For Miller, the Road to the Primary Goes Door-to-Door

"I've been a resident of Virginia for 30 years. I'm a business guy and a technology guy," Miller told Ruffin and Richardson. "But I'm just fed up with what's going on in Washington. I've been traveling around the state. I've done 21,000 miles all over the state. People really want a change."

Like others, Ruffin pushed Miller for specifics, to go beyond the well-honed sound bites that his consultants have developed.

"What would you specifically do to help people caught in the middle?" Ruffin asked. "They make too much money for welfare or a lot of assistance, but they make too little money to stay more than a day in the hospital."

Miller is ready. He is, after all, a student of policy, having worked for most of the past two decades as a lobbyist on Capitol Hill. "People often call me a policy wonk. I plead guilty," he said recently.

For Ruffin, he launches into a well-prepared lecture on health care that includes a rant against pharmaceutical companies -- they "want to overcharge us" -- a pitch to "make the system simpler" and support for tax breaks to small businesses that offer workers health insurance.

"None of those alone is going to solve the problem," Miller concludes before moving on. "But they'll all be steps forward."

That answer seemed to satisfy Ruffin. But Miller fared less well later during an exchange about illegal immigration and taxes at the African American Art Festival, AFR'AM, on the Norfolk waterfront.

As Miller started the spiel, Petersburg resident Wendell Whitehurst, a logistics analyst, stopped him. "Why are you different?" he asked. "What's different about you than somebody else?"

"I'm a business guy," Miller said. "I spent my whole life as a business guy. I did work on Capitol Hill for about 10 years. But I'm a Mark Warner Democrat. George Allen is a professional politician."

The two sparred for a few minutes before Miller moved on. What did Whitehurst think?

"Sounds like a politician so far," he said. "I want to see what he's doing, what he's done to cut taxes, make people responsible for their own actions. . . . I'm still undecided."

After Norfolk, Miller stopped by the home of Vivian Paige, who lost a bid to become Norfolk's treasurer last year, for a Memorial Day weekend picnic for Democrats. There, he worked a crowd filled with Webb and Miller supporters united by one thing: a dislike of Allen and Republicans.

"I'm a supporter of whoever can beat George Allen," said Jim Becker, 62, an Old Dominion University professor. "I'm leaning to Mr. Webb. But there are liabilities to both men."

Miller started his day of campaigning at Jason's Deli, where the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee gathered for an $8 breakfast of orange juice, coffee, a Danish and a breakfast sandwich.

Miller started the morning out with a joke, saying, "I tell people I'm a shorter, poor version of Mark Warner." He paused, then told the crowd of about 50 people: "My wife says a lot shorter and a lot poorer. Both of those are true."