primaries for
governor in Maine and South Carolina; a Democratic runoff for the
nomination for lieutenant governor in Arkansas; and referendums on
constitutional amendments in North Dakota.
Webb, 60, referred to Miller in a televised debate as "the anti-Christ of
outsourcing," claiming that Miller, as a lobbyist for a major
Internet-industry organization, helped drive technology jobs overseas.
Also, a Webb flier contained a caricature of Miller with a hooked nose and
cash spilling from his pockets. Miller, who is Jewish, called the brochure
"despicable"; Webb said it was not anti-Semitic.
The states GOP primary for lieutenant governor was energized by news
that incumbent Andre Bauer at least twice avoided speeding tickets - once
after he was caught going more than 100 mph. Bauers chief opponent, Mike
Campbell, is the son of Carroll Campbell, a popular former governor.
Maine had a three-way Republican primary for governor. On the Democratic
side, Gov. John Balducci faced a little-known computer specialist.
In North Dakota, voters considered two proposed constitutional amendments -
one that would remove gender, age and residency references in the
constitutions definition of state militia, the other to give the
Legislature more authority to regulate how corporate shareholders vote for
boards of directors.
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