This is funny:

In the midst of the George Allen Jewish flap, I wrote a post I headlined "Sen. Macacawitz." The term caught on in political circles almost immediately. Now, a Democratic campaign staffer has been forced to resign because she used it publicly.

Which was my plan all along!

The story to which the loathsome Podhoretz refers is here. Apparently, the staffer was a field organizer for Al Weed, the Democrats' man against Virgil Goode in Virginia's Fifth Congressional District.

I really couldn't care less about the whole "macaca" thing, and I really could care less what Secretary Webb once wrote about women at the Naval Academy. I want Allen re-elected and residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on 21st January 2009, and not much short of a Foley is going to change my mind.

Despite the fact that I don't care about the 'macaca' thing, I'm snickering in the seat at "Macacawitz". It's always rather strange how people find themselves Jewish come election time. Me, I don't think I have any Jewish relatives, but if I ever run for anything, then I will discover them forthwith. Y'know, sort of like discovering long-lost family ties when someone with your last name dies with a substantial estate.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 12:27 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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OK, so my text-based impersonation of Arte Johnson may or may not be convincing, but no matter. James Webb has won the Democratic nomination to run against Senator G.F. Allen, Jr., in November. A former Secretary of the Navy in the Reagan Administration, Mr. Webb defeated Democratic activist Harris Miller 53-47 with about 3% turnout among registered Virginians. This was a surprise to me, inasmuch as I figured that Northern Virginia would elect a more Howard Dean-esque figure, which I determined Mr. Miller to be.

According to the Roanoke paper, Mr. Webb's victory came from Western Virginia and portions of Northern Virginia. This included Mr. Webb's wins in the 6th and 9th Congressional districts. Also, Mr. Miller was able to win in "some far Southwest Virginia localities". I'd like to know which those were, but the State Board of Elections website does not have that information available, it seems.

I did not have the opportunity to observe either of these men on the campaign trail. I am therefore largely uneducated on their merits. I did, however, think fondly of Mr. Webb. See here. I of course did not vote in the Democratic primary; my choice is Senator Allen.

Nevertheless, I'll have something interesting to watch, along with the Red Sox, as the year drags on.

UPDATE: After a bit of poking, I found the results I was griping about. See here. Miller won Bland 60-40, Buchanan 71-29, Giles 53-47, Lee 77-23, and Wise 64-36. However, Webb won the other counties that I off-the-cuff identify as Southwest Virginia. Interesting.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 08:38 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The field of Democrat(s) hoping to challenge the Commonwealth's junior Federal senator has expanded by one with the entry of James Webb into the race.

Formerly a Republican, Mr. Webb has a history of interaction with the Commonwealth's politics. In 1994, he endorsed Senator Charles S. Robb over challenger Oliver L. North. At that time, Mr. Webb called Mr. North a "chronic liar". In 2000, Mr. Webb endorsed former Governor George F. Allen, Jr., to replace Senator Robb. Mr. Webb's endorsement of Mr. Allen came because he believed Mr. Allen was superior to Mr. Robb on questions of national security.

Mr. Webb, a Marine who was decorated for his service in the Vietnam war, ultimately served as Secretary of the Navy under President Ronald Reagan. His term would end in 1987 with his resignation due to conflicts with Secretary of Defense Frank C. Carlucci.

He will face (at the moment) Harris Miller, former head of the lobbying group Information Technology Association of America.

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I have read some of Mr. Webb's opinion pieces in this century, and although I do not necessarily agree with them all, I've never considered it wasted time. Of course, one wishes him the best, but that is not going to be enough. I believe that he will be eventually overcome by a two-pronged problem.

PROBLEM NO. 1: Mr. Webb has been a Republican, has served President Reagan, and is a military man.

Whatever regular readers I have will probably ask, "What's wrong with any of those?" My answer is a firm nothing, but myself and my regular readers are not the ones who vote in Democrat primaries. Many Democrat primary voters have cars with those stupid FCNL "War is not the answer" bumper stickers, or some variation on the "Bake sale to buy a bomber" theme. Moreover, this subset of voters considers a soldier to be morally suspect; that this one served with distinction in Vietnam and then served Emperor Palpatine Ronald Reagan would only enrage them further.

The Howard Dean types---corrosive to the Republic, I believe---will probably treat this man with derision and scorn. They are very insular and punish deviations from their orthodoxy harshly, unless you're Paul Hackett. Mr. Webb has already commented that he does not "[wear] a bridle well." I do not see him wearing the bridle of "Bush lied!" and "Chimpy McHitler" well. This will be problematic for him.

PROBLEM NO. 2: Mr. Webb is a complicated man.

Democrat primary voters, especially those in the foul warrens of Northern Virginia, are probably apt to being swayed by the simplistic Howard Dean-style message of "BUSH LIED! BUSHITLER EATS CHILDREN FOR BREAKFAST! YEEEEARGH!" After all, Northern Democrats were reportely the reason that Leslie Byrne won the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor. Despite their press, these types don't do "nuance".

In contrast, James Webb seems to exist on nuance, along with the fact that he's not one of the appeaseniki who protest any and all military actions undertaken by the United States of America. There is a great gulf between "BUSH LIED!" and "My warning before we went in was basically that it was a strategic mousetrap on three different levels."¹ I do not believe that the Democrat primary voters will be able or capable of bridging that gulf.

I am of course for the re-election of Senator Allen, and for his raising to the highest office in the land on 20th January 2009. I am also for Mr. Webb, in an abstract way, against this Miller fellow. I would prefer that the Commonwealth be led by decorated warriors instead of Internet geeks.

It is a shame that Mr. Webb is not a Republican; I would otherwise eagerly vote for him. Nevertheless, I will be watching Mr. Webb as I have in the past.

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¹ See here for full citation.

Tip of the Wisconsin hat to Kate O'Beirne.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 12:45 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Harrumph. I'm right hacked off about the recent Virginia election results, and with good reason. I managed to avoid falling headlong into a drunken stupor about the whole thing simply 'cause I reckoned that I'd find myself quoted in a local paper calling T.M. Kaine something unprintable.

Such an appearance would, of course, be immediately followed by an editorial tsk-ing "drunken Republicans for their lack of bipartisanship in launching unwarranted attacks against progressive candidates" or somesuch. Keeping that in mind, I (wisely) chose to avoid the whiskey.

After stewing for a couple of days, I thought of something literary as an inspiration for a one-liner response to the results. It is inspired by the Tom Clancy/Larry Bond novel Red Storm Rising, one of my all-time favorites.¹

I can't find either of my copies at the moment, so some details will be approximate, but here goes: The US Navy (personified by Ed Morris and his ship) has escorted an eastbound convoy to resupply NATO forces. The Soviets (through their subs and bombers) have picked off several ships in the convoy. Morris wonders how the merchantmen are holding up, and he gets his answer by way of blinker light.

I don't have a blinker light, but let me echo the sentiment of the unnamed merchie:

"THANKS FOR NOTHING, NAVY NORTHERN VIRGINIA"

No, I'm not bitter. Once the irritation wears off, I intend to write a little something approaching a vague manifesto for what the Tories might've called "The Way Forward".

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¹ So favored that I wound up calling my 'commander' file in M1 Tank Platoon II 'Terry Mackall'; moreover, I was tempted to dub my helo driver(s) in Jane's Fleet Command as 'Jerry the Hammer'. It is, however, sad to note that my favorite-named submarine in the novel doesn't make it out.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 01:26 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Of course, Jerry Kilgore wins in a rout of Warrenton Mayor George Fitch. After that, basically flip-flop my picks/recommendations, and you'll have the results. Once again, ye olde ability to pick winners gets called into question, and the math goes badly. Turnout was miserable for all Commonwealth-wide races; none of them cleared 4.0%. I suppose that this once again proves the maxim that only the die-hards vote in the primaries.

Two things surprised me:
1. Bill Bolling's crushing of Sean Connaughton. Everywhere I'd been prior to this had virtually been "Connaughton Country", with there always being someone chanting the mantra, "Sean wants to run with Jerry". My response to that always was, "Gee, you think?" but that doesn't mean that everyone else came to the same conclusion. As far as I could tell, Connaughton had lashed himself to the mainmast of the good ship Kilgore and wasn't about to let go.

Obviously it didn't work. I suppose it means that, amongst Republican voters, the anti-tax sentiment still holds considerable sway. This is unfortunate, but you go to the races with the electorate you have, not the electorate that you want.

2. Leslie Byrne's victory(?). My home base is nowhere near Leslie Byrne's, and she barely registered in my perception. Sort of a "I know she exists but beyond that..." kind of thing, if you will. I had expected Viola Baskerville to do what Donald McEachin did in 2001, crushing all comers with a heavily favorable turnout in the City of Richmond. Did this happen? Doesn't look like it, and even if it did, the percentages would only suggest about 4,000 votes up for grabs on Viola's expected base of support, so that does nothing to the 12,000 vote gap.

A quick bit of telephoning around doesn't give me any real sense of who she is, so perhaps this woman from the far away reaches of the Commonwealth will be handily defeated by Bill Bolling. The one thing that I did pick up was that she's apparently tight with pro-Dean sentiment, so perhaps that explains why she has suppport. Bah, I was hoping to keep Howard Dean at arm's length from my beloved Commonwealth.

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UPDATE, 2252 hrs: It appears that 17% of voters in the Republican primary need to be taken out and shot. I jest, of course, but I'd sure like to figure out what motivated them to the Fitch banner. One of my correspondents suggests that it's all about taxes, but I'm not entirely sure how that explains bucking the party's choice. On the other hand, with victory for the other candidate virtually assured, there's no time like the present to register a protest vote. Bah, protest votes.

As of right now, Baskerville's pulled to within 9,000 of Byrne, with only a quarter of the Richmond City precincts reporting. Baskerville is winning 68-16 over Byrne, so it may be that the McEachin model wins again, defying my application of the Commonwealth-wide turnout number in what should be Baskerville's home turf. Curiouser and curiouser, says Alice.

The numbers don't get any better for my man Baril or for Connaughton, either. Bother.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 10:21 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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GOVERNOR: Jerry W. Kilgore
Worth it if for no other reason than to irritate the central/eastern Virginians. The western end of Virginia could use someone in Richmond who saw it as something other than a safe target for jokes. Who knows, perhaps Jerry'll make sure that the maps used by the General Assembly extend west of Charlottesville.

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR: Phillip Puckett Sean Connaughton
Not that I have any love for Mr. Connaughton, but sources close to people who hear things from the Kilgore end of things suggest that the electoral math favors a Kilgore/Connaughton ticket. Simply put, the Northern Virginians (not to be confused with the hallowed Army of Northern Virginia) are more likely to vote for a ticket that contains one of their own. If the GOP can make life difficult for Tim Kaine up North, then the Kilgore victory party could be underway by 2100 hours that night.

I have nothing against Bill Bolling, who's reportedly a good guy. All things being equal, I'd rather have Phil Puckett in the general election. West of Charlottesville represent, yo.

ATTORNEY GENERAL: Steve Baril
Mr. Baril, a Richmond attorney, didn't cost me much, if anything, to educate, since he attended private schools---the Hampden-Sydney College and the University of Richmond to be exact---for undergraduate and graduate work. His stated goal of wanting to be the people's lawyer conflicts directly with the actual role of the Office of Attorney General, but it sounds nice on the campaign spots.¹

We'll have to throw a bone to the Richmonders anyways, and Mr. Baril seems like the type who could fill that role nicely. I have nothing against Bob McDonnell, and I hope he will continue to provide his services from the House of Delegates for several more terms. I'd just rather not hear of aggrieved Richmonders sulking down at the 'rivah' because their city got shut out in candidates.

There you have it, my slate of recommendations. I expect to bat about 0.6667 in this particular outing, but nobody's paying me to make the calls. As always, comments, rants, tirades, the questioning of my parentage, and the like are welcome in the comments section.

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¹ The Office of Attorney General is actually the law firm for the Commonwealth of Virginia and represents the Commonwealth on a variety of issues. It doesn't actually do any work directly for "the people". You can't just dial up the Pocahontas Center and get an attorney. They'd more than likely refer to you someone who could, though. They're pretty efficient in that regard.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 08:45 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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