On Teabag Day, I decided to do things a bit differently and check in with a collection of right-wingers (and many Democrats) who had bigger fish to fry.
Or smoke, as the case may be.
Virginia’s annual Shad Planking event is one of the longest-standing political traditions in the state, and in the nation. This year’s event, on April 15 (Tax and Teabag Day), was the 62nd incarnation of the political gathering, which is named for the dining of choice: shad (an oily, bony fish pulled out of the James River) which is cut open, nailed to wooden planks and smoked over an open fire. Lowell at Blue Virginia has a nice photo here, and the Washington Post counters with a video here.
Back in the day, the Virginia party bosses (the state was Democratic, if Dixiecrat, turf when the event was founded) would get together out in the woods near Wakefield, VA, to smoke some shad, drink some beer and pick the candidates for the year.
As Virginia politics have changed, so too has the event. When time was, women, minorities and non-party apparatchiks weren’t allowed anywhere near the event. Now, it’s an equal-opportunity smattering of candidates and staffers, media, activists and locals – plenty of women, a fair number of minorities (though certainly not a lot)...and rather than being for Democratic bigwigs, the event is dominated by Republicans.
So instead of attending tea parties, a healthy helping of Southeast Virginia conservatives came out to Shad Planking to focus on one of the nation’s next elections, and getting Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell elected. Meanwhile, the majority of Virginia’s other statewide candidates, Democratic and Republican, came out to make their voices heard.
Even for Democratic candidates, the event is now considered pretty de rigeur, and sure enough, almost everyone showed. Present were Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell, Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling (running for reelection) and the frontrunners for the Attorney General’s race, Ken Cuccinelli and John Brownlee. On the Democratic side were gubernatorial candidates Terry McAuliffe and Brian Moran, LG candidates Jon Bowerbank, Mike Signer and Jody Wagner, and Attorney General candidate Steve Shannon.
The biggest name absent from the debate was Democrat Creigh Deeds, who was campaigning in Southwest Virginia with Rep. Rick Boucher. He did send emissaries to the event, including his son.
One of the essential battles at Shad Planking is the "sign war"; candidates seek to plaster the road in from I-295, a distance of 20 miles or so, with yard signs asserting their candidate’s strength.
The sign war for the Gov race was clearly won by Terry McAuliffe, whose 25,000 signs outstripped Republican Bob McDonnell’s by a factor of four. To cap it off, McAuliffe hired an airplane to cruise overhead with a pro-Terry banner. It must have cost quite a bit, but it was also indicative of a robust and dedicated campaign organization.
It was certainly impressive, though it could easily be seen as overkill; the creator of this clip certainly felt so.
The McAuliffe campaign had a staffer in a chicken suit as well, carrying a sign that said "Ask Me About Terry’s Energy Plan", a clear allusion to his well-documented love for chicken waste.
Brian Moran didn’t compete in the sign war - not a single one - instead offering beer cups labeled "Money Isn’t Everything", and playing the Beatles’ "Can’t Buy Me Love" on an endless loop at their booth. Point most certainly taken.
Candidates and various interest groups had booths set up offering free beer (and in Bolling’s case, "free" food; we’ll get to that in a moment. Stickers, signs and candidate cups flowed like water beer (including several "Confederate History Month" stickers, which proudly bore the famous Confederate flag and were sported on a number of shirts and jackets. (One staffer, a veteran of several Plankings, mentioned that he had never seen so many Confederate stickers before). The Republican base is definitely tired of losing, and they're out for blood.
This was a particularly incongruous jacket – "Protect Jobs/Defeat Card Check!", the Confederate flag, and "Jody Wagner for Lieutenant Governor". Wagner is a Democrat, and a good one.
Perhaps it was obtained in the same way the Bolling campaign intelligently distributed stickers. They offered hot dogs to anyone who wanted one, including Democratic staffers...at the cost of having to wear a "Bolling for Lieutenant Governor" sticker.
Beyond the Confederate History month supporters and the "Defeat Card Check" crowd, the Ron Paulists were out in force:
So too was the NRA:
And someone hasn’t given up the dream:
All three gubernatorial candidates present gave speeches. Bob McDonnell’s was the first, and the longest. He went well over his allotted time – you’re supposed to get five minutes, and McDonnell spent the equivalent of five minutes mocking his Democratic opponents McAuliffe and Moran.
That said, McDonnell is a pretty funny guy, and fairly personable. His polling numbers are strong, and he’s going to be tough for any Democrat to defeat, though certainly not impossible. The first part of his speech is here:
You can find the latter half here. See! He really did go over time...even over the YouTube limit of 10 minutes.
McAuliffe went next, and kept it fairly short:
The man does have a sense of humor, even at his own expense.
Finally, Brian Moran, who also stuck by the rules...and delivered the best line of all, in reference to deposed Republican Party of Virginia chair Jeff Frederick:
Overall, a fascinating experience out in rural Virginia, especially for someone from out of state, and one eminently worth the trip. For other takes on Shad Planking, check out:
Blue Commonwealth
Blue Virginia
Left of the Hill
Not Larry Sabato
The Virginia Democrat
There are Deeds supporters, McAuliffe supporters, Moran supporters, and neutrals in that mix. Apologies to any bloggers present whom we missed.