Al Weed on Kickoff Tour in Southside

Al Weed wasted no time in getting on the road after last Saturday's Convention victory.

This week, starting Sunday, he has visited 17 localities, with three more today. They range from Danville to Farmville, from Keysville to Bedford, and Mecklenburg to Halifax.
We all know that the race in the 5th will be won in the Southside of Virginia. Al has lots of support in Charlottesville and the surrounding area, including his home, Nelson County. Al has talked with bankers, preachers, Native Americans, men and women of all occupations. He has showed off his biofuel campaign car (see below).

At left, Al talks with citizens in Farmville.

Al needs ALL of our support, just as the other candidates this year do. Virgil Goode is even worse than George Allen, in that he is known to be corrupt due to the illegal contributions accepted by him from a now convicted felon.

Here's another photo from the road.



Al with supporters in Keysville.

Show Al some love, even if you just tell him what a good job he is doing. He is accepting donations as well. (Hint, Hint) Al is travelling on his Kickoff Tour in this Volkswagen, modified to run on Virginia Biofuel. For more, see his site and his information about biofuels and Virginia's Southside.

Al Weed Wins the Nomination in the Fighting 5th CD

On Saturday there was a feeling of anticipation in the air as delegates from all over the Fifth District gathered at Buckingham High School to choose their nominee to run against Virgil Goode (R-MZM)in the November election.

There was an atmosphere of business, but that is not to say that there wasn't fun as well. People were telling jokes, talking with their fellow Democrats and getting caught up on all of the latest political gossip.

I don't plan on providing a blow-by-blow account of the day, but the process went very smoothly. The Buckingham County Democratic Committee should be congratulated on the fine job they did setting the convention up. I did not hear one complaint in that department.

Both Bern Ewert and Al Weed gave their speeches, and the nominators and seconds gave speeches for their respective candidates. While the counting was going on, Harris Miller gave a speech and took some questions. Jim Webb got lost on the way to the event and gave a speech as well, after which he took a few questions.

Lunch had been provided for by the Buckingham Committee and some people brought it back to the Auditorium to listen while they ate. Others hung around the lunchroom and talked while they had lunch. Throughout the day I met people whom I had only talked with or blogged with (is that even a term?), such as Kathy Gerber and JC.

When the winning Delegate count was announced for Al Weed, Bern Ewert accepted Al's gracious offer to speak first, and he pledged in no uncertain terms to support Al in his bid to unseat Virgil Goode. It was truly the best speech he has given during the entire campaign.

Al's remarks were short as well, and well received. The Delegates, Alternates and guests all left with a renewed sense of purpose and conviction to the race in front of us. It is a great thing to know that Democrats are unified in the Congressional race in the Fifth District.

Jim Webb To Appear at Convention

It was announced last week at the Fifth Congressional District meeting in Charlotte Court House that Jim Webb (D-VA) would be at the Fifth Congressional Disrtict Convention in Buckingham County on May 20, 2006.

Webb, a veteran of the Marine Corps and one of two candidates in the June 13, 2006 Democratic Primary to choose the candidate to run against George Allen, is scheduled to appear at some point during the program. It was not immediately clear whether his appearance would come before or after the balloting. My guess is afterwards.

The Buckingham County Democratic Committee has worked hard on preparing for the convention two weeks from now. They have arranged for lunch to be available afterwards, and has asked the committees in the district to encourage their delegates to stay and have lunch. I was very impressed with the Buckingham County Comittee's presentation, and they seem to have the arrangements well in hand. Hat tip to them.

What time he will speak is still up in the air, but the Convention opens for registration at 10:00 AM and begins at 11:00 AM. The two candidates for the Fifth District Congressional race will be there, (Weed and Ewert) and the other Senate candidate (Miller) had not announced as of today whether he would appear.

The site of the Convention is the Buckingham High School Auditorium on Route 60 in Buckingham County.

Open Invitation in the Fifth

This is an open invitation to all Democrats, Independents, and anyone else who wishes to vote for a Democratic candidate in the 5th Congressional District election this year.

At a time when we should be storing up good will and finding even more reasons why Virgil Goode shouldn't be returned to Washington, it seems one of the candidates going to the convention May 20th in Buckingham is not ready to back a unified choice for the nominee. Instead, he has chosen to claim to be calling the other candidate's delegates and posting twilight zone entries on his website that claim that he is gaining strength and is going to win the nomination, because the convention is a 'free-for-all'.

It is not Al Weed.

One only need look at the numbers of delegates won in caucuses across the Fifth District in the last few weeks to know that whatever the tactic, it would need to be extreme in nature to pull off some kind of electoral miracle at the convention. This candidate claims on his website that

"...once Delegates arrive at the convention on May 20th, they are free to vote for either one of the candidates, regardless of whom they voted for in the Caucuses.

"It's a whole new ball game once we get to Buckingham on May 20th", says Ewert.

From the official Fifth District Pre-Filing form for application as a delegate:

If elected a delegate or alternate to my Congressional District Convention, I understand that, having expressed the above candidate preferences, I will in all good conscience vote in that candidate’s caucus on the first ballot at the Convention.

So actually, after the first ballot, the delegates can change their minds. Why would someone do that? A person comes to the convention knowing who they support, and that their committee has elected them as a delegate to vote that opinion at the convention. Suddenly, after the first ballot (assuming there are any more)delegates lose their minds and decide to vote for someone they decided long ago wasn't the candidate for them. I can understand fighting the good fight, but there are no door prizes for those late to the party.

I would like to ask that everyone who intends to vote Democratic in this fall's Fifth District Congressional race to support the person with the winning number of delegates. That's all.

I am begging you, aren't there better things to do with our energy and time than to ride a wave of derision into the convention?