Inside the Draft Webb Movement: The View from Raising Kaine’s Josh Chernila Thursday, February 9, 2006
Posted by Conaway B. Haskins III in Uncategorized.trackback
By Josh Chernila
Guest WriterThe following is a first-hand account of the blog-based effort to recruit James Webb to run for the Democratic nomination for US Senate from Virginia in 2006. Webb, a decorated military veteran, author, and former Reagan Navy Secretary, will soon announce his attempt to unseat Republican Sen. George Allen. He will first face former Washington lobbyist and businessman Harris Miller. Josh Chernila, a writer and strategist for the Raising Kaine blog and PAC, was one of the blogger-activists who encouraged Webb to go for the Senate seat, and that work has now paid off. Regardless of the outcome, as this hot new Race to Washington develops, it will make for an interesting case study on the role of the Internet and blogging on grass-roots political organizing and election-year campaigning. Stay tuned.
If James Webb isn’t a Great American, there aren’t any left. War hero, author, maverick, principled leader; the more you learn about him, the more you respect him. I’m proud of the tiny role a small band of bloggers, including myself, have had in encouraging him to engage in what promises to be one of the great Senatorial campaigns of our lifetime.
If ever America needed a reminder of its potential for greatness it’s right now. This year may be the last opportunity that Americans have to protect the Republic, the Constitution and the Middle Class. There’s a pernicious streak of greed, ignorance, and cowardice running through at least two branches of Government. It’s going to take real leadership, real change, and real American Greatness to reclaim what’s already been lost. As many Democrats have known for a long time and many Republicans are discovering, that change can only come from within the Democratic Party.
James Webb wanted in this race long before we bloggers got involved. He gave an interview in the LA Times way back in October, but it got us thinking about his potential. We wanted to prove what we suspected; that there would be real grassroots support for him if he could get in. It was Lowell’s idea to draft him. He got resistance to the idea even from within the Raising Kaine crew. Ultimately we went forward, because there was just too much to gain if he ran, and too much to lose if he didn’t.
Our effort barely scratched the surface. We blogged a bit. We passed petitions. We put up the draftjameswebb.com site and blog. It wasn’t hard, because Mr. Webb’s potential for leadership was obvious to everyone we contacted.
In short order, we pulled together thousands of dollars in pledges, and over a thousand signatures encouraging Mr. Webb to take up the banner and represent us. We got great results, but with a real Webb for Senate campaign going, this is going to take off like wildfire. I feel sure he would have done it if we hadn’t gotten involved. Still, the action and support our draft was able to demonstrate couldn’t have hurt. The lesson here may be that the blogging community can’t do everything, activists never have been able to, but there’s a real need for change and we all need to do what we can.
Ah, so you kept your name off of the draftjamesweb site until after Webb announced that he will run. I bet a $100 that you would not have released your name so easily if Webb had decided not to run. Oh, I guess I cannot bet that since you did not announce your name after Webb’s first indication that he would not run.
You are a dud, phoney, clueless. We will remember you.
Fool.
Anon: Is this comment directed at Josh or this blog (me)? Either way, I find it ironic that you’re taking someone to task and insulting them for their supposedly undercover acts, yet you chose to not identify yourself.
– Conaway
Weeellll…
If you’ll check the Raising Kaine, site, my name is proudly listed, First and Last, on the left hand column.
What does my name have to do with James Webb, anyway. James Webb was a great soldier and champion BEFORE I WAS BORN.
It’s one of the greatest honors of my short life to have been involved with this effort. If Mr. Webb hadn’t announced, the only effect it would have had for me would have been that my search for true progressive leadership would have failed this time, but it would have continued.
You will remember me? You know that’s a theat, and a threat made from behind a veil of anonymity is an act of cowardice.
Cowards are forgotten.
anon is just the usual rightwing nonsensical troll. Focus on better things, Josh.
[...] Considering the hard work that many leading Democratic bloggers did to encourage and give grassroots support to a Webb run, it is difficult to argue that they have, on balance, hurt the Webb campaign. But, the stridency of their attacks on Miller - a subject that I've touched on before – may have a negative effect for the Democratic Party and the future of those bloggers within it. No matter the outcome, this race has revealed fissures within the Democratic apparatus that can no longer be sugar-coated. [...]