Enough already.

Netroots didn't do anything for the Dems but waste resources better spent in the fall.

This primary was a huge diversion of resources from the general elections.  The 10th & 11th look good for the D's but neither R is going to be easy to defeat.

Please let us avoid a primary in the special to replace Gerry as chair.  We'll have far less time to replenish the treasury for the special and we need to work hard to hold onto the chairmanship since its clear Herrity will run for chair without opposition in his party.

1) Keep Fimian out of Congress;

2) Keep Connolly's old job in Dem hands; and,

3) Hold Connolly to his progressive promises.

Points two and three are important, but not until and unless Connolly wins the general.

http://my.barackobama.com/page...

Singh is the libertarian.

For the 8th a libertarian style candidate is the best shot that the GOP will have of picking off Moran's seat.  Probably would take someone with much higher name ID.

There was a good debate between the two on Kojo Namdi's NPR show this past week (as well as a debate between Moran and Famiglietti).  

Now, let's hope Connolly wins the 11th for the Democrats and also keeps his word about the positions he took in order to win this thing.

That suprises me...

Lets hope we can do better in November.    

At the fairfax county fair the Byrne folks were out and the Obama folks were out and Doug Denneny was there and the Green party was there and some Republican was there - and there was no Gerry Connoly presence that I saw.  But that was the only moment where I felt the warmth of the Byrne brigade.

-Fred

The state legislature is partly to blame. If you want to increase turnout, then combine the February Presidential Primary, May city elections, and the June Congressional Primaries on one day.

The Obama-Clinton race drew voters -- new and experienced -- to the polls. The Connolly-Byrne match up just couldn't do it, even with all of the negative mailers from both campaigns filling our recycle bins.

In addition, do we know what these multiple elections cost us, the taxpayers, to hold? Certainly, if they'd been combined, there would have been some cost savings.  

Great news all around. With Obama in the mix, we're sure to pick up both seats!

You linked to Ben's 60-part series on how Gerry Sucks over at NLS.

You repeated Tribbett's lie suggesting Tom Davis was endorsing Connolly.

You eliminated entire diaries that had good words to say about Connolly.

What parallel universe are you living in?

You have given the Rethugs their playbook to run against Connolly in November.

I can't wait to condemn you after Republican mail against Connolly this fall quotes RK extensively.  

You've drastically underestimated the Republicans and are suffering from serious delusions if you think that the Republicans don't know most of this about Connolly to begin with or wouldn't find it out.

And the fact that you're drooling to attack RK tells everyone all they need to know about you.

Leslie Byrne is also a great Democrat and I respect her, even though I supported Gerry in the primary.

During the primary, however, I didn't say anything about Leslie that I regret.  How many here can say the same about Gerry?

This blog (and NLS even more so) just has too much personal antipathy for Gerry Connolly.  And I don't get that.  And I hope you all step back and give Gerry your support in November.

Sean Corey
Vienna

I don't believe in being nice for the sake of being nice.  I believe in being above personal BS in politics for the sake of advancing progressive goals and making government work better.  This is not about me.  And it's not about you.

It's about good government -- and there are precious few Republicans who care about that these days.

This was, I agree an extraordinarily negative primary.  That came from the campaigns and from the blogs as well.

If there's one thing we've learned here at RK, it's that you fight, because there are things worth fighting for.

Gerry's taken worse hits than anything we sent at him.  He's a tough politician.  He does what he needs to do and he wins.

Whether we like his associations or his positions here at RK he's the nominee and we'll support him.  We'll also have a lot of work to do in the 5th, 2nd and 10th.

Virginia is turning blue, and we've had a hand in it.  Sometimes we lead; sometimes we follow, sometimes we get out of the way and sometimes we lose, but we know that even if we can't have better Democrats, we need to have more Democrats.

The stage is now set for the general election.  Judy will take on Frank Wolf again, Gerry and Jim Moran will represent huge portions of Northern Virginia well.  Unless he's snagged for the VP slot Mark Warner will destroy Jim Gilmore in the fight he's wanted for years, and Obama will, for the first time in a generation, make Virgina truly competitive for Democrats.

We're turning the page on the Republicans who can't govern and leaving the age where Democrats can't win.  There are lots of fights to be had, because victory requires grit.  And the future of America needs Democratic principles, values and leadership victorious.

You are not his friend.  You have been one of his severest critics and you don't even live in the 11th CD.

Once this election is over, I think some of us Fairfax types need to meddle in your politics in Arlington.

Do you read this blog or are you just here to spread invective?

The point here is that we're not trying to rehash what was a deeply brusing campaign.

Gerry is the nominee.  He's going to win in November, and he's going to be a solid Democrat.  

He has made some very strongly progressive promises and I for one hope he will fulfill them.  If he does, you can be sure I will sing his praises from the rooftops.  If he doesn't, you can be sure I won't be quiet.

And as a matter of fact, I have met the candidate, spoken with him at length on a number of occasions and we are on a first-name basis in real life.  

Just because we disagree during a primary doesn't mean that we aren't soldiers in the same army for the common good.

Just be glad people are not calling him far worse... I frequently refer to the man in the oval office as our smirking chimp.  Is that right?  Probably not, but it sure as hades is justified and due.

For my part, when I don't like someone I insist on staying more formal.
So be thrilled Democrats that don't necessarily like Mr Connolly are coming around and accepting that he'll be our candidate in November and probably (we hope) our next congressman.

Oh, and wether we can vote for or against him or not, he will be our congressman too because the decisions made by every congress critter impact all of us.  So though I live in the 10th, and vote for Judy Feder; I am very interested in the race in the 11th; and in Oklahoma, and in Alaska, and in Maine  (states picked randomly without regard to competitive nature of congressional races).

Besides, "Connolly" is less respectful than a simple "Gerry".  If you want to get all bent about it, you should be demanding that we call him "Mr. Connolly", or even more appropriate, "Chairman Connolly".

In any event, I'm going to continue calling him any of the above and whatever else I feel like.  But hey, thanks for your super suggestion.

You think this primary was rough? wait until the fall. I can't believe as Democrats we're so pathetic we can't deal with one tough primary where the losing candidate immediately, and graciously, promises to do everything necessary to elect the winner in November.

Get over it and stop being such a baby.

My only question is would all of the folks here (and thats not everyone by the way) that did in some circles go over the top against Connolly be feeling a little bit of the remorse here if Byrne had won or would that have just solidified the notion that going negative, personal and otherwise, works and most be used going forward.

I would much rather have someone just tell me "why" it is they personally do not like someone, afterall many of us have never even met these candidates instead of spinning facts or quotes to form a line suited more at reflecting ones persoanl opinion of someone than just coming right out and telling us why they are predispose not to want to support them.

And by the way, I always feel like gravitated to the positive. I felt like I learned alot about Byrne in the last few weeks here that I would never have known and thats the stuff I think we need more of. If I was a resident of the 11th I can honestly say that the stories and pieces that were postive would have swayed me in that direction more so than any negative posts solely bent on tearing Connolly down with pics and phrases or political gotcha.

The notion that everyone at his former employer feels a particualr way parallels the ideology that no one employed at Dominion Power care about the environment and that logic is simply divisive. We are all Virginians in the end and would rather have a case be made "for" and not one "against" any day of the week IMHO.

Simply awful.

I do think people need to stay away from Tribbett's mess of a blog. He did the same kind of over the top stuff for Hillary and against Obama. I'd like all Democrats to come together and I don't want to kick anyone while they're down. Except Ben Tribbett. He deserves it.

Ultimately, of course, it's up to the community.  So long as Lowell, and Grey Havens, and whoever else get to toss out zeros that hide viewpoints that disagree with their position of the day, it really doesn't matter.  But if enough people gave a damn, and were actually interested in some respectable effort at Democratic politics?  It could be something quite different.

On the one hand they want us to feel compelled to believe that the blogs are open and are holden to no one and then on the other we learn of invites and conference calls between people behing blogs and politicians. Just like lobbyists, access is power and blogs have the power these days to yield that sword in any manner they seem fit.

Buyer beware.

In defense of RK, everyone here has disagreed with me countless times and I have been troll rated, more so early on then now, because I think most here understand that as Virginian I want whats best for us-sometimes its a Democrat and sometimes its not. I endeavor to chime in with the independent voice and have never been silenced--criticized intellectually yes but never silenced. I attempt to bridge some of the gaps b/t those here and say the center on climate change just to offer the differing yet respectful opinions out there. If everyone here came from the same view what would be the point--RK should never be and nor do I think it is, a pep rally. I always feel there is an exchange of ideas and sometimes feelings but people here are passionate regardless of the ideology they support.

Lowell and Grey Havens could have silenced Alter of Freedom years ago, but in the end I hope they realize the goals are the same, the means ia all we may differ about and thats where the debate lies. There was a time when these folks may have thought me a troll because of my independent ideology, especially when I come down on the side of Republicans, but over time I think they have been fair to understand we all have more in common we probably would like to admit.

I say it often here, but everyones realities are very different and we have to remember that each time we head down the path of creating solutions. We are not always going to like the solutions or its tenents, we are not always going to like the same candidates, we are not always going to like the results---but as long as we can feel proud to be Virginians and conduct ourselves with that in mind we will do just fine.

Hey, we got three guys up for VP of the United States. Go figure.

And I'm not involved in the Byrne-Connolly war and have no desire to get involved in an e-mail argument about it. All I was doing was pointing out that your statement did not correspond to my experience of RK.

Mark, the primary is over.  We could rehash the arguments against Gerry all night long, but what's the point?  Gerry won.  Why are you spending so much time complaining?  Gerry's going to win this thing in a walk.  

All of our questions about him remain, and we'll be here to try to hold him accountable.  He's made some very strongly progressive promises.  

It sounds like you're very emotionally invested in Gerry.  Well there are lots of people here who are very emotionally invested in bringing progress to Washington.  We'd like to see Gerry do that.  We'll cheer him if he does, and won't be silent if he doesn't.

Respectful discourse is always welcome here.  We can hash these things out without name-calling or personal attacks, and we hope you'll stick around.

TR me out of RK existence, if you like.  If I'm the odd man out here, I've no interest in stirring it up.  This is your sandbox.

Second, I asked you for an example backing up your prediction  of intellectual dishonesty regarding the outcome.  You responded with an irrelevant diatribe about the lack of support for Connolly on this website.  

And really, do you need some help in reading comprehension? Nothing I said had anything to do with a "lack of support for Connolly on this website".  It's becoming clearer that dealing in truths is a challenge, here, but really, you could do so much better without that.

And I don't really need your silly little "you have the privilege of posting" stuff.  You do realize you're a guy with a keyboard, right?  I mean, you can sell off your name and cheering section for whatever candidate, and I suppose that might get you an extra ten seconds at the next JJ dinner.  But please, don't pretend as if you're providing anyone any "privileges", here.

Regarding the "lack of support" reference: "I'd like you to link, as an example, any front page post that treated as a genuine and decent alternative the candidacy of Gerry Connolly."  

And all I was noting was the fact that this is a community blog.  I'm not providing anyone a privilege because I don't run this site.  Though I would like 10 seconds at the next JJ dinner, if you could hook that up for me.

"I want to congratulate Gerry Connolly on his win in the 11th District Democratic Primary. As Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, Gerry has been my partner in tackling some of the Commonwealth's toughest challenges.  Gerry is a tireless public servant, and I know he will bring the same passion and commitment to Congress that he has brought to Fairfax County.  I look forward to working hard over the next several months to ensure his election in November.

I also want to congratulate Leslie Byrne for running a rigorous campaign and for her commitment to public service.  Throughout her career, Leslie has worked hard on behalf of Virginia's families, and I know she will continue this fight."

Winning the 10th will be really, really tough; but I think we can do it.  People were "primaried" out yesterday.  In November, turnout will be huge, staggeringly huge.  The election official recruiters are in a mild panic trying to get enough help trained up so they can run the election smoothly.  BTW: If you can, please volunteer with your county board of elections.  It is a worthwhile endeavor, and everyone should do that duty at least once in their life.

In a large election, more and more people will take a look at their choices and realize what a do-nothing we have in Congress.

Sure, many of those races are non-competitive either way; but there are at least a dozen state-wide Senate races where Obama can make a big difference and perhaps 100 house seats where that same can said (rough guess on the 100 figure).

Here in Virginia we are likely to be a battleground state for the Presidential race, as well as having a Senate pickup likely, and at least one house pickup likely (the 11th).  There are clearly two more house seats (2nd and 10th) that look to be competitive.

Yeah, I think it is good politics for Obama to visit the 2nd and 10th districts in Virginia multiple times between now and November.  I am sure he will be visiting Colorado and New Mexico as well (they are both very interesting battlegrounds this year).

I know nothing, but have high hopes and think it would make a difference.