UPDATE: See also my daughter's report on her blog, the Kitty Shack
I apologise that this post will not be quite what I want it to be, but at the moment my home internet is down, and I can't figure it out. So, I am posting from the Library in Chatham, VA, and I hope to add the great photos I got later. *sigh* Don'tcha just loooooove computers?
I arrived at the Danville Regional Airport this morning with the Darling Munchkin in tow. Traffic was light (non-existant) and we got to the small airfield quickly, with about 25 minutes to spare.
Senator Allen arrived right on time and circulated briefly, greeting local supporters and chatting with Danville's Mayor. His wife, Susan, was with him and appeared to be poised and gracious, although I did not have the opportunity to greet her. I must admit (inserting the ladies' point of view, here), I really liked her long, turquoise blazer. Very simple and elegant, and a very good foil for Sen. Allen's dark suit.
Congressman Virgil Goode (that rhymes with "food"), of Virginia's fifth congressional district, introduced the Senator and also greeted several local officials. Mr. Goode was very enthusiastic in his introduction, saying that Sen. Allen will certainly go down in history as a very important figure. He traced Sen. Allen's political career and praised him for sticking to his roots, and reminded the audience of the critical role Allen played in past elections as Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee... And, of course, he pointed out Sen. Allen's trademark cowboy boots!
Senator Allen began by thanking the audience and saying that he is a Jeffersonian conservative. He stated that he wants to run a positive campaign that will unite and inspire Virginians from all walks of life. He observed that voters want to vote FOR something, and that his hope is to run a motivational and fun campaign. Sen. Allen also defined "Jeffersonian conservative" by saying:
... I trust free people and free enterprise more than a meddlesome, burdensome government.
He continued by outlining his gubenatorial and senatorial records, and then listed his main goals as a Senator:
- securing our freedom
- making America a Land of Opportunity
- preserving our time-tested, foundational values
After referencing September 11th, he spoke about his admiration and support for the American Armed Forces, particularly the National Guard and the Reserve.
I've kept [my campaign promises] by working on vitally important issues such as increasing tuition assistance and closing the "pay gap" for folks serving in the Guard and Reserves, securing health coverage for them through the TRICARE program, and increasing the death benefit to families of fallen soldiers from the paltry $12,000 to the more appropriate amount of $100,000 for [sic] a greatful nation!
Sen. Allen continued by asserting that the War on Terror was going to be a long war against "vile terrorists" (yes, that's a direct quote, and I was very happy to hear that he didn't wuss out with that "insurgent" nonsense). He had a lovely (though familiar) soundbite here:
... our strategy needs to be clear and consistant: "We win, they lose, and there is no substitute for victory!"
which received hearty applause, naturally.
Sen. Allen touched briefly on immigration and energy issues. He forcefully stated he was against amnesty, but was not as specific as I'd hoped. Although he supports good, strong border control, he made no comments on his plans for dealing with the illegals already here, which was disappointing. He focused a little more on the need for local (e.g. "American"), renewable energy sources and mentioned clean coal technologies (something I know Kilo is very interested in), biofuel, and nuclear energy. He sent a nice shot across Chavez' bow by calling him "that dictator in Venezuela" (ooo, good one! Loved that!), and was very vehement about his intention to do all he could to get the United States off foreign energy, especially from the Middle East:
I find it intolerable that America is chained to ONE souce of energy, predominantly located in a hostile region 8,000 miles away. I want to unleash the power of free minds and free markets right here in America, instead of depending on the whims of some Iranian mullah!
Sen. Allen then moved on to the second mission of his campaign - making America a Land of Opportunity for all. Is first priority in this area is tax policy. He wants to encourage investment and growth to make sure that America reamains "the World Capital of Innovation." Sen. Allen has a history of voting for tax cuts and was obviously going to continue on this path. He also declared his intention to keep the Internat tax-free:
I don't want these avaricious State and Local tax comissars [yup - "commissars!" I rather like that... -ed.] to slap 18% taxes on your monthly Internet access bill... I'm going to keep fighting to keep the Internet tax-free!
Central to his tax policy is the Taxpayer Bill of Rights:
- you have a right to keep more of what you earn - and to have a government that helps the economy grow rather than squeezing the life out of it with taxes
- you have the right to fiscal accountability when folks in Washington spend your tax dollars
- you have the right to a government that lives within its means
- you have a right to have Senators and Congressmen who do their jobs and do them on time
associated with these rights, Sen. Allen stated that he will fight tax increases, work to to perminantly ban Internet taxes, support the line-item veto and a balenced budget amendment, and that he wants to
impose a "paycheck penalty" and withhold salaries for members of Congress when they don't pass budget bills on time!
I would have liked to hear more about government waste and ear marks and what he planned to do about Virginia's share of the pork (check out the database at Citizens Against Government Waste). However, I understand that this was really a quick campaign stop. Nevertheless, if the ODBA can set up a teleconference, I'm sure this will be one of the topics we'll ask the Senator to address.
Sen. Allen's last point on making America a Land of Opportunity for all was the importance of education and training in science, technology and engineering for our students. He cited some statistics about how many countries are graduating more students in these areas than America, and that we need to emphasize that these are good jobs - the jobs of the future.
He also mentioned Luna Technologies, with which I am not familiar, apparently in connection with South Side Virginia. Unfortunately, I was a little distracted by the Munchkin at that moment, so I lost what the reference was.
On the third mission of his campaign, preserving our values, Sen. Allen zeroed in on the importance of keeping activist judges off the bench. He discussed cases when the Supreme Court has overturned the clearly demonstrated will of the people to support his assertion that activist judges have no place on the bench. Predictably, Kelo made an appearance:
And just last summer, you saw judges - including the Supreme Court of the United States - allowing these lords in New London, CT, to take peoples' homes - the American Dream - not for a school, not for a road, but because they want to derive more tax revenue from that property. My friends, that is amending the Bill of Rights by judicial decree!
That's why we need to nominate and confirm judges who understand their constitutional role and fairly adjudicate disputes based on the rule of law, instead of legislating from the bench.
This is a Republican talking point, of course, and nothing new, but it is something I wholeheartedly support, so it was good to hear.
With that point made, he wrapped up his speech with the normal "thank you very much, please support my candidacy" stuff. He shook a few more hands, the Darling Munchkin and I got our pics taken with him (like I said, when the home Internet gets back online, I'll add the pics), AND I got to mention the Old Dominion Blog Alliance! I mentioned our teleconference with Lt. Gov. Bolling on Monday, and expressed our hope that we could set up something with the Senator (See, guys? I gave us a plug! Do I get a "W00t!"?). With any luck, we might get an interview!
The local reporters got him after that, and I overheard them ask - gee, what a surprise! - about his presidential plans. He demurred on the question, saying that he was concentrating on the job he had before him as a Senator, and that that was his priority.
But it wasn't a "No."
Sen. Allen was very engaging and enthusiastic. He presented himself well and spoke clearly and passionately. The speech was a little superficial, but considering that he's an incumbent running for re-election, and that Danville is pretty small (remember, fellow South Siders, I just got here from Tidewater!), that wasn't too surprising. I'm looking forward to the next few months to see how the Senator gets down to the nitty-gritty and spells out more specifics. However, this was a good opening speech for his campaign, setting the tone and direction he intends to take.
And, OMG, he's TALL!! (Yeah, yeah, I know - everyone's tall to someone who's 5-foot-2-and-a-half-inches on a good day, LOL)
OK! That's all I've got for now. The Darling Munchkin will be working on her report of the event, and I'll have her post it on her blog (you know - the one she hasn't done anything with in months?), and perhaps re-post it here. If she's prompt (Oooo, one of this week's spelling words!), we can submit it to next week's Virginia Blog Carnival!
And, like I said, as soon as I can, I'll add the pictures I took today.
Technorati Tags: Senator Allen, George Allen, senate, election, Virginia, politics, Republican
One of my favorite flowers is the Pansy. They are always so cheerful. When we lived in Washington State, we had pansies year around - the climate was mild enough in winter and summer that the flowers would re-seed themselves regularly.
I also enjoy the Virginia State tree: the dogwood. When I was growing up in Connecticut (yes, fellow conservatives, I grew up in a *gasp* "blue" state, although I think it was better 30 years ago than it is now...), Mom had some dogwoods that she loved, but there was some disease that kept killing them.
This picture is pretty fuzzy - the camera was very close to try and focus on the bees, and it didn't work out as I wanted. Nevertheless, you can see the bright color of my sister-in-law's... um, azalea? Not too sure what type of flower this was._new.jpg)
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