I just had a long talk with David H. Miller, who yesterday announced that he was withdrawing as a candidate for Fairfax County Clerk of Court. Miller had a great deal to say, and I'm just going to lay it out there without commentary:*According to Miller, Gerry Connolly did NOT force him from the race. Instead, both Connolly and Sharon Bulova told him "you gotta do what you gotta do, we'll support you 100% either way."
*Lee Supervisor Dana Kauffmann was "one of the first to encourage me to run." Dana probably won't run, "wants to give up politics."
*Miller claims that former campaign manager Ginny Peters went to the Washington Post and told them that he was pulling out BEFORE he had made that decision. He says he is "pissed the decision was made for me."
*He says "when Ginny spoke to the Post...that was the last straw," adding that he got "tired of looking incompetent." He also says that "Ginny never once talked to me about quitting" the race.
*He was advised by Ginny Peters and George Burke not to respond when "the stuff with Ben [Tribbett] started," and that was a mistake. Miller believes that he should have responded, not listened to the advice [from Ginny and George] that he could never win on Ben's "terrain."
*"Ginny and George are uncomfortable with the blogs," are "old school" and have not caught up with the "technology revolution."
*Miller says he had been hoping to act as "a bridge" between young people and his generation (Miller is 58 years old). He believes Democrats need to "embrace young people," which is why he's involved at NOVA and George Mason.
*A key lesson he learned from this campaign is that "reality is perception and perception is reality." You have to respond to attacks or they become "reality."
*His wife had been a "stalwart," but finally "came up to me and said, 'I've had it, I can't put up with [all the attacks] anymore.'"
*Ben Tribbett "never tried to contact me...if I fell over him, I wouldn't know what he looked like." Miller adds about Ben, "I think he's a liar, I think he's a coward."
*Despite that, Miller believes he made a mistake in not reaching out to Ben. The "burden of proof should have been on me...that was my mistake." Miller adds that he "reached out to a LOT of people Ginny [Peters] told me not to engage with."
*"FCDC members are very committed Democrats, but there's a lot of pettiness." He hopes there will be a change in leadership at FCDC, has great respect for Steve Bunn and Scott Surovell (although he adds that "Scott's another one Ginny doesn't like").
*Who will take Miller's place on the ticket? He doesn't know, "maybe Rip Sullivan?"
*"Democrats are overconfident that [Fairfax] County is blue."
*"With Gerry and so many Democrats not being seriously challenged, turnout [this November] is going to be a challenge."
*Overall, Miller feels that "our people are fat and happy," and is worried that this will mean low turnout For Democrats in November. He admits he "could be wrong."
*On primary day last year, he "thought Harris Miller was going to kick Webb's ass." He was "surprised as shit that Webb won."
And really he makes a lot of great points that shows he had some insight going for him. Maybe Nova Dems aren't hungry enough? I think it's a mixture of complacency and perhaps an assumption of futility ("they've had seven months, why haven't they impeached everyone and dissolved the department of defense?").
And he had a fair point about Harris Miller. A couple weeks after the primary, a lot of people I talked to with experience and insight still couldn't believe Webb edged out Miller. Webb had a good resume that attracted a groundswell of grassroots support (which is great, he would never have won anything otherwise). But Miller frankly worked harder. He worked harder at his fundraising, he was better-rehearsed for public appearances, and he was willing to invest in himself. Miller only lost because the grassroots activists found it impossible to ignore Webb's credentials as an officer, journalist and scholar, and so denied him their support.
I think the party wahoos should know when to butt out instead of trying to be so all knowing. These are the same people who resisted Webb. Anybody think Harris Miller would be our senator now if Webb hadn't run?
The party know-it-alls didn't realize the Webb candidacy would be charmed. If Webb's Sidarth had not taken pictures of Allen and recorded the macaca event and a man with Webb's character had not run Democrats would not now head all the committees in the senate. Something tells me these party regulars have become a sticky wheel.
Frankly, most organized religions that are today respected started as minority cults that were viewed suspiciously by the majority.
Miller also got bad advice on how to deal with the attacks. In short, the blogger attacked and Miller got the advice of the Bob Shrum wing of the local party who never got the memo that if you're Swiftboated you've got to answer the attack.
Having said that, the one thing that probably legitimately did him in was the unpaid taxes. That one did deserve to publicized. But the other stuff was simply a smear.
**I take full responsibility for my campaign. I received a lot of advice from many people but ultimately the decisions were mine.
**With respect to Scientology, I have had the privilege of representing a host of clients and issues during my 25 years of practice in Washington. These have included the Mayo Clinic, American Airlines, Colonial Williamsburg and many others. The Scientology issue dealt with discrimination against individuals on the basis of their religious beliefs. Discrimination on the basis of gender, race or religious beliefs/thought is wrong.
**My comment regarding Harris Miller/Jim Webb was merely to illustrate the results of complacency. I truly believe that Northern Virginia Democrats can once again garner the energy and enthusiasm that was demonstrated for Kaine and Webb to lead our candidates to victory in November and turn Fairfax blue.
**As usual, Ben Tribbett is wrong. His comments had nothing to do with a very personal decision between my wife and me. I do however think that he is not good for the party and his comments are certainly divisive, destructive and in accepting $300 for a blog ad for the Republican Nominee for Commonwealth Attorney, I think his true colors are apparent.
**Regarding the party nomination for Clerk of Court, I think that both Dana Kaufmann and Rip Sullivan would be excellent candidates but have no idea as to whether either or both are interested or have been approached about the pending nomination.
**Finally, I was gratified to learn that a number of people pursued the links that I provided in my letter of withdrawal (www.millerforclerk.com). My objective, as previously stated, was to re-focus attention on the dismal record of the Republican incumbent and I believe that I have achieved that objective.
David Miller
That said, I also believe that blogs need to know when to exercise self-control, judgement, tact and decency. There are some blogs that make me feel like I need to take a shower after reading them.
We need to police ourselves to ensure that the blogosphere more closely resembles open citizen-based democracy than a gaping, stinking cesspool.