On Monday, the city of Buena Vista welcomed residents and visitors to their 55th annual Labor Day festival. The day featured a parade through downtown followed by political speeches as a kickoff to the campaign season. WMRA’s Meredith McCool reports.
Two things folks in Buena Vista could agree on this Labor Day? The excitement of bubbles –
PARADE PARTICIPANT: Bubbles?
KID WATCHING PARADE: I got two of them!
KID WATCHING PARADE: I got a yellow one!
– and the value of American labor.
BERT MIZUSAWA: We should all applaud the efforts of American labor, the thing that made America great. It's a bipartisan issue, and so thank you for hosting us here in Buena Vista for Labor Day.
Beyond that line from Republican senatorial candidate Bert Mizusawa – which received cross-party applause – common ground was hard to come by.
The parade route through downtown Buena Vista was lined with campaign signs and political partisanship.
[pipe band]
Following the Virginia Military Institute Pipe Band down Magnolia Avenue, a navy blue pickup truck towed a flatbed decorated in Republican campaign signs and carrying a large gray elephant.
[drumline cadence]
As the cadence of the Parry McCluer High School Marching Blues drumline faded, 6th District congressional candidate Beth Macy and incumbent Senator Mark Warner walked ahead of a large Democratic contingent.
JEFF: Go on back to Richmond! You ain't did nothing for the state of Virginia!
Jeff from Lexington – who declined to share his last name – called out to Senator Warner.
JEFF: He has never did nothing for the working person of Virginia. Never.
I asked Jeff who he plans to support in the upcoming election.
JEFF: I'm going to support anybody but a Democrat. It doesn't matter who it is. I don't care what their values are. I'll never vote for one of them. I used to be a Democrat until all this crazy stuff coming up. They don't know the definition of a woman. They got transgenders in kids' schools. Jobs are horrible. Lied about Joe Biden. We have no one.
Farther down Magnolia Avenue, Meredith and Tom Roller of Roanoke wore Beth Macy for Congress t-shirts.
McCOOL: What is it about Beth Macy that compelled you to drive up here today?
MEREDITH ROLLER: She's not a politician. She got into this because of her compassion for people who need help, and because yeah, she cares about her community.
TOM ROLLER: If people like the way things are going, they probably wouldn't choose Beth. But I don't like the way things are going from a national perspective, and the way that our reputation is being tarnished by what's going on in a global perspective.
Mike Lowry from Lexington wore a red Rockbridge Area Republicans polo shirt.
MIKE LOWRY: We're the quiet ones. We believe in freedom of speech. The other side doesn't. They come to it. They'll bus people in, and they'll sit there and try and drown out the Republican speakers.
In the pavilion at Glen Maury Park, Buena Vista Mayor Jesse Lineberry urged civility before introducing the candidates.
JESSE LINEBERRY: Political debate is healthy. I want to remind everyone that disagreement is even healthy at times. But drowning someone out and heckling and preventing others from hearing candidates and what they have to say does not serve our community well, nor does it serve the democratic process.
[applause]
The political speeches began amicably.
LINEBERRY: So to begin, I want to introduce U.S. Senator Mark Warner. … Mr. Warner. Welcome.
[applause and cheering]
MARK WARNER: I want to first of all welcome my opponent this year, Bert, to the process. I want to first thank you for your service to our country, and as well as thank you for anyone that's willing to run for political office in these times, they have my respect.
Senator Warner spoke about ending the war in Iran, the current administration’s tariff policies, universal health care, and putting guardrails on data centers.
LINEBERRY: Next, I would like to introduce the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, Bert Mizusawa. … Welcome, Mr. Bert.
[applause and cheering]
MIZUSAWA: Thank you, Mayor Lineberry. And Senator Warner, thank you for your words as well. I actually met Senator Warner at a time he won't recall. We had lunch together in the 1990s before he ran for the very first time against Senator John Warner, who I was working with, and it was a very good meeting, and I do appreciate it. And so I have followed his career since.
Mizusawa spoke about his immigrant heritage, his military service, and the importance of protecting our borders.
The mood began to shift as Mayor Lineberry introduced the candidates for the 6th Congressional District.
LINEBERRY: Next, I'd like to introduce Congressman Ben Cline, Virginia's 6th Congressional District.
BEN CLINE: Buena Vista has a storied tradition as well, in that while 20, 30 years ago, it would have voted Democrat because the Democrats at that point advocated for working families. But let's look at the results today. What we see today is that this city, made up of hardworking men and women, support Republicans each and every year because they support Republican policies. Republicans support working families, and we will continue to fight for working families each and every day. Now I hear some cat calls from the left, and that's tradition as well. I don't want them to take their governor's advice and let their rage fuel them. I hope they don't. I certainly hope they don't take their attorney general's advice because that would be dangerous.
Democratic party supporters seated on the left side of the pavilion raised posterboards with “Not True” inked in bold Sharpie.
CLINE: It's been an honor over the past eight years to represent those families here in Buena Vista, and wherever all you people come from, because you sure aren't from Buena Vista. I see friends from Buena Vista sitting in the back. I see friends with badges on. I see friends from Buena Vista who have fire department shirts on.
LINEBERRY: Thank you, Ben. Next, I'd like to introduce Democratic nominee Beth Macy of the 6th Congressional District.
BETH MACY: Now, y'all, for over a year, I've been running up and down the valley documenting what's happened, in particular with regard to the “one ugly bill.” And here's what I found: people are sleeping in their cars outside of the Dollar General in Woodstock because they want to be first in line at the food pantry in the morning, and they know that food's going to run out. That's because of the USDA cuts and the SNAP cuts. People are going hungry like you would not believe.
Republican party supporters on the right side of the pavilion sat stoic and silent.
MACY: Two hundred kids, just in Roanoke City this year alone, lost Head Start. Think about how that hurts working families. All so the uber wealthy could get $2 trillion in tax breaks. When we have elections, we're asking to be hired or to be rehired in Senator Warner's case. Ben Cline won't even show up for the job interview.
As the speeches concluded, Tim Knudson, who had been listening nearby, leaned over and asked me –
TIM KNUDSON: Can I tell you who I'm voting for? … Anybody who's not in office right now. … We need a clean sweep this year. The parties are dividing the country. It's party above country for both of them. So I think Ben Cline is a great man. I think Mark Warner is a great man. They're doing good jobs for what they're doing. I’m voting for Beth, even though I don't like her politics, and I'm voting for Bert. Because they're decent folks, they're competent, and they're not in office right now.
As attendees stacked chairs and campaign staffers removed signs from the lawn surrounding the pavilion, the bass line of Dolly Parton’s labor anthem, “9 to 5” began to drift from the speaker. Heads bobbed to the rhythm. A third thing folks in Buena Vista could agree on? Dolly Parton.
