Weenie of the Week #12 for 2006

There were a lot of good choices this week.

Two comments in our nominations section won me over.

NoVAScout:  "I'd have to say Connolly is most deserving. He seems to have left behind all political judgment with his comments this week about Webb. Gerry seems to have a gift for occasionally unguarded remarks that provide a window onto his narcissistic soul."

Not Jack Herrity:  "I want to nominate Gerry Connolly again, just because he's been acting like a first-class clown lately. I'm going to do this every week until he wins again. I just want to see what death-defying quote he'll put in the paper about you this time."

So, for the third time in twelve weeks,  Gerry Connolly is "Weenie of the Week"!

Here's how he got it this week (from the Connection Newspapers):

"QUALIFICATIONS: Following graduation from the Naval Academy, Webb joined the U.S. Marine Corps, ranking first in his class at Marine Corps Officer's Basic School. During the Vietnam War, he fought with the Fifth Marine Regiment, leading a rifle platoon. For his service during the war, he was awarded the Navy Cross, the Silver Star Medal, two Bronze Star Medals and two Purple Hearts.

Following the Vietnam War, Webb taught tactics and weapons at the Marine Corps Officer Training School.

While earning his law degree at Georgetown, Webb worked to clear the name of a Vietnam veteran convicted of war crimes, succeeding in 1978, three years after the soldier's suicide. For his work, Webb was awarded the Horan award for excellence in legal writing.

Webb has written six novels, including "Fields of Fire" (1978), "A Sense of Honor" (1981), "A Country Such as This" (1983), "Something to Die For" (1991), "The Emperor's General" (1999) and "Lost Soldiers" (2001). He taught literature at the Naval Academy. He has also worked as a journalist, notably filming an Emmy Award-winning documentary for PBS about U.S. Marines in Beirut. His non-fiction book "Born Fighting" (2004) chronicles the history and rise of Scots-Irish people in the United States.

From 1977 to 1981, Webb worked for Congress, as counsel to the House Committee on Veterans Affairs. During the Reagan administration, he served as the Assistant Secretary of Defense of Reserve Affairs and as Secretary of the Navy.".....

Connolly, one of the highest-ranking Democrats in Northern Virginia, complained that Webb had not called him to talk about his candidacy.
"You would think that if someone wants to run for a party's nomination, they would contact party leaders," Connolly said. "Last time I checked, I was the top Democrat representing the largest jurisdiction in Virginia. Gee, maybe he ought to call."

Comments

[Riley, Not O'Reilly]

A truly deserving wiener, I mean, winner.

[Not Ben]

Is Gerry Connolly going to become this blog's new Dave Marsden?

[notharrismillerfan]

How the the idiots who started these stupid Harris Miller '09 sites not get it? Next thing I know Ben will add them to the blogroll. http://isupportharrismiller.blogspot.com/

[Neal]

It is always mind-numbing to me that Connolly throws up that "top Democrat representing the largest jurisdiction in Virginia" thing every few minutes (or it seems that often). The big news that somebody needs to let him know is that, aside from Democrat bloggers, 90% of the people of Virginia have never heard of him. After he leaves office, a year or two later, nobody will really care what he said, and he won't be very remembered.

He needs to keep in mind that, yes, he has lots of constituents, but it's a very small area. Mention his name in Bristol, they'll all say "Gerry who?"

[Dannyboy]

I can't believe Domenech didn't win. Oh well. But Connolly sounds a little too whiny for my taste in that quote. "Webb didn't call me! He's so mean!" Dude, he I'm pretty sure he knew from day one that you were going to be behind Harris Miller. Why would he call you?

[Virginia Centrist]

I've been lobbying for Connolly to get this for a long time. But not for these reasons (though they are certainly legit).

The real reason is that he wears a jacket that says "Gerry Connolly" on it.

[Dannyboy]

Does he really, VC? Good Lord, that's really nerdy! I don't know much about Connolly, but this guy sounds pretty obsessed with himself. Am I completely off here, or am I relatively close? I don't know, I'm just going by what I've read on the blogosphere.

[Josh Chernila]

I think we've got a winner for NEXT WEEK'S WoW!

http://www.raisingkaine.com/2086

[Dannyboy]

That IS pretty bad, but I think "illegal", as used in the post, is too strong a word. Weenie is perfect, though.

[Josh Chernila]

sorry to hijack this WoW thread, but

Dan,

You're right. It's only illegal if they actually try to submit the signatures:

The affidavit on the back of the Petition of Qualified Voters states: “I…swear or affirm that…I am or I am eligible to be, a registered and qualified voter…am qualified or eligible to be qualified to vote for the office for which this petition is circulated…I understand that the penalty for falsely signing this affidavit is a maximum fine of $2500 and/or confinement for up to ten years.”

Collecting them is fine as long as they throw them out.

Josh...

I now return you to your regularly scheduled Connolly-bashing, already in progress.

[Too Conservative]

Josh-

I said it on RK, and I'll say it here as well...

You all should win this on issues, and not scandals or minor infractions.

[Dannyboy]

TooC,
I said it on RK, I said it here as well...

I seriously doubt that this will have any effect on the Miller Campaign.

The fact that you hate Connolly so much makes me think he must be doing something right.

[Dannyboy]

Gerry? Is that you?

I have been reading the Miller supporters explain on their loss at last week's straw poll and at first thought they were just spinning. I am now coming to the realization that they are in complete denial. It is true that a straw poll is not an accurate predictor of an election. However, a straw poll can be good measure of the base of the party's views. The Miller camp knows this which is why they have been spinning wildly to create the false impression that the people who voted for Webb were outsiders who came into Fairfax County to skew the results. The fact is that nearly all of the people at that event were from Fairfax County and most of them were from the FCDC.

The fact is, that the FCDC rank and file have lined up behind Webb - and by a wide margin. The leadership of the Committee on this issue, like on so many other things that come before it,is being left in the dust. They refuse to change and a new generation of activists is waiting to take the reigns.

The sad story about Connolly is that he has been someone who has pushed for reform in FCDC and a shake up of the old guard. By endorsing Miller he is siding with the old guard and losing a large amount of credibility with the reformers.