About 30 Democrats applauded Al Weed when he announced his candidacy for the 25th Senate District seat on Charlottesville's downtown mall.

Here is what he said:

Good evening. What a wonderful balmy day to start a campaign that will end, in just over six short weeks, on the Tuesday before Christmas.

Who he is:

I'm Al Weed and I am running to be your State Senator.

I live in Nelson County on the place where my wife and I started what is today the oldest farm winery in Virginia. There we have also raised two delightful, loving children and have nurtured a family commitment to public service in this region.

My wife, Emily, spent over twenty years as an operating room nurse at the University of Virginia Medical Center. My son is a surgical resident there today. My daughter teaches middle school science at Albemarle County's Burley School. They both live in Charlottesville.

Since 1973, I too have been active in serving this region, this state and our country. As a Democratic activist, I have worked to elect Democrats at all levels. I have served my County in many ways -- from comprehensive planning, to fund raising for a medical center, to creating organizations that promote and support our historical heritage, our tourism potential, and our rural landscape.

In this region I have served on the Library Board and as its President. I served on the Sustainability Council which has helped focus public attention on the foundations of the quality of life we here enjoy today. And, to be brutally frank, I got to know our area intimately in a losing battle for this same nomination against Emily Couric.

I have served on statewide boards and advisory councils in my profession. I have written, or helped to write, most of the legislation that has brought the Virginia wine industry to its prominence today.

I have served a long career in active and reserve Army special operations. I believe that our opportunities in life could only have come in a nation willing to defend its freedom. I am doing my part.

Why he is running:

For the past ten years I have devoted most of my energies to one single goal: rural preservation. And it is this goal that brings me to this spot today.

Loss of rural land in my beautiful Nelson home is more than just painful and often irreversible. It is also a symptom of much broader problems. These problems can best be addressed at the State level.

We have become accustomed to having this region on one "top ten" list after another. Sadly, in August, USA Today, as part of a comprehensive study of sprawl in America, listed Charlottesville, Virginia as the nation's number four most sprawled metro area. (Yes, fourth in the entire nation.)

Protecting our rural areas has to start in our cities. We must make the quality of Virginia's urban life attractive enough to slow the population growth occurring in the suburbs. Growth, you should know, that eats up land at a pace of two and one half times the rate of population increase.

And, as our cities decline and our rural areas stagnate, we don't have the voting strength needed to address these issues.

An example of how this lack of strength has hurt us is in Governor Gilmore's car tax rebate program. The funds for this successful bit of political pandering could only have come from other state needs. Yet the beneficiaries of the car tax rebate are mostly in the better off suburbs, while struggling cities and rural areas are starved for resources.

That is mostly history now. I believe, however, that an alliance between legislators representing rural and urban areas would have enough strength to counter the increasingly suburban and Republican voting block.

This alliance can only be formed when we agree that dealing with common problems requires such cooperation.

These common problems? Poor schools, underpaid teachers, inadequate health care, lack of affordable and even middle class housing, and transportation spending that encourages sprawl and forces us all into automobiles. Add to that the problems of crime and justice, aging or non-existent infrastructure, minimal job opportunities and a taxation system that dooms sinking communities to further decline.

Does it take a rural Democrat to point out that these problems matter more than reducing taxes on gas guzzling SUV's?

When we gather our natural strength, we will also be able to recapture the General Assembly from the developers. Then maybe localities can be given the tools needed to preserve their own communities.

To accomplish this we must elect a State Senator who can lead. A man who will listen and then speak out to articulate a vision. A senator who wants to go to Richmond primarily to accomplish the work of the people. An elected official who will not compromise his principles for position and prestige.

I am that man.

Why Al Weed can win the 25th:

Democrats of all kinds, and voters who want to work on issues important to them but who do not identify with any party, are looking forward to an open campaign for the nomination.

None of us wants to see the establishment anoint one of its own, and no one should believe that this seat belongs to the staff and advisors of our former senator.

As we consider this crowded field we are going to want to pick a candidate who brings good Democratic values, a vision that serves both the region and Commonwealth, and background that will make him acceptable to the wide diversity of voters in the 25th District.

That's me.

As a farmer I know how to listen to those who make their living from these rough grounds, and those who live in these blue hills. I grew up poor, living for a time in mean urban public housing. I have faced the peril of combat and enjoyed the moderate prosperity of business success.

I know and value the major universities in our region.

I have raised children in this community and have some sense of the challenge parents face.

I believe strongly in fundamental principles and will not hesitate to speak out.

I am the kind of Democrat we used to value before the goal of raising money for campaigns overwhelmed the imperative of actually listening to all the people. Back when the Democrats were in touch with the needs of all of us enough to dominate politics in Virginia. Republicans have not replaced us -- we have left our natural constituency out in the cold and are paying the price in exile.

Finally, let me just talk about money and politics for a second. I know, as well as any of you, that without some money no campaign is likely to succeed. As Democrats, however, we must choose the best and most electable candidate, not the person whose main attraction is a lock on the spigot of political donations.

If money made us more democratic (small "d" that is) why is that as we spend more in each campaign, we see smaller and smaller turnout? Could it be that our feverish pursuit of cash deafens us to the voters' voices?

After all, if money is more important than issues and people before the election, why would it be any different afterwards?

If I am nominated I will run a campaign that depends on the ideas, energies and enthusiasm of volunteers. I need people. I appreciate you all coming out this evening and hope, as you enjoy yourself here on the Mall, you will realize how vulnerable all this really is. And, you will work to help me win this office.

Al Weed (electronic mail, November 2, 2001).

Editor's Note: After staying around to answer questions and to chat for a while, Al headed over to the Marriott to stand with protesters demanding a living wage.

Below is a picture of Al with Hoy Loper.