The City of Falls Church’s forever favorite son in national politics, U.S. Rep. Donald S. Beyer Jr. was a keynote speaker at the region’s largest political gathering of the season last Sunday, a sold-out Democratic Party event in next door Tysons that was brimming with energy coming on the heels of the conviction on 34 felony counts of the presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Beyer kicked off his remarks to the gathering of over 350 by commenting on last week’s conviction of Trump, saying that May 30 marked “a very sad day for American history, but a glorious day for the Rule of Law.”
Beyer was joined by Rep. Gerry Connolly, civil rights attorney Philip Hirschkop and presumptive Democratic candidate for Governor of Virginia in the election next year, U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, as key speakers at the assembly, which was billed as Fairfax County’s third annual Blue Fairfax event. Sen. Tim Kaine sent video remarks.
On the program but unable to attend was Michael Fanone, a Fairfax resident who became a national hero, a recipient of the Presidential Citizens Medal, for his actions as a member of the Metropolitan police force during the January 6, 2020 assault on the U.S. Capitol. Fanone was unable to attend due to the high volume of threats against him and his family in the wake of the court verdict on Trump Thursday.
As the first speaker on the program, Beyer said of the Trump verdict, “It has been disappointing to wait so many years for justice for a man who has bragged forever about how many people he has cheated, stolen from, and lied to, a man with no love in his heart, just rage and ego and tearing down other people and ideas, perhaps the world’s most famous narcissist.”
He added about Trump, “If a sociopath is defined as someone with zero empathy for other living beings, we now have the archetype.”
Beyer, Connelly and Spanberger all stressed that the “actual” verdict will come on Nov. 5, on the presidential election day. “Now it is our responsibility to step up and save our endangered democracy,” he said.
He told the assembled crowd, “We do have three secret weapons: one, the best precinct captains, the most important job in politics; two, great data, and we have 156 days to touch every possible voter on the voter files; three, a gold mine of young voters who agree with us, but who need our kick to come vote.
“They agree with Democratic values on almost everything: climate change, gun violence, women’s reproductive freedom, respect for others’ individual choices on orientation and identity, more housing, less student debt and much more…helping the poor, children, the disadvantaged and women with opportunity, education and good schools, unions, tolerance and no discrimination, peace, the environment, nature, space, science, veterans’ health, Social Security, and health care for all.”
By contrast, he said, “What do we associate with Republican values? Millionaires and billionaires, big corporations, private equity, prior medical authorizations, tax cuts for the rich, tax offshoring and hiding money overseas, intolerance, hatred of the other, based on any difference, oil and gas money poured into politics, and Citizens United.”
Beyer added, “Let’s make that case with everyone we talk to. The larger we make our Democratic family, the more we are able to project our values. We know who our casual young voters are, they are right there on our voter lists. Let’s commit to a 50 percent increase in their turnout in each and every precinct among the 18-29 year olds who voted in 2020.”
Rep. Connolly, following Beyer to the podium, stressed to the Fairfax and Falls Church Democrats that “We’re going to win in November, we have a future and we’re going to win,” even as he identified Trump as “a clear and present danger.”
Attorney Hirschkop spoke next as a spry and articulate 88 year old founder of the ACLU of Virginia who still practices law and has a long record of fighting for civil rights, including the case of Loving vs. Virginia. The Loving case was over the issue of interracial marriage and when the highest court in Virginia ruled against that freedom, Hirschkop spearheaded its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, where an historic favorable verdict was issued.
Hirschkop told the crowd that laws still on the books reveal the depth of racial hatred in the state, as the definition of an African-American, for example, applies even if the person in question has only a single drop of African-American blood.
Rep. Spanberger then spoke eloquently as a U.S. congressman and former CIA officer about the importance of this year’s elections, and especially the presidential one in November. Spanberger is now strongly favored to become the Democratic Party’s nominee for governor of Virginia for the election in November 2025.
