Make sure to check out the poll on this website. Webb is kicking Allen's arse, right now, 69% to 28%. I don't know too much about VA politics, but from what gather, Richmond is heavily red. Are we in for a landslide election, in VA?
http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satel...ws!politicsDEMOCRAT: Webb appeals for Southwest Va. votes
Joined by M. Warner, Kaine, he trumpets call for change to 9th District
BY PAMELA STALLSMITH
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Nov 5, 2006
Who gets your vote for U.S. Senate?
George F. Allen ®
James H. ''Jim'' Webb, Jr. (D)
Glenda Gail Parker (IG)
MARION -- Democrat Jim Webb offered himself as an agent of change yesterday and urged voters across Southwest Virginia to send a message to the Bush administration on Election Day.
"We need a change in this country," Webb told hundreds of Democratic faithful at the Montgomery County Government Complex, the first of six rallies held between Christiansburg and Russell County. "This is about leadership every bit as it is about one issue or another."
Webb campaigned during a sunny, crisp fall day with Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, former Gov. Mark R. Warner, U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, D-9th, and local legislators, who told hundreds of enthusiastic supporters at each stop that it's time for the Democrats to take back the country.
Webb appeared confident and relaxed as he shook hands, signed autographs and even turned down a political contribution from a backer, encouraging her instead to make calls on his behalf.
Kaine said he had "that feeling in my stomach of unmistakable momentum," which he experienced during his pre-election visit to the region last November. "I had it last year, and I've got it today" he said to thunderous cheers.
Webb stressed his message of economic populism, a new national security policy and curbing presidential abuses of power.
Webb, casually dressed in a ribbed, olive crewneck sweater, light gray slacks and a brown leather jacket, blasted Sen. George Allen for waging a negative campaign and said it reflects the type of governing offered by Republicans, one that focuses on divisive emotional and wedge issues.
He cited the proverb, "As ye sow, so shall ye reap" and said this paraphrase applied to his race: "As you campaign, so shall you govern."
Webb will continue his travels through far Southwest today visiting the coal country of Buchanan, Tazewell and Wise counties. Former U.S. Sen. Bob Kerrey, a Nebraska Democrat who like Webb is a Vietnam veteran, will join the swing.
Voters said Webb, a Navy secretary under President Ronald Reagan who's making his first bid for elected office, presented a fresh voice.
"We need a change in Washington, and we need to turn Congress around and send a message to Congress that we don't want business as usual," said Daisy Stewart, vice chairman of the Montgomery County Democratic Committee. "I think the voters on Tuesday will convey to the Bush administration that it's time for a change."
Others cited his economic policies.
"I'm a working-class American, and that's the majority of people," said Jeanette Sheffey of Pulaski County, who attended a mid-morning rally at the Masonic Lodge in Pulaski and who works at a ball-bearing plant. "Somebody has to look out for us, and that's him."
In an interview, Webb said the Allen campaign is tying itself to the marriage amendment, a favorite cause of social conservatives, to generate votes.
"The best thing we can do is what we're doing right now, to let me get out and talk about the inaccuracies of these ads," Webb said. Contrary to statements made in some Allen ads, Webb told the rallies that he does not favor raising taxes for "wage-earning Americans." He also said he never said he favored amnesty for illegal immigrants.
Webb also touted his A rating from the National Rifle Association, to which he belongs, calling himself "a Second Amendment person."
Warner called Allen "a rubber stamp" for the Bush administration, pointing out how he voted with the president 97 percent of the time. Boucher cited Webb's roots in Southwest Virginia and how his ancestors were among the first settlers of Scott County.
Virginians and Americans "want fundamental change," Kaine said, adding the race is about Webb's 24-yearold son, Jimmy, a Marine serving in Iraq, and the other men and women in the armed forces. Webb, who wears his son's combat boots, was an early opponent of the war.
"They deserve leaders who are worthy of the sacrifice they are making, and we have to put a leader in the Senate who is worthy of sacrifice," Kaine said.