Mon 3 Jul 2006
Dang gone diggity fella’s we might just be able to cut us a sqaure and have at it! I went down to see the Wulsin campaing kick-off knowing it was going to leave me pissed off and depressed. We haven’t seen hide nor hair of Vic Wulsin in weeks which I thought was a bad sign. Boy was I wrong.
First, let me start by saying I dont care who it was or how much they got paid, whoever made up Victoria Wulsin deserved every dime and a big bonus. She looked AMAZING!. The too big, 1972 frocks were gone!! Her hair, the tailored red suit the fit her little body perfectly, the pearls, the makeup. Vic looked strong and in charge and in control. She was put together but not made up. I literaly got out of the car and said “Holy shit, look at her!!” Did I mention she looked amazing??
It didnt end there! Her speech was on the money! She broke it down! Intelligent, passionate, from the heart and real. She flipped the script on Jean Schmidt’s ‘cut and run’ statement and went down the list on how Schmidt has voted to cut and run on education and healthcare and everything else to help the people of the 2nd district. Point for point, she didnt try and make excuses or sound all nice and moderate about it. The truth hurts and this Vic Wulsin wasnt afraid to tell the truth at all! She has her own ideas and did a great job of communicating that. She was approachable and friendly and warm. Not like that cold calcuated shrewed look Schmidt and her handlers always have.
Afterwards, you could tell she knew she did a great job because she could just barely contain herself she was so thrilled. This was the first time I have seen so many other people wanting to talk to her and genuinely excited by her. She really connected. I talked to a handful of people who were skeptical if not down right for sure there was no hope for this race who said that they could stand up for this Vic Wulsin.
This new and improved Victoria Wulsin came out and said I am here to not only fight but to WIN! My advice: Swing until the last vote is counted and use everything your momma gave you.
This just might be fun gang!
I have to admit that when we were driving away and I asked you how you thought she did that I was totally blown away by how positive you were… almost as blown away by how positive I was
I call em like I see em. I havent been a big fan but I was impressed and woman enough to admit it. I liked what I saw.
Vic is great but just like everything else in life, one has to learn how to do it. She just had to learn how to be a candidate. Her life is obviously a testament to her ability to learn and you don’t get to be an M.D. as a woman in the 70′s without being a fighter. You don’t go to Rwanda and Kenya to work on epidemics and disasters without being really tough.
She can use her look to her advantage as I’ve said before. Just put her next to Schmidt. Who would you vote for just based on expression? People naturally like Vic because she’s open and warm. Politics is about getting people to like you no matter how much we want it to be about issues and policy. If it was about issues and policies, the Dems would beat the repugs every time.
Vic’s speech was brilliant. It was hard hitting without being dirty. The truth really hurts Schmidt. Vic just has to keep hitting Schmidt with the truth about her record.
When Adlai Stevenson ran for President, a man stood up after a campaign rally and shouted, “Mr. Stevenson, every thinking man in America will vote for you!” Stevenson replied, “That’s not enough, I want to win!”
I too think that Vic did an excellent job, but she has to go even further in coming down from the intellectual plane. I don’t mean talking down, I mean developing that visceral appeal, showing she can go for the jugular, that she can fight arm to arm with ordinary people, not just at minority health clinics but also with white tobacco farmers in Adams County.
At the risk of stirring up controversy here, it bothers me that the antiwar folks feel such confidence that Vic is their candidate and will voice their positions. The national polls that tilted just a sliver toward Democrats on security in May are now tilting back. This is obviously a split district, to be generous, and if Wulsin is seen only as the “peace” candidate, she will lose, despite her position on every other issue.
Things will happen between now and November. Bin Laden will be issuing tapes, aimed at provoking overreaction in the American electorate. Some military action against North Korean missiles might be necessary. Negotiations with Iran might not go well — and the issue of uranium enrichment in Iran might come to public attention in a way that threatens jobs in the eastern part of our district, where USEC is now attempting to build a new uranium enrichment plant.
Whatever happens, it will require that Wulsin not be pigeonholed as a candidate beholden to one ideological line.
I hope Vic’s antiwar supporters are smart enough to allow her the freedom to develop her own persona, smart but with some of the toughness that does drive voters to Schmidt, and capable of representing the mainstream interests of the district when it comes to war and peace.
To be clear, I see this as not so much her problem as the problem of many of her stalwart supporters who seem to think that this district will suddenly transform itself into Charlie Rangell’s in Manhattan. Or, in their heart of hearts, they’d be content for this to be another “principled” educational campaign that loses.
I think it’s essential and possible that she win, but she can only do so if freed from the kind of litmus testing we see being applied, for example, to Lieberman in Connecticut. In short, is this about purging conservative positions from the Democratic Party, or about unseating maniacal reactionaries like Schmidt?
I’ve never seen Dr. Wulsin before, but I was VERY, VERY impressed. Great speech and it was tough too, Purple Piketonian.
The 2nd District is conservative and Republican, but Hackett showed that a Democrat can run well there too.
Schmidt has shown she is not qualified to be in the HR, and I doubt if her extreme views represent the majority of the 2nd district.
Lieberman is in trouble in Connecticut because of more than one issue. Moderate Democrats are more than welcome in this party. So are moderate Republicans and independents.
Dr. Wulsin is giving the voters in the second district a clear choice: more of the same or a new direction that can solve problems like health care and affordable college education for all and balance the budget!
Good luck, Vic, and keep bringing the fight to Mean Jean!
Let’s end our involvement in Iraq before this war lasts as long as WWII!