RK ARCHIVE - OK, I agree, Charlie Hall is the best choice.

Primarily, I thought a lot of the blogging I saw happening was ugly, nasty, and unfair. While I partly still harbor that feeling, I want everyone to know that I've changed my mind about who I would support if I lived in the district (which I don't so why would anyone care anyway?!).

Well, I've been going back on RK and elsewhere are reading the words of the man himself.

The recent stuff about being a "real" Democrat really bothered me. I didn't like when Harris Miller supporters assaulted Jim Webb as a Republican, especially since I once considered myself a Republican.
So, it was this response to that question by Charlie that speaks volumes to me about who Charlie is, and what kind of Supervisor he will make:

UPDATE: This was one of the most fair and gracious responses to a politically-charged accusation that I've seen lately from any candidate in any race. To me, it spoke volumes about the kind of Supervisor Providence District voters can be expected to be.

Please, if you're not sure who you're going to support and you want to get a sense of the candidate himself, read this response from Charlie.

Comments

Forgot to mention... (Doug in Mount Vernon - 6/8/2007 1:17:44 PM)

This was one of the most fair and gracious response to a politically-charged accusation that I've seen lately from any candidate in any race. To me, it spoke volumes about the kind of Supervisor Providence District voters can be expected to be.

Please, if you're not sure who you're going to support and you want to get a sense of the candidate himself, read this response from Charlie.

You Are a Class Act Too! (Deborah Reyher - 6/8/2007 3:22:40 PM)

It takes strength of character to reverse course and go investigate the candidate himself and then freely own up to a change of heart.

Thanks also for saying you will contact your Providence friends and neighbors to help get out the vote on Tuesday!

Charlie is going to win this race a dozen votes at a time in neighborhoods that either have suffered or fear they will suffer from Smyth's four-year history of voting lock-step with Connolly on ill-informed land-use decisions that will worsen gridlock and impair the environment.

I know Charlie personally, and he doesn't just write well and fairly, he thinks well and fairly. What he wrote in that post you so admired was 100% what the man is.

And what makes it even better is that he had no call to politics -- he is a citizen like us, tempest-tossed by the Board's cavalier and dismissive attitude toward citizens' disagreement with their "growth at all costs" decisions.

Charlie got pushed into this race by many of us who admire him. And despite all the slings and arrows of this campaign, the really bright spot (even if the unthinkable should happen), is that now Fairfax County at large has had a chance to get to know Charlie, and hopefully, to admire him as well.

No matter what the election outcome, Charlie is not just "for" citizens, he is fundamentally a citizen first himself.

Now Get Out the Vote!

Right on. (Eric - 6/8/2007 1:28:00 PM)

Despite the sometimes ~~ugly~~ passionate nature of the blogs, Charlie Hall himself is an absolute class act.

A perfect example: Linda had declined the invitation to last week's candidates forum so there was plenty of opportunity to set up an empty chair, or a microphone that stood alone, or put up a cardboard cutout of Linda. All sorts of visual gimmicks were possible. But Charlie himself took the high road and said there would be none of it.

Charlie Hall is a Democrat anyone could be proud to support.

Thank You Doug In Mount Vernon (Lee Diamond - 6/8/2007 1:51:51 PM)

Thank you for your honesty.

Thank you for expressing a sincere opinion.

Thank you for supporting good/honest government in Fairfax County.

Please call any folks you know and encourage them to help this weekend.

Everyone who lives in Fairfax County will benefit from a replacement for the retiring Supervisor Dana Kauffman on the Board. Dana is retiring and I do not see anyone else there willing to support transparency on the Board.

Thank you Doug in Mt. Vernon (Providence Voter - 6/8/2007 4:00:24 PM)

It's nice to read your kind words. Those of us who support Charlie and know him to be a sincere, honest, thoughtful person have been distressed to hear the lies spread about him. I know I couldn't have withstood the pressure he is facing; it's a real testament to his grace that he has never attacked back, but instead responded in the thoughtful way he did in that Post. I was at both debates (rather, the debate and the non-debate) and came away each time more impressed with his abilities. I think he will be a fine Supervisor.

Would you post the same words on the Policy Soup blog?

I do not know either of the candidates (totallynext - 6/8/2007 7:28:57 PM)

However, the tactics that are being deployed my Mr. Hall's opponent do have that classic Republican meaness to it.

So I guess a life long Democrat is being swift boated by recent member after many years of contributing to the success of the party.

Maybe that was the price Connelly had to pay not to be opposed by the Davis Fairfax machine??????

Doug you rock! (AnonymousIsAWoman - 6/9/2007 6:10:37 PM)

Lowell was right to front page this. And so was everybody who commended your courage and integrity, not just for changing your support midcourse when the facts and evidence supported such a change of heart, but for being big enough to say so publicly. That deserved front paging.

I also think it's absolutely ridiculous for candidates and their supporters to think the worst way to slander a Democratic candidate is to call them a Republican. That's especially true in this race where Linda Smyth herself was a "johnny come lately" to the Democratic Party. She voted in three Republican primaries and only joined the party in 2003 right before running for office. Charlie Hall, on the other hand, has actually voted for Democrats for many election cycles.

But what if one of them actually had been a Republican who changed parties? Could it be that such a person was a moderate whose party had left him or her behind? Any moderate Republican who no longer feels in step with Virginia's new crop of very conservative Republicans and who switches parties is actually to be commended for showing integrity.

Since Virginia Democrats tend to be more centrist and moderate, perhaps we should just welcome those former moderate Republicans to their new home :)

Play It Again Sam (Lee Diamond - 6/9/2007 9:28:59 PM)

We went through this last year with some of the Fairfax Democrats. It's not exactly the same cause Jim Webb actually was a Republican who moved away from that identification over time. But it is the same sort of rigidity (or is it rigor mortis) that we see all too often in the ossified kingdom of Fairfax where the one who must not be named reigns.

In Charlie's case, it is just a cheap stunt.

I think that politics will get better in this country because I think the failures of politicians is going to stimulate more people to get involved.