Webb v. Miller: Virginia Senate Primary Heats Up

It should come as no surprise that, with just two weeks to go, the sleepy Viriginia Democratic primary battle to challenge Republican incumbent Senator George Allen is finally starting to heat up.

Challengers Jim Webb, a former Secretary of the Navy under President Reagan, and Harris Miller, a prominent DC lawyer/lobbyist, have begun calling each other names and questioning each other's Democratic credentials in a bid to gain attention and votes in the so far little-noticed race--the only statewide contest in the June 14 primary election.

The Curmudgeon has come out squarely for Jim Webb. (See "Jim Webb for Senate" May 8, 2006).

Many of the Curmudgeon's Democratic friends and neighbors still seem only vaguely aware of the coming election. All would like to see George Allen defeated in November, but they don't know too much about either Webb or Miller. (Their disdain for Allen is not a matter of mere partisanship--the Curmudgeon knows many Democrats who respect and even have voted for Virginia's senior Republican Senator, John Warner, who had the courage to tell Ollie North to stick it, and who has long maintained an independent streak. Allen, by contrast, is a Bush administration cheerleader and backslapper who thinks everything in our country is just hunky dory.)

So here's the scoop: Harris Miller "is a Republican strategist's dream opponent" in the words of Washington Post columnist Marc Fisher. "He's as charismatic as a toaster, wonkier than Al Gore and as proudly liberal as Al Franken."

Hey, nothing wrong with that--the Curmudgeon shares some of those traits, as do many of our friends. But we're talking about a Senate race in Virginia, for gosh sakes, not Massachusetts or Vermont. Harris Miller has no--we repeat NO--chance of defeating George Allen. All he'll do is serve as fodder for Allen's Presidential ambitions (now there's a scary thought: a guy lazier than W and less intellectually engaged than W running for President--just what we need!)

Yet Miller has sought to make the primary contest one over who is the more legitimate Democrat, attacking Webb's support of Allen in the 2000 general election (which Webb concedes was a mistake) and raising other questions about Webb's Democratic credentials.

There's no question about it: Webb is more of an independent than Miller. That's precisely what's refreshing about Webb. And Miller isn't exactly clean--as a lobbyist, he made contributions to key national Republicans. (He claims he did so at the behest of the board of his telecommunications association so as not to appear partisan. Whatever--we know that's how Washington works, but people who live in glass houses . . .)

Nationally, Democrats looking at the fall election see Allen as vulnerable to a candidate like Webb. Allen can't play the usual Republican game of labelling Webb with the "L" word (Liberal), calling him soft on defense and terrorism and deriding his "values". Instead, Allen will have to run on the real issues. Virginia voters, who like the rest of the country think something is wrong in GOP dominated Washington, gravitate toward moderates and are likely to view Webb favorably in a contest with Allen.

And if you think Webb is just a Republican in Democratic clothes, you're dead wrong. He was against the Iraq war before we invaded, and he said so, in writing. He has lambasted Bush's tax cuts for the rich. He favors Democratic positions on most issues. He doesn't kowtow to Democratic special interests, however--that's Miller's bailiwick (see, e.g., his endorsement by Kate Michelman and by various gay and lesbian groups, endorsements that only hurt candidates in Virginia.)

Most Democrats the Curmudgeon has talked with share this view of the race. No one has anything against Miller, we just want a candidate who can win.