But yes, it’s all true; I swear on a stack of Bibles, Torahs, secular humanist books (Lord of the Rings? lol), whatever. So, anyway, here’s the story:
I just got off the phone after a 10-15 minute call with 31st State Senate District candidate Barbara Favola. I actually had just finished watching the 49th House of Delegates district debate online, and the phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number, but I picked it up anyway. Of all people, probably the last person I expected to hear from was Barbara Favola, but it was actually her, starting with, “I bet you don’t get candidates calling you very often asking for your vote!”
At first, I figured Favola must know who I was, as I interviewed her for 45 minutes at her house, have been writing profusely about her race, she said “hi Lowell,” etc. But, as the conversation went by, it became crystal clear that she had absolutely NO idea who she was talking to. I was even asking her very specific questions about the race that I doubt most people would ever ask, yet she still seemed to not have any idea whatsoever who I was. I swear, this was surreal; I was standing there thinking, “no way this is really happening!”
How do I know for sure she didn’t realize who I was? Well, she didn’t mention the blog. She didn’t mention that she realized I was supporting Jaime, but… She asked me if I had seen her at the Arlington County Democratic Committee debate (I was sitting in the front row, videotaping, and then posted highlights on Blue Virginia). Perhaps most amusing, she kept saying how I should totally go by what the Washington Post said. Ha!!! I mean, if she knew in the least bit who she was talking to, she would know that I utterly despise the “Kaplan Post,” that if anything I’d do the EXACT OPPOSITE of what the Post said on anything, and she would NEVER have made that argument for my vote!
Other interesting notes from the call:
*Favola made a point of arguing that Jaime is Latino and has no base in this district, that there are almost no Latinos living here. I’d say that was a bit…uh, odd.
*When I pointed out to her that there aren’t many African Americans in the district either, yet Obama won it big time in both the primary and the general election, she said “fair point, but…Jaime’s no Barack Obama.” (in response to that, I said, “in fairness, and no disrespect intended, but you’re no Hillary Clinton either.” She didn’t argue with that, at least! Ha.)
*I told Favola I wanted a representative in Richmond would be independent of party leaders. She said she’s VERY independent, very “clever,” would always do what she thinks is right and will get the job done.
*Another good one: Favola claimed that being a woman candidate gives you 10 more points compared to being a man. I said I’d never heard of that before. She also claimed that people who care about a candidate’s business background – which Jaime is emphasizing – would almost certainly vote Republican. This was in the context of my asking her who would be strongest against Caren Merrick.
*I asked her about the towing company donation and her vote on that issue. She admitted that this could look bad, but insisted that there was absolutely NO impropriety there, just bad timing. On her donations in general, she said she’s getting money from inside the district, while Jaime’s getting money from his friends and family “in Puerto Rico.” I noted that some of her money was from John Shooshan, and she basically ignored that comment and moved on, saying that Jaime had no base or experience in the district, while she did.
*She said that Jaime’s charges that she “sold her vote” were all “LIES!”
Bottom line: It was a weird, surreal conversation…especially since I’m 99.99% sure she had ZERO idea who she was talking to! I mean, how many “Lowell Feld”s are there in the 31st? Honestly, this conversation made me wonder if Favola is “all there,” or whether she’s totally on “autopilot,” or what?!? God, I wish I had taped this!
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