Wow, Lowell has a big plate of crow to eat this morning for insulting 70% of the Democratic committees across Virginia and then being slapped around by the likes of Larry Byrne.

Thank god there are responsible adults in the Webb campaign like Larry Byrne who know what the party did and know the importance of unity.  Larry did not owe the party an apology.  Lowell did.

Lowell has always been quick to criticize, even when he was clueless like in this case, but slow to apologize until he has been called out by someone like Larry Byrne.

Thanks Larry.  Enjoy your crow, Lowell, and shut up for a while.  You know not what damage you have wrought.

You have done accomplished much through this once small forum. 

I appreciate your apology. Thank you.

I am SO ready to follow your advice to work to elect leaders who will work with our fabulous Governor for whom this blog was founded. 

I am ready to do my part to "Keep Virginia Moving Forward"!

Larry's statement on the matter is clear and to the point.  There's no value added by your gloating because you have a personal beef with Lowell.

Furthermore, while Lowell makes an occasional mistake (every one of us does) he has certainly put in an incredible effort and had a significant impact from the days before Webb was even running.  To tell him to "shut up" and accuse him of doing incredible damage after all the positive contributions he's made is just plain wrong.  Leave your personal vendetta out of this.

Larry provided a strong statement and it should be left at that. 

P.S. I was a bit disappointed to see Larry include Josh in his message.  While correct that Josh and Lowell were employed by the campaign and both are key members of RK, Josh, as far as I can tell, had nothing to do with the post in question.

Who is this guy?

Lowell, we tussled throught, but you played a big part in getting Webb elected. Take credit where it is due.

Larry Byrne is one of the GREATEST and MOST DEDICATED Democrats in VA.

Just my two cents, after 2 cycles of working with Larry.

While it may be a touchy issue, I do think it is time for more of the younger blogger generation to run for local Democratic committees, and time for these committees to welcome the new arrivals with open arms. 

While the Virginia Democratic party is full of sincere, committed people, parts of it have frankly gotten a little rusty over the years of being out of power, and could use an injection of new blood. 

This process may cause some friction, but both the old and new camps should use it as an opportunity to expand our base, raise our energy level, and enhance our ability to sharpen and disseminate the Democratic message.

I was having a hard time figuring out how to put it; you did so perfectly.  While there were undoubtedly many people in the Richmond area who worked tirelessly and did their part, there were some who were not as passionate and involved as I would have liked.  And yes; I think it made a huge difference in the election.

We have a lot of work to do.  I looked at the maps, and we have got a lot of blue love to spread.  So everyone celebrate, those who had hurt feelings - apologies made, let's move on - and starting Monday, let's see what went wrong, what could go better, and who we are running and when.

The time is now.  No breaks.

I don't know where you live so I can't comment on your local committe.  I can tell you that our committee is open to ALL.  We have a young blogger on our committee (if I told you who, you would know who I am).  We have many members under 25.

Frankly, one of my favorite activities is working on one of the new member outreach activities we started recently.  It is very rewarding to meet new Democrats of all ages and get them involved

Some times there is friction.  But if we are adults, we can work through it.  I was a newbie not too long ago.

PJ

It's hard to tell on here.  I was not replying to you, but to the comment above yours.

The comments are seperated by the indents.  If a comment is indented from the comment above it, then it is commenting directly on the comment above it.

If the comment is not indented from the comment above it (like with our comments), then both are commenting on the previous comment that is one "out-dent(?)" outside their common left side margin (I am starting to confuse myself.)

Anyway, in our case, it works out that my comment was meant for the post above yours.  I should have started with the posters name.  But that would have required too much common sense for me.

Again, sorry.

GL

to put the toothpaste back in the tube now.

Respect to Larry and Lowell, but this hasn't been a real discussion about the way things went for local chairs in some areas.

I agree with some of the things that Thomas Paine says, but not the way he says them. As a local chair of a rural committee, it was very difficult to get any information, materials or notice from the campaign. That is just the truth, and all the backtracking and apologies will not fix it.

We should consider ourselves very lucky that the race wasn't any closer, because it could have been lost completely in the areas that were ignored by the campaign. I am not speaking of any of the higher campaign staff; rather the regional office that I had little or no dealings with.

Larry seems to be saying that Lowell the RK diary writer is out of touch with Lowell the campaign employee. I don't know how this would be possible.

Their web site Raising Kaine draws from many different authors and the opinions there are reflective not of the campaign but of those who post there.

Who he might be talking about in this sentence I have no idea. It is intellectually dishonest to say that as a diary writer Lowell knew little of what he spoke about; rather it was a sentiment expressed by him that was inarticulate and poorly thought out.

I hope this doesn't hit people wrong. I haven't said 70% of what I really wanted to say, only 30%.

that after the euphoria settles a bit, we can do an honest assessment of what went right and what went wrong so we can fix it. '07 is going to be a crucial year for us, and we have to be in tip-top form.

Let's talk about this today.  The right questions are not being asked anyway.

Slights, mistakes, and missteps nothwithstanding Virginia Democrats are better and stronger than ever.  Let's leverage that.  As far as I am concerned, it is a straightforward task.

And to state the obvious, the primary beneficiaries of any public interpersonal miscommunication are not Democrats. 

In my  Valley precinct the only poll workers were young people - not affiliated with the party apparatus. Some of them not even old enough to vote!  That is a lack of Party vigor.

I'm still looking into WTF happened, but it isn't pretty.  I will note that the Allen campaign had plenty of shifts working the polls, assisted by the religious types pushing their amendment.  So what is the dem excuse?

I'm tired of Democrats feeling the need to slink around like some red-headed stepchild. I had people whispering their support like it was dangerous!  I want to see some pride, and I want to see it in a meaningful way - get your ass out to the polls and witness for your candidate. Jim Webb risked his reputation, the least his supporters can do is let their neighbors see the courage of conviction.  If it takes a teenager to do it, I'll vote for one as my Committee Chair.

that the local Dem Committee tried and just couldn't find more volunteers? Or are you saying the leadership and members just didn't come out themselves?

We packed the local Webb appearances. Hundreds attended a Party gathering.  I don't know whether it is an organizational thing, or a leadership thing.  There were no fundraisers to fill the gap of Webb campaign shortages.  It's like people were waiting for money to come from Webb - did they even understand the underdog nature of the thing?  And I'm most disappointed by the "whipped dog" behavior - dancing to the Republican whistle.

George Allen was the worst Virginia Senator in my voting memory and if that wasn't reason enough to get out and get him gone - what was?  We ended up shipping our money to Webbquarters, but next time it has to be done locally.

I took the day off to work the election, and expected the same of others. Guess I'll just have to be the change I'm looking for. I want to be a winner on a regular basis.
 

...but I worked my precinct the entire day (save a one hour mid-day break) and we continually had the repubs outnumbered by a 2 or 3 (and for a two hour period 4) to 1 ratio, I even sent one of my volunteers to another precinct so they could have a greater impact.

We were able to flank the repubs in every direction which allowed us to have first contact with voters regardless of which direction they approached (which meant we didn't have to simultaneously bellow over other poll workers from the amendment groups or repubs). For a repub poll worker to try to compete with any of us directly they would have to leave at least one voter pathway completely open.

Also, my volunteers were all voters in my precinct (I would have loved to have some young'ns to get them fired up about the democratic process and the Democratic party).

Loudoun County is emerging from a long period of being very red but we are winning the battles as well as the war in recent years (we are just now past the whispered support stage and now have voters proudly approaching our table for lit and stickers). We will work to ensure that our successes will continue and with effort they can be duplicated all over the commonwealth.

... (about 45 minutes away) to the Webb HQ so I could stop by if I was in the neighborhood to beg a box of lit or a cache of bumper stickers or yard signs (which I would almost always get to make me go away) but I didn't depend on them, I even bought the 'Born Fighting' bumper stickers and yard signs with my own money before the primary to make sure that the precincts in my district would have them (and I reused them in the general election).

as are all of us--would that all Democrats in leadership positions were as pro-active and on-fire as you.

...I'm just a grunt.

I am on the committee but we here in Loudoun are fortunate to have others far more talented than myself as leaders. Thom Beres and before him Steve Deak (among many others) have really set the stage for our success.

I simply do what is necessary (sometimes on my own initiative or when an opportunity presents itself) for causes and candidates that inspire me. We have been blessed with a string of outstanding candidates in recent years (Mark Warner, Tim Kaine, David Poisson, Mark Herring, Judy Feder, Bruce Roemmelt) and we have won our share. Now we are working to increase our share...

every bit of usefull info that i have learned about senator Webb came from this website or daily kos.I'm in culpeper and the democratic party seems invisible here.It's all my fault.Oh yeah Edwards in 08.

I'm glad to hear that you are a blog reader and now a blog contributor.  Please feel free to contribute whenever you want - the more people who participate the stronger we'll all be as bloggers and Democrats/Progressives.

(but the crunchy is far superior, IMHO.)

Any chance YOU can be the instrument of change in Culpeper?

I understand the apology given by Larry Byrne.  The campaign needs to be appreciative and positive.

But I also understand the original comments made by Lowell.

Hopefully - there will be a debriefing of some kind - privately- and the Webb campaign will review what worked and what didn't and just where their support came from. 

If Democrats get arrogant and smug - we won't get any bigger or any smarter.  Jim Webb attracted a lot of voters -not just Democrats.  And don't you forget it. 

It's up to us not to let them forget it, don't you think?

And, IMHO, it's not just the Webb campaign that needs to do a debriefing of some kind, but the DPVA and the local Dem committees. Actually, I'm pretty sure that's in the works.

Mr. Byrne's comments remind me of some of the things I heard over the last four months from the establishment Dems I met around the state. I am brand new to campaigning, but I paid close attention to how the "business as usual" Dems acted during this campaign. As a strong supporter of Jim Webb, and a stronger believer in the  importance of the outcome for the preservation of our principles of American government, I was somewhat dissappointed in the Dem machine.

I gratefully acknowledge the hard work of the Dem infrastructure. Without it we could not have won. But without folks like Lowell and Josh and bloggers and those that respond to blogs and those that use "phony" names on blogs and many people who don't know where their local Dem Committee meets, we would have lost.

When Mr. Byrne says, that Lowell (I assume he includes all of us outside a Dem Committee) has "little knowledge of what the Dem Committees across the Commonwealth did," he is dead wrong.  You can't be involved in this campaign day in and day out without learning what was being done and not being done. It is these new sets of eyes and ears from the front lines that do, in fact, know. It is their critique that will be very valuable for the future.

It appears that Mr. Byrne has yet to realize that we voted for change, that the tidal wave has hit, and that it ain't going to be "business as usual." This means change in the Dem Party too.  This is no time for Party insiders to get defensive. Our victory is proof that some old ideas were best discarded and that a new perspective is healthy for the Party.

Larry, we appreciate what you and the Committees did. Many of us will be joining and working in their local Committees for the first time. But frankly, there are lots of new and valuable people on this train, so you'd better hang on tight cause we are moving on.

As a committee member and one of the original Webb volunteers, I welcome you and I hope you stick with it. They might seem "clubby" at first--don't let it discourage you. They might get defensive--don't let it dissuade you. You CAN be an instrument of change, understanding that change for its own sake is not the goal; there are many things to learn from the old-timers and vice-versa. We NEED new people. Next year is a pivotal one for Virginia and we CANNOT do it alone. Everybody MUST work together if we are going to take back the State Senate.

 

...join your local committee, you get a vote and a voice in determining where we go next (you also get responsibility, no more moaning about how 'they' screwed it up).

Get involved in the races that don't appear on Hardball, Every seat we control in the State Senate, House of Delegates, Boards of Supervisors, School Boards, etc. allows us to do more to improve the lives of Virginians AND greases the skids for electoral victory up ticket (we need to have a larger voice in redrawing the districts in a few years).

Perhaps you are one of those special few who will one day run for office, the support network you will have built through your committee will be invaluable...

A little constructive criticism - and the snide remarks come out.

Sound like a Republican - a little to testy for my comfort.

What is that adage?  "me thinks thou doest protest to much"?

Mr Byrne may be a very well respected Democratic leader in Virginia but his snide remarks about blogs reveals someone who doesn't understand the power of the Netroots. If it weren't for blogs, can we say that "Macaca" would have ever seen the light of day in the mainstream media?

He and his wife, Leslie Byrne, who is a former state senator and who made history as the first woman to be elected from Virginia to the U.S. House of Representatives, were among the earliest supporters of Jim Webb.  It was their credibility with organized labor that got Webb his early union support in the primary and it was Larry's role in Webb's campaign that contributed immeasurably to Webb's victory.  And Larry was not dissing the blogosphere.

He's trying to keep unity in the party.  I think he said what he had to and issued the public apology he had to as a spokesman for the Webb campaign. 

Nevertheless, many of us heard the bitter remarks that some activiists, and yes even party leaders in NOVA, made during the campaign.  Could they have helped more?  Yes. 

Will their less than graciousness be remembered?  Yes.

Will it help to rub their noses in it?  No.

Webb won.  We have races in 07.  We really will need them because they are experienced and capable.  We also will need all those enthusiastic volunteers who entered the party through the blogosphere.  Political parties that win are those that know how to build coalitions rather than cut each other's throats.

Let's move on.

To say that Mr. Byrne does not know something or anything apparently means you do not know Larry Byrne or the work he did in this campaign.

You stated Larry Byrne, "may be a very well respected Democratic leader in Virginia", there is no may in that - HE IS A DEMOCRATIC LEADER!

Larry gets the big picture.  Do you?

Thank you Larry for all you do!  For all you have done!  For all you will do to keep our party strong!  And, for taking all the late night phone calls!

I don't think anyone disagrees that a post-mordem of the campaign is a good thing.  But publicly insulting 70% of the Democratic chairs is not, particularly when the author of the diary later apologizes and admits he is wrong,

If we are going to do a public review of the campaign, let's look at both sides -- the activities of the Democratic Party "establishment" AND the how the Webb campaign functioned.

Tink called for "a debriefing of some kind - privately- and the Webb campaign will review what worked and what didn't and just where their support came from."  Quite frankly, that comment is downright scary, and I am not even a party leader.  Tink describes a withhunt or a lynch mob with a goal of purging or cleansing the party, not an analysis of what worked inside and outside the Webb campaign.

Conversely, should we start a diary on RK where all of those party members,party leaders, disgruntled Webb volunteers, and other Monday-morning quarterbacks who have complaints about the Webb campaign can air the dirty laundry?

I don't think so.

We need to have positive discussions within the Party since, in a matter of days, the Webb campaign will no longer exist as an organization.  We need to analyze the election, not insult, condemn, or purge those who didn't share the same degree of enthusiasm, but worked hard anyway.  All of you may hate me, but the fact is I worked hard for Webb and have barely blogged since the days leading up to the primary. 

If you go back and look at the biography of the first Thomas Paine, you will realize that my sometimes unpopular and over-the-top efforts at truth and common sense mirror the original Mr. Paine's writings and personality.  Besides, much of what is said on this blog about others is far more extreme.

and most would consider you at the very least, a local party leader.

We should let Tink speak for himself/herself, of course, but I do think you have misunderstood what he/she wrote. I didn't read it as a call for a witchhunt or lynch mob, but for a very necessary review of what went wrong and what went right and what we need to fix. What on earth is objectionable with that? Seems perfectly reasonable and desirable to me. 

LAS, You are absolutely correct that a full review of work by the various Democratic committees and the various campaigns should be done. It will help Democrats plan better for the future.

I'll bet that some of the party committee leaders will have issues of their own to raise about coordination and communications between the campaigns themselves and between the campaigns and the party.  These concerns are just as important as concerns about the party by Webb volunteers.  Let's find out what concerns the Feder, Hurst, Moran, O'Donnell, and Kellum campaigns had, as well.

You are also right on in suggesting the party needs new blood.  It always needs new people who are willing to work for ALL Democratic candidates.  Certainly many committee members will focus on one Democratic candidate or another and there was nothing wrong with one member focusing on Webb while another focused on Feder or Hurst.

People have to understand that being a member of a Democratic committee requires one to support all Democratic candidates and not support Republicans or independents - ever.  This last piece of the equation is sometimes hard for people to swallow, but those are the rules and I believe all committee members are required to sign a document stating as much.

So, we are not really far apart in what we are seeking.  I just want to make sure any review is productive and has a positive outcome.  I worry that some folks will seek to use a review to punish or ostracize folks they don't like or use the process to make claims, whether intentional or not, that later prove to be false.

TP, you're doing yourself a disservice; you don't need to tell someone "I told you so" when the point has been made by someone else. If anything, you probably dilute the effect of the Byrne comment by adding anything more. I said earlier, we need to start out assuming that committees need help from above and the Party needs help from committees, and both need to reach out to each other. Volunteers, local committees, and party central all need more help then they are getting. A good "post-mortem" will have nothing to do with pointing fingers, but all involved need to come to an understanding of what are realistic expectations and how to pitch in beyond that from time to time. Those lessons learned can also help provide strategies of how to respond to those times when the egos of others get in the way, because it will happen in a bruising campaign. I said earlier today it sounds like committees may need help on how to recognize when those potentially damaging events occured, help - or even force - those people to take a break and step aside to lick their wounds, and welcome them back when they are ready. If we assume we are all trying our best, we will have better luck to achieve it.

Larry

Thank you so much for your kind words.

I apologize if I overreacted.

Lowell has done a lot to help promote on the blogs the candidacy of Webb this year and Tim Kaine last year.

However, it is incorrect to attack the Committees.  Are there some individuals that did not put their heart and soul into supporting Webb?  Of course, and that happens in every election.  However, it does little good (and alot of harm)to keep beating up on such people in public.  Larry is correct that the outsiders do not have a good handle on what the Committees actually did this year.

The simple fact is that the Committees played an instrumental role in this election.  At least in Northern Virginia, the Committees played a more central role this year than in any election in recent memory.

If bloggers and party outsiders want to join the committees they are welcome - lord knows we need the new blood.  However, I would not cast stones until you understand the hard work that the Committees do and, frankly, I would not join if you are not up to doing that hard work or if you see your primary function as blogging. 

Blogging may have a role in todays elections, but it is entirely different than what is expected of a Committee member.  I think that was one of Larry's points:  Someone who is a dedicated Committee member will find they do not have the time to blog on a regular basis.

I think after reading and re-reading this post the basic problems seems to be understanding and the role the various CD committees performed.  It may be just as simple as knowing the specific role and or value that the various CD's bring to the process.  If they do not bring value then perhaps they are a hindrance?

But again all of this is based on not knowing the strategy and expectations.  I think that communication and understanding how the various components are pulled together to make a campaign a success is what is missing in all of the comments.  You have new energized individuals involved in the campaign that want to keep the momentum moving.  Today is the new that we keep them and make them part of the process.

In 2006 - the most important thing of reviewing the election, is that not anyone component was the reason for success.  It was the Candidate, the party, the volunteers, the blogs, the GOTV and the mistakes of the other party and candidate.

All of those came together to create a victory.  But knowing that - then the next question would be - where would we be if just a fraction of those components breaks down (i.e. no Macca!).

How can we still product winning results. 

I have been a member of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee from the Braddock District for 12 years and a blogger for about 2 years.

It's all necessary.  Blogging is a means of communication just as writing letters to the editor of newspapers is.  Every campaign strategy includes trying to get letters to editors published.  Just as campaigns try to get people to put up yard signs and pass out campaign literature. It's all getting the message out.  Blogging is just another communications tool in the kit.  It's one more way of getting out the campaign's message and the candidates name.

As such, it should be a welcome addition.  If activists don't welcome bloggers, they'll be handicapping campaigns the way we did by letting Republicans dominate direct mailing and then talk radio for years.  We finally got the jump in a new area of communications.  That should be applauded.  And we should all work together.

We all did what we could, and we learned that there's more to do.

These are the salad days and we all deserve hearty congratulations. There are better ways to encourage increased participation and I would like to see more praise for those who did so much and made such a huge difference.

This is a magnificent moment not only in Virginia politics, but in American history and everyone who was remotely involved deserves high praise indeed.

I've gotten grateful comments from around the world and those belong to everyone who contributed to Jim Webb's historic victory.

Congratulations to one and all and thank you for everything that you have done.

worked their butts off!! we bought and put up over 100 4x4 foot signs throughout the city. I set up precinct workers and on election day got non stop calls for more literature and the webb campaign delivered. hey folks, it's a grassroots thing. so get over it, join a committee and have fun. we were exhausted but we delivered.
do whatever you can.

Larry, this was over the top and unnecessary. Is it your Napolean Complex that pushed you to write your apology and condemn Josh, a man who was so dedicated to the Webb campaign, yet you threatened him in person and seem to have succeeded in ending his political career? Do you remember that Lowell and Josh recruited Jim Webb to run for Senate? Do you have the bollocks to give them credit and praise or do you just have the ego to put them down publicly and pretend that you are the only person that mattered in getting Webb elected? If you have an ounce of dignity, you will send your next apology to Lowell and Josh and do so, on this bloody blog! Or step back into your high heeled boots and tease your hair up a few inches more and go on being the wanker that this apology exposes you as.....talk about a buzz kill for such a supreme victory for VA!