RK ARCHIVE - Thanks, and thoughts, from Charlie Hall

Once again, I apologize in advance for a long blog, but a lot has happened in my life since I last wrote.

First, I want to thank everyone connected with RK for the attention you brought to the Providence District supervisor's race. I also want to thank you bringing a very sharp focus to what is clearly an emerging hearts-and-minds divide in Northern Virginia: the Reform Democrats and the Establishment Democrats.

First, it wasn't a mandate for Linda Smyth or Gerry Connolly, especially as it relates to their development policies. If anything, it was the opposite. It showed, as I've maintained for three years, that this board has dangerously alienated all the communities near the high-density development they have approved.
As Ben Tribbet writes incisively over at notlarrysabato (http://notlarrysabat...), this was always an uneven campaign in terms of resources and organization. Linda had a true district-wide organization, and seemingly huge mailing budget, to draw on. We focused our mailings on five precincts, and did some phone calling and literature drops in a few others. At most, we ran a full campaign in about a third of the district, but the energy we tapped into nearly overcame the other side's district-wide effort.

These are the results of the six precincts near Metro/urban development, where we worked hardest. Even in these precincts, it should be noted, we were outspent by Smyth:

Being generous, I?ll add in three other precincts near proposed Metro development that we devoted few resources to, including Walker, where Linda lives.

Add these three pro-Smyth precincts in, and the total result for areas most affected by the board?s development policies is: Hall 1,294, Smyth 764. That translates to: Hall 63%, Smyth 37%.

By any reading, the response of these high-development areas proves exactly what we?ve said all along: Linda Smyth and the Board of Supervisors have failed to explain their development policies to the most affected communities and win their support.

As for the rest of the district, we simply weren?t ready this time to fight an even battle.

Could we have expected the same landslide numbers in precincts further from what I dubbed the ?development triangle?? Probably not. But could we have picked up 20 votes per precinct in the 20 precincts we barely contested? It?s hard to believe otherwise.

My own limited voter conversations showed deep concern about traffic and the Tysons train mess in those precincts, as well. I believe I lost so decisively in these areas because many voters simply had no idea who I was?except as Linda Smyth?s final mailers depicted me.

It once was said of George W. Bush that he was born on third base and thought he?d hit a triple. Linda Smyth and Gerry Connolly began this race with huge structural advantages.

If they wish to take this race, and this result, as a mandate, I?ll be disappointed. The widespread discontent we?ve talked about for three years is no longer a matter of conjecture. It?s a proven reality.

If Smyth, Connolly and the board continue to ignore community concerns as they press forward with high-density development, as well as the widely hated elevated train, public frustrations will only grow.

I want to close this posting with one overpowering impression from Tuesday, when I sprinted from polling station to polling station. I was deeply moved by the hunger that voters personally expressed to be heard with courtesy and respect. My greatest sorrow this year is that I won?t have the chance to represent those voters.

But I believe the long-term path for Providence District, and Fairfax County as a whole, is now clear. People are not anti-development, but they want a voice in their county?s future. They?re tired of being called NIMBYs, and they?re tired of feeling unheard and unprotected whenever they come in conflict with an aggressive developer.

As RaisingKaine rightly identified, and Gerry Connolly wrongly diagnosed, this is not a battle between Republicans and Democrats. It is a divide between New Democrats, or Reform Democrats, and an old guard of Establishment Democrats whose leader, Gerry Connolly, has excessively tied his political future to the development industry.

It is an old guard that has gone out of its way to define any outsiders, however Democratic in their identity and behavior, as Republicans. That?s a tired, dishonest tactic that simply has to be discarded.

Tuesday night, minutes after learning the hard news that I had lost, I told a reporter that this was one of the greatest party-building exercises in the history of Providence District. The 2,300-plus voters who turned out for Linda were a tribute to what the Establishment Party has put together for many years. But many of the 2,000-plus people who voted for me had never voted in a Democratic primary, or even known there were Democratic primaries for supervisors.

Before Tuesday, they had lived outside the Establishment?s orbit. Yet for this primary, they came in numbers and with passion. They are angry and frustrated now, but if the county government and Democratic party can truly embrace them, Tuesday?s new voters can form a promising new generation of Democrats.

Will the Fairfax County Democratic Party welcome them? It will help if party leaders, including Linda Smyth and Gerry Connolly, do their part in healing the divisions this election exposed. They can acknowledge that many communities near the development are angry, and do a better job of reaching out to them. And they can acknowledge that the new voters, and I, may be a different flavor of Democrat than they are used to, but that we are honest Democrats, nonetheless.

I?ve already been approached by some party members, asking me to get more involved in Democratic politics. I hope I will get that opportunity. Making the Democratic label synonymous with good, open, citizen-friendly government at the local level is crucial to winning at the state level.

A victory Tuesday for me might have seemed, to some, like a revolution. I hope the two emerging wings of the Providence District and Fairfax County party can, in the coming months, start becoming a model of positive evolution.

Long as this posting is, I can?t wrap up without a statement of my personal thanks to, and admiration for, RaisingKaine (and for notlarrysabato).

Political blogs can seem like a food fight. I earnestly wish posters on all sides would use their full names and understand that in most cases we agree more than we disagree, and express ourselves accordingly. But even with its excesses, blogging is an important, and highly democratic, world. It will make traditional politics more honest, open and accountable.

Beginning with the League of Women Voters debate, RK helped redefine this race, making it a referendum not just about planning, but about openness. And RK itself was a model of openness, allowing candidates and voters from all sides to play on the same level field. One evening that I personally cherish, even in defeat, was the night I did an interactive live blog with voters on RaisingKaine.

On Tuesday, we lost, but we were heard, and we will be heard again. There is no question, after just a brief, one-month acquaintance, that the new journalist-commentators of RaisingKaine, as well as many other blogs, are here to stay. And for that, every Virginian should be grateful.

Comments

Thanks Charlie.... (Providence Voter - 6/14/2007 2:45:40 PM)

Thanks Charlie for this post, and even more for running an honest campaign and for not running away when the swiftboating started. I hope that we can move beyond those tactics.

I'm a life-long Democrat and yet I am embarrassed by the Fairfax Democratic Party. When the young woman outside my polling place asked for my name so that I might be updated on Democratic Party events I told her "No thank you. I'm sorry." I never thought I'd hear myself say that. I'm just an average voter. I don't look at people and judge them to be Democrats or Republicans. There are many like me in this County. We need to work together.

I posted this (below) elsewhere on RK, and I'm putting it here again in the hope that Linda Smith reads this blog and changes her website. She did not receive a mandate.

From her web site:
Welcome to the Linda Smyth for Supervisor website
A Progressive Leader Who Gets Results

Linda Smyth deeply appreciates the mandate of Providence voters who have re-elected her as the nominee on the Democratic ballot in November."

Wow (Doug in Mount Vernon - 6/14/2007 3:49:38 PM)

Again, Charlie demonstrates how much of a constructive voice in politics he really is.

It was your own writing and advocacy that won me over, Charlie. I'm afraid you are right--had more people been able to hear what you had to say, instead of what the Strong-Arm Gang had to say in their slick glossies about you, you would be Providence Supervisor today.

I do hope that you will get more involved in the Democratic Party--we need you, and good, honest, competent voices like yours in our midst.

I also greatly admire your hope that "we can work together" in the Party between the Reform and Establishment groups. I wish I was as optimistic as you, but after having seen how they operate for the last 3 years, I'm not.

One thing I would plead with everyone about, however--we MUSTN'T let this internal struggle derail us from our shared and important goal of electing a Democratic Senate in Virginia this fall--that is crucial for even a hope of such constructive governing in Virginia after this fall. Let's have our internal disagreement, but do it with the class and respect that Charlie demonstrates.

Clean up our own house, but make sure we clean up in the Virginia Senate as well.

Thanks for running (varealist - 6/14/2007 5:40:03 PM)

Charlie,

Thanks for running and providing another voice. Too often, those in elected office run as though they are entitled to be in the position. Too often, they will do anything to keep power as was demonstrated against you with the silly Republican attacks. Still today, Boss Connolly continues his smear of you in the Falls Church News Press:

>Fearful that a low voter turnout could tip the balance in favor of the energized voter base supporting Hall, Fairfax County Board Chair Gerry Connolly and other key party leaders spearheaded an effort to ?get out the vote? for Smyth.

Connolly was ecstatic with the result in comments to the News-Press yesterday. ?We got a higher turnout in this race than came out for the U.S. Senate primary a year ago,? he quipped.

He said he considered it a ?validation? for the entire Fairfax County Board and ?its progressive agenda,? including efforts on affordable housing, transit-oriented development and environmentally-sensitive ?cool county? initiatives.

In addition, he said, party supporters in the county were shocked by published reports that Hall met with a powerful leader of the GOP, Rep. Tom Davis, in January when he allegedly sought Davis? advise on whether to run as a Republican or Democrat.

Connolly also charged Hall, who he said had been ?relentlessly biting on the heels? of Smyth for four years, with ?blatantly appealing to GOP voters to vote for him in the Democratic primary.? Connolly represented the Providence District, himself, prior to his successful run for the County Chair job four years ago. Smyth had been on his staff.
>

http://www.fcnp.com/...

This is truly sad that people in power are this arrogant and won't concede that there are problems. Fairfax is not a utopia. He doesn't speak for me when he says I was shocked you met with Davis. He's had dinner with Davis, as reported by The Post. Apparently, those are different rules.

I voted for you and would vote for you again. I hope you'll appear on another ballot and get involved in the Democratic party...to show Boss Connolly and others that yes, there's another direction that many people want to take only if they would honestly listen and that he doesn't speak for all Democrats.

Thanks! (bvincent - 6/14/2007 7:04:18 PM)

Charlie:

You are a class act, through and through. I have learned much from you in the last few years, but I probably learned the most in the last few months. You handled your self with grace despite some terrible curve balls (like the League debate).

Most importantly, you presented a clear and compelling message about the need for openness, good stewardship, and citizen participation. As noted by others, that message resonated loudly.

I hope you stay involved. You were an effective voice for citizens before announcing your candidacy and you can continue to be one.

I also hope you run again. Change takes time, but there is clearly an appetite for it. I wish I lived in Fairfax County so I could vote for you.

Class act (BettyLou - 6/14/2007 7:43:58 PM)

This phrase cannot be overused in describing your campaign. The conduct of the Hall campaign was in sharp contrast to the slimy, negative tactics used by your opponent, but I won't go there.

I pride myself in being a "small D" democrat and you're the type of "big tent" Democrat that the Fairfax party is sorely missing. What with Connolly and his "He met with Tom Davis so he's a Republican but I met with Tom Davis so I'm bi-partisan" rhetoric. Uh oh, I went there. Oh well.

Thanks again, Charlie. You gave us little people a voice. Please keep it up.