We’ve been having an interesting discussion here about Bern Ewert’s mailings leading up to Saturday’s convention. He’s aggressively courting delegates pledged to opponent Al Weed for the Democratic nomination in the Fifth District, going so far as intimating that Weed has engaged in improper hiring practices of immigrants. The Daily Progress‘ conservative editorial board has noticed and, in a strong-worded editorial, the paper has all but endorsed Weed for the nomination:
Mr. Ewert’s delegate deficit has not stopped him from trying to convince a number of delegates to break their word, go back on their signed pledge of support for Mr. Weed and secretly cast a vote for him instead.
[…]
Mr. Ewert, who claimed in his mailings that he can win the Nov. 6 election against Mr. Goode, has not shown he can beat Mr. Weed.
He has shown a willingness to ask Democrats to ignore the pledge they signed when they were elected delegates promising “in all good conscience” to cast a vote for the candidate to whom they were pledged.
[…]
Fifth District Democratic Chairman Fred Hudson said he considers the signed pledge a moral obligation, something conveniently left out of a Ewert campaign mailing noting part of a quote from him to the effect that there was no party rule against it.
Mr. Ewert may have demonstrated that he lacks the personal grace, the ethical clarity and the campaign skills to beat Mr. Weed or Mr. Goode.
The Progress‘ readership is in areas heavily pledged to Weed, so I can’t see that this will make much of a difference in the results of Saturday’s event, but it’s certainly not going to help Ewert.
it’s certainly not going to help Ewert
Especially coming from a newspaper that endorsed Goode in ’04. So much for the “conservatives will like Bern Ewert” mantra.
Neither he nor anyone in his campaign had the courtesy or courage to respond to the email I sent them protesting the letter I had received asking me to renege on my pledge as a Weed delegate. At this point I’m disgusted enough with Ewert’s behavior that I’d have to think seriously about abstaining in the general election if he were the candidate. Luckily there’s no realistic chance that he’s going to be.
Al Weed, in two congressional campaigns, has done one thing wrong (IMO), and that was his negative flyer this spring. Ewert, on the other hand, has failed so far as I can see to do anything right.
Al Weed is going to the Democratic convention with a clear and overwhelming majority of the elected delegates. I fully expect him to win on the first round of voting.
Democrat leaders and now the Daily Progress have reminded the elected delegates of the moral and ethical obligation they undertook when committing to vote for Al Weed. There is no issue of conscience that has arisen from the time of that commitment until now. There has been no revelation that would appear to be any justification for those delegates not to fulfill their promise to those who elected them.
Democrats have every right to expect that their leaders will live up to their promises. These delegates are the elected leaders. I believe they will vote as they promised no matter if that vote is hidden or not.
A recent Bern Ewert mailer attacked Al Weed on the issue of immigration. This attack was unfair and appealed to the very same wedge politics of Virgil Goode and the Republican majority. It should be rejected out of hand.
At the Albemarle County caucus Al Weed’s daughter spoke of her father. She spoke about at time when she was much younger and her father told her he wanted her to work harder in the fields with the farm workers because she needed to show she cared and she needed to demonstrate leadership. The story told of a father that was loving, moral and understood leadership.
An ethical father and businessman who works side by side with his workers and his family does not sound like the sort of person that would abuse his laborers. Al Weed said he did not. I believe him.
Does being a farmer weaken Al in debating Virgil on the immigration issue? I don’t think so. In fact, I think Al can speak to the issue from experience as well as moral authority. This is not a political abstraction; this is an issue involving real people.
In many ways this year’s campaign has been over the top on both sides. Coming out of the convention, we need to remind each other that we are Democrats and we need to put behind us the divisions and find the common ground to unite.
I’ll be happy to vote for Al Weed over Virgil Goode come this November.
Greg,
After all the nastiness thrown back and forth, since the “flier”, it is great to see you reaching out, and getting behind the nominee. Especially with such an articulate and smart endorsement of Al.
And all the people who called you nasty names should apologize.
See, in the end we are all one big happy family!
Thats sort of a joke.
I also believe that Al will be the nominee tomorrow at the Convention in Buckingham. I am hoping that, given the chance to speak, Bern will begin the task of uniting 5th District Democrats by supporting the delegates’ choice and setting an example for all of us about working together in spite of our differences.
And, in the spirit of reconciliation: I’m sorry, Greg, for saying that you were also a junkyard dog. I look forward to saying that to you in person tomorrow. By the way, I feel your post is not only articulate, but very eloquent.
Thanks Lisa, I look forward to meeting you tomorrow as well…and as far as being a junkyard dog, we both know I am – and a damn good one at that ;-)