With the senatorial midterm elections only a week away, Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Jim Webb and other candidates visited the University yesterday in order to rally support from students and the local community.
University Democrats President Katie Cristol introduced State Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, the first speaker.
"I stand before you as the example that every vote counts," Deeds said in reference to 2005 Virginia Attorney General race where he lost by 323 votes, the closest margin in Virginia history. "This is a purple state. This is not a Republican state."
Deeds then introduced Democratic 5th District Congressional Candidate Al Weed, who spoke against the Bush administration and emphasized the importance to elect Democrats to the Congress.
"If we don't have a Congress that defends our Constitution in the same way that it defends our country, then it's time for change," Weed said.
Weed then introduced former Sen. Max Cleland, D-Ga.
"I'm here to say to you that the eyes of the world are on this ticket," Cleland said. "For the next week, people all over the world will be wondering where the citizens of Virginia stand."
Cleland also spoke emphatically about the "obscenity" of the war in Iraq and his faith in Webb as a senator.
"You can depend on this man to live up to the hopes and dreams of the citizens of Virginia," Cleland said.
Cleland then introduced Webb, who began his speech by thanking his supporters and addressing the recent character attacks from his opponent Sen. George Allen -- most notably the attack on Webb's 2001 novel "Lost Soldiers," which includes descriptions of pedophilia and incest.
Webb defended his work by citing positive reviews of his novels from such publications as The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal.
"I say this to make a point," Webb said. "The first point is that I've led a literary career, and I'm very proud. The second one is that I have lived in the real world and that I have reported on the real world."
Webb also expressed his displeasure at the direction the campaign season has taken on, especially at the attacks and accusations the Allen campaign has made against Webb.
"The idea is to drive a wedge between the candidate and the voters, to try to say that the person is not like them, to try to say that person does not understand the issues, and to hit the emotional issues that will cause people to ignore other realities," he said. "What we need to do is to ask Senator Allen to step forward and talk about his achievements."
College Republicans Treasurer Michael Gannon also expressed his displeasure at the recent character attacks from both campaigns.
"It's been unfortunate that [the campaign] has been distracted from the issues," Gannon said. "However, we're very optimistic and confident that Allen will be reelected a week from tomorrow."
Second-year College Republican Gary Lawkowski also believes Allen will win the election, and attributes this to his success as Virginia governor.
"All politics is local ... [and] Allen was a popular governor in Virginia," Lawkowski said. "People will remember what he did for Virginia when he was governor and I think that plays into [the election] a lot."
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