Harris Miller and Consultants

From yesterday's debate:

"Asked later whether he thought Webb is a legitimate Democrat, Miller said that "when you welcome someone to the church, you don't necessarily invite them to be the choir director the next day."

There might be nothing more uncomfortable than a candidate whose analogies don't come from personal experience.  Harris Miller is Jewish and doesn't go to church!  Of all the analogies he could choose- why this one which he obviously has no idea about?

But it gets better:

"The end of the day is when we were fighting in the trenches to defeat George Bush and George Allen in 2000..."

I was President of the Fairfax Young Democrats in 2000.  I probably attended over 100 events, I went to every Democratic Committee meeting that year, and probably more Robb events than any other non-staffer. Harris did nothing but attend a couple of high dollar events, eat the cheese and drink the wine.  Trenches, my ass.

Harris, stop reading quips from consultants and speak from your own background and heart.  If you can't do that, please drop out and stop annoying everyone.

Comments

[ZB]

You seem to be bringing up the fact that Harris Miller is Jewish an awful lot. Are Jews not allowed to use church analogies? Most synagogues don't have choirs.

If Harris Miller worked in the business community to build support for Chuck Robb in 2000, talking to his colleagues and contacts, I would think that that would indeed have been the trenches more than trying to lobby Robb supporters at Robb events. Either way, you've gotta admitt that Miller did a heck of a lot more for Chuck Robb in 2000 than Jim Webb did.

[Not Harry F. Byrd, Sr.]

Maybe he meant the trenches of New York. Per the FEC, Harris Miller gave the following in 2000:

Zoe Lofgren $1000
New Democrat Network $500
ITAA PAC $3,750
Dooley for the Valley $1000
Jim Moran $2000
New York Senate $5000
DSCC $3000
Hillary Clinton $2000
(he also gave Mark Warner $2K per VPAP in 2000)

You must have seen him at two Moran fundraisers because it doesn't look like he gave any money to Al Gore, Chuck Robb, or any other federal candidates in Virginia.

Strange he didn't give Chuck Robb any money in 2000 (he did give Robb $2K in 1999)?

[Ghost of Henry Howell]

Did Harris attend the State Dem Convention in either 2000 or 2004? Inquiring minds want to know. The answer to the latter question, BTW, is definitely "no."

[Riley, Not O'Reilly]

"Strange he didn't give Chuck Robb any money in 2000 (he did give Robb $2K in 1999)?"

Back in the 2000 election cycle, the personal giving limit was $1K per election (which equals $2K -- $1K for primary and $1K for general.) He maxed out in 1999 and couldn't legally give any more to Robb in 2000.

[Charles - conservative one]

What, you think Jewish people don't go to church? They have a specific name for it, but to a general audience you would use the word "church", as it is more inclusive and easier to say than "Parrish, Church, Synagogue, Mosque, or meeting Hall (my apologies to religions who have other names for their places of worship -- which is why Church is a perfectly acceptable name).

I hadn't noticed a lot of "jewish" comments, but on the heels of Webb choosing to call Miller "anti-christ", one has to wonder if a pattern is emerging.

[Not Harry F. Byrd, Sr.]

Thanks Riley. If that's the law, it's good to know he maxed out.

The "Jewish" comment by NLS is a little bit unsettling. With all the attacking by NLS against Miller it just makes me wonder.

[thegools]

Charles-Yawn! Funny how conservatives try to make an issue out of nothing to disparage Webb.

I have yet to hear conservatives say anything disparaging about Miller, the supposed "true democrat," whereas they try to tear a new one for their former member- Webb (the true democrat).

Before this election- I heard nothing but good things from anyone (of any political strain) regarding Webb. Funny huh?

Again yawn.

[DangDemocrat]

The facts need to begin to come out on Harris Miller outside of the blogosphere. I hope that everyone reading this will email some of the below facts to Democrats they know. This is a grassroots campaign. The grassroots will make the difference in this race. God forbid this man should become the nominee because he's got $50 million dollars and can afford more ads than Webb. Allen's people are drooling at the thought.

FACTS:

Harris Miller is a highly connected corporate lobbyist and Washington insider who has supported some of the most conservative Republicans in Congress and praised President Bush.

Miller supported John Ashcroft’s nomination. He gave $2000 to Spencer Abraham’s re-election campaign, the same Spencer Abraham who is now George Bush and Dick Cheney’s ENERGY secretary.

MIller contributed to the Campaigns of Republican Speaker of the House Denny Hastert, Arlen Specter, John Sununu and Billy Tauzin.

Abraham, Ashcroft, Hastert and Tauzin ALL voted to either adopt articles of impeachment or found President Clinton guilty in the impeachment trial (Senate roll call vote # 17, 2/12/99 106th congress, 1st session; Roll Call vote numbers 543-546, 105th congress, 2nd session).

Harris Miller on the Ashcroft Nomination:
“Ashcroft’s nomination is a win-win because he has impeccable legal credentials and a strong grasp of high-tech policy.” (Harris Miller as quoted in Computer Reseller News 1/15/01)

Harris Miller on Spencer Abraham:
“I’m doing everything I can to get him re-elected,” (Harris Miller, Orlando Business Journal 10/20/00)

HARRIS MILLER’S CONTRIBUTIONS TO REPUBLICANS

www.opensecrets.org reports that from 1998 to 2004 Miller gave a total of $5500 to 6 federal GOP candidates:
to Spencer Abraham: $ 2000 (8/10/1998)
to Dennis Hastert: $1000 (5/19/1999)
to Billy Tauzin : $500 (2/21/2002)
to John Sununu: $ 500 (6/08/2002)
to Adam Putnam: $500 (2/12/2004)
to Arlen Specter: $1000 (6/27/2004 )

HARRIS MILLER ON BUSH AND THE TAX CUTS

Harris Miller has praised President Bush for his “leadership” on economic issues. Said Harris: “The new leader of the US is demonstrating his leadership of the new economy.” (The Australian 4/3/2001)

We might not have to vote against making these tax cuts permanent if it weren’t for the lobbying of Mr. Miller. In 2001 Miller urged the congress to pass the disastrous Bush tax cuts. Said Harris: “We encourage the House to move swiftly to pass a tax cut, and the Senate to follow.” [ITAA Press release, March 8, 2001. http://www.itaa.org/taxfinance/release.cfm?ID=62]

And recently when asked if he favored extending Bush’s tax cuts, Miller said: “Extending the tax cuts, yeah I love the idea. I think it’s a great idea.” [The politics program with Mark Plotkin, 2/17/06]
*Compare this with Jim Webb’s recent comment: “I do not think tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefit the richest 1% of America are good in any context.”

HARRIS MILLER ON E-VOTING

Harris Miller has worked to support the Diebold Corporation and to oppose voter verified paper trails: “We oppose the idea of a voter verified paper trail” (Harris Miller, CIO 7/30/04, http://www.cio.com.au/index.php/id;558873322;fp;4;fpid;21)

HARRIS MILLER AND AMERICAN WORKERS

Harris Miller has been called “the anti-Christ” to tech workers. “Harris Miller, aka the Antichrist if you’re an unemployed IT worker, is gearing up for a Senate run as–a Democrat?” InformationWeek 1/9/06

The AFL-CIO said Harris Miller is “truly one of the bad guys” who is “unfit for any kind of labor support.” (letter from Washington labor leader to Virginia AFL-CIO, February 6, 2006)

Mr. Miller supports the outsourcing of American jobs, a practice he likes to call “global sourcing”, a practice that is estimated to cost the American workforce 3.3 million lost jobs and $136 billion in wages by 2015.

Harris Miller defends and promotes the outsourcing of American jobs overseas. As a lobbyist for corporate interests, Harris Miller claimed that: “Global sourcing increased US jobs by 90,000 in 2003 and will add more than 317,000 new jobs in 2008.” And he claimed that: “…about 35,000 jobs per year were lost to global sourcing.” (Harris Miller, Washington Post online chat 3/22/04)

The truth is this: “Forrester Research has projected that as many as 3.3 million white-collar jobs of all kinds and over $136 billion in wages will be moved from the United States to lower cost, offshore locations by 2015.” (The Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers  United States of America March 2004, http://www.ieeeusa.org/policy/positions/offshoring.html) Forrester Research is an independent technology and market research company that provides its clients with advice about technology’s impact on business and consumers. Note the contrast between this message and Miller’s message supporting corporate bottom lines.

Mr. Miller supports eliminating the cap on H1-B visas which brings high tech workers from overseas to the US, who work for an average of $15,000 a year less than American workers. These workers directly replace American technology workers. The last time this cap was raised, it resulted in a near doubling of the unemployment rate for American technology workers.

During the same 3 year period that the Immigration and Naturalization Service was processing 856,000 H-1B visa petitions (407,500 new petitions and 448,500 renewal petitions), unemployment among managers and professionals increased steadily from 725,000 (1.7%) in 2000; to 973,000 (2.3%) in 2001; to1,341,000 (3.1%) in 2002. (The Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers  United States of America February 2003)

According to the Department of Labor the supposed “safeguards” in the H1-B visa program to protect American workers do not work. “The H1B program does not require there be a shortage of U.S. workers in the occupation for which aliens are being hired. ” (US Department of Labor, Sept 2003)

And there’s plenty more where that came from.

[ZB]

DangDemocrat---

Don't know where you get your facts---but I'd point out that Spencer Abraham hasn't been Secretary of Energy since Bush's first term.

[Charles - conservative one]

thegools -- I wasn't attacking Webb here, I was correcting whoever it was that wrote this post.

Webb didn't say Miller didn't go to church, the POSTER said that.

I comment when I see stuff that I want to comment on. If this site attack WEBB all the time, I'm sure I'd have some things to say about that attack.

[thegools]

Conservative,

My apologies for seeming rude. I read my comments again and don't like the tone. However I do stand by what I said about conservatives attacking Webb and giving Miller good marks.
(Actually I have heard one conservative criticize Miller for the litany problems his candidacy has....but only one.)

[Kathy]

NLS - I found this trench digging comment by Harris role model Miller to a Young Democrats group meeting in 1984 from the WAPO:

Congressional candidate Harris Miller let fly at the man he hopes to unseat, Rep. Frank R. Wolf. Miller told the group that Wolf is like Hsing-Hsing, the National Zoo's male panda who remains childless after a decade of mating seasons--soft and cuddly, fuzzy around the edges and "when it really counts, he can't get the job done."

And Charles - conservative one.

While there are many inclusive terms for house of worship, e.g., congregation, "church" is definitely a Christian particularism. The Hebrew words are not similar either.

By the context, i.e., the reference to choir, that is what was meant, as opposed to "church" as a term for clarifying some matter as religious vs. seculuar as in "the separation of church and state."

That's why you often hear "church or synagogue," which, though far from comprehensive, is at least a bit more inclusive than "church".

[George Templeton]

NLS you may not like Miller, but you aren't ok with the "anti-christ of outsourcing" comment are you? I mean I think if wasn't a heated debate then Sec. Webb wouldn't have put it that way, but it still wasn't smart on his part.

[thegools]

Webb was quoting another person's words when he said that.

Yawn.

thegools - Improperly quoting. Especially if folks are going to start hammering Miller just because he's jewish.

Way to go, guys...

[Joe in Tabb]

I'm a progressive.
I'm a progressive Democrat.
I'm voting for Harris Miller in the June primary.

Can we all get a grip, stop the internal name calling. The real enemy is not the Democratic opponet in the primary (unless your Ned Lamont). The person running for Senate we should be attacking is George Allen.

Let's stop behaving like Republicans and start acting like Democrats!

And yes, if Webb is the nominee, I'll be voting for him. Unlike some people I've been reading on this blog.

[Chris]

Webb supported the invasion of Iraq, Calls the Democratic Party "Anti-Business," is hated by a core Democratic constituency (Unions) for his anti-worker positions, to name a few. Why would we want to nominate someone so hostile to Democratic values? He may have worked in the Democratic Party (a long, long time ago - he has not even been a member for a decade), but he is no Democrat. There are two issues that any generic Democrat should be able to use this year: Iraq and the "Culture of Corroption." Miller can use neither.

[this is sad]

This post is antisemitic, for serious.