Lee,
George was willing to talk publicly without any anonymity on either side in an uncontrolled environment that guaranteed that the actual statements would be publicly and fairly distributed, not just the selective excerpts taken out of context without explanation that would be and has been the case if it is just a blog or even a tape recorder.... Live TV keeps this completely open with all the body language and no convenient edits, the other ways don't !!!

Lowell and I have been friends for a few years now.... My friendship with George has just been relatively recent and I feel privileged to have both of their respect (I believe). However, I would much rather have a completely open environment where this gets settled with a chance for questions, clarification and explanations from both sides without outside distraction or interuption.... This obviously has to be a much more complex situation than it appears or these two intelligent talented individuals would have settled it by now and moved on..... It seems that each time this comes back it gets a little more ugly and a lot more toxic.

As for the re-org of the 11th CD, everyone I know in both a position of authority and the candidates at the receiving end of the support from the present chairman has been very happy with his continuous untiring efforts and years leadership experience. The only ones gunning for George have been those with their own agenda to seriously change the present organization from the outside rather than by paying dues by working within the system already there and earning trust not just demanding it.

It would be real easy for me to just ignore this and go back to playing "Super-techie" and logistical resource, a roll I think I do and have done very well for several years, but I care about the amazing efforts that so many talented people are expending these past few years to get the gains we have just made. I like to think that life and politics is a lot like playing chess.... If you can't see at least three or more moves ahead, you will lose a lot more often than you should.

is the need to bring in a LOT of new blood into the Democratic Party.  I have serious doubts that we can do that on the game plan we're now following...

But there are two primary groups to get that new blood from.... the Young and the older (60+).... those in between are busy with families, careers, and other aspects of life.... only a few of us "activists" are crazy enough to compromise our professional lives to follow our hearts into trying to make a difference. The kids, they get better every year, especially as the power of PCs, the Internet, cell phones, that they have absolute command of, allow them equal status to the world stage. The older crew, of which I know I am one, finds that many times their years of intellectual capital and experience are still minimized by the "Kids" as it has always been..... I remember the saying back in the sixties and early seventies... "Don't Trust Anyone over 30" and now I'm on the other side of that concept, and the generational rift is still there !!!

We've talked about this before and we will again.... there are tried and proven reasons for structure, rules, bylaws, "State Plans".... they aren't just to protect the establishment, they are there for usually good and proven legal reasons as well to protect everyone from blind ambition and power trips..... If you want to get new blood into the system, then go for it, other than the exceptionally unusual situation that Kenton provides, the rest that I know are all doing fine.... all my kids from ages 24 through 37 are going full tilt and you can find many examples of three generations of Democrats in the same families through out our collective organizational family. Not so much the exception as it is the rule.....

If you refer to "it's time to throw the existing bums out" in terms of the present leadership, where are you going to get the real money??? Most of the money and I'm talking the "BIG BUCKS" comes from that existing establishment and their friends that trust them who they have known them personally for decades and have grown old together getting to where they are now....... But here's the real rub, I don't understand why that is even necessary.... there has not been a person from Connolly/Ginny Peters/George Burke on down in the Fairfax hierarchy that I have talked to numerous times who won't listen to real reasons and logic if it is going to help us win.... these are genuinely decent intelligent people. When you don't talk freely to them and give them calibration then problems do eventually grow. But the other side of this is that they just might have different ideas and perspectives.... and sometime it takes about three levels of "I told You SO!!" over a short period of time to get them to consider that their approach might not be the best.... but that happens with all leaders at all levels. The real situation I usually find is when I have a real dialog with one of the "Leadership Group", I get an education about history and facts that I usually didn't know about and that there are some other non-obvious reasons to do something the way they do it now.