A Jay O'Brien political fund-raiser with a homeland-security theme has turned into a skirmish in the 39th District Senate seat battle between himself and challenger Greg Galligan.
Republican incumbent O'Brien and two Prince William candidates — one for supervisor and one for school board — hosted the event Tuesday, Sept. 9, in Lake Ridge. Attendees contributing $250 or $500 received official 9/11 pins, and guest speaker was former Gov. James Gilmore, chairman of the advisory panel on Domestic Response to Terrorism.
THE WHOLE THING left Galligan, a Democrat, outraged. He accused O'Brien of using a national tragedy to his own advantage. "I think it's a bad idea," said Galligan. "I don't believe you should try and capitalize on one of the darkest days in American history."
The event's invitation designated those donating $250 as "patriot" sponsors, and this, too, rankled Galligan, a former Army pilot and currently active member of the National Guard. "It's clear from the invitation that they'll be handing out 9/11 pins — essentially putting a price tag on patriotism," he said Monday.
Galligan's campaign manager, Martin Casas, agreed, calling the fund-raiser disrespectful to those impacted by the Sept. 11 tragedy. "I find it shameful that Jay O'Brien shows so little consideration to the families and victims of the horrible terrorist acts of Sept. 11th," he said.
Casas said he found it, "quite frankly, appalling," that O'Brien would choose to raise campaign funds "as an act of tribute and honor for the victims." And he urged the invitation recipients to donate their contributions, instead, to the Pentagon Memorial Project.
Galligan said he didn't believe this type of fund-raiser was the right thing to do. Said Galligan: "It's clearly using Sept. 11 for partisan, political fund-raising — and that's wrong."
But O'Brien, a proud graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, said he was being unfairly maligned. And he stressed that the invitation didn't mention anything about Sept. 11, except for the pin.
"I JUST RETURNED this weekend from my West Point reunion," he said. "Many of my classmates are general officers, fighting in this conflict [against terrorism, overseas]."
O'Brien said the press release Galligan issued about the fund-raiser "speaks more about the state of [Galligan's] campaign where — instead of talking about issues like Virginia's response to terrorism or budget issues — he's picking a fight about something that doesn't exist."
Besides, said O'Brien, the event was on Sept. 9, not Sept. 11. "Most of the Democratic candidates for president are campaigning on Sept. 9 — and their election is a year away," he said. "So if he wants to start pointing fingers, he can start with his own party."
He further noted that, as national chairman of the terrorism task force, talking about homeland security is what Gilmore does for a living. O'Brien said terrorism is a subject "on everybody's minds" and Gilmore would simply talk about his job.
He also said that the Sept. 9 date was chosen because it's when Gilmore was available. "We all respect Sept. 11," said O'Brien. "Galligan is trying to make a case that something's wrong when it's not because he's got nothing else to say."
"Particularly for me, a colonel in the Army Reserves, it's a shrill cry from a dispirited campaign," continued O'Brien. "I never once thought of this in the context of 9/11 to raise money, and neither did the other two candidates. I think [Galligan] leapt to the wrong conclusion."