I've stayed out of the primary race in the 39th, and I intend to, but a persistent claim of bad politics seems to have followed the Galligan campaign. Somebody needs to get this out in the open.
I heard lots of complaints and rumors that the Galligan campaign had run a push poll against George Barker. I didn't hear from anyone who actually got the push-poll calls, but apparently the gist had to do with Barker being somehow "too old" to do a good job.
This seems a huge mistake from the Galligan campaign, if true. Considering that experience is one of Barker's key positives, and that the age of Democratic primary voters in Fairfax tends to skew upward, I got the feeling that the Galligan campaign had strongly turned off the early adopters in the room.
In light of Barker's 51 to 5 victory over Galligan in last night's straw poll, this may be the clearest indication on record that Fairfax voters don't like negative campaigning during primaries. Democratic primary voters are very angry about this: "No Democrats beating up other Democrats." "We don't eat our own."
I have great respect for both George Barker and Greg Galligan, and I hope that the remaining months of the campaign are conducted in a fashion that will best prepare the nominee to take back this critical seat from Republican Jay O'Brien.
[UPDATE: George Barker is 6 years YOUNGER than Jim Webb and an avid runner. Give me an F*in' break!]
Barack Obama is 45, but they say he's too young!
I see two reasonable (and just as likely) alternative story lines.
1) Galligan is running a regular poll, and like every other campaign in the world is testing negatives = Not a Push Poll
2) Ben Tribett went off script while calling for the Galligan campaign = Ben not the Campaign.
or maybe it really is a push poll
But like I said, let's not condemn this campaign until we actually at least ONE witness.
-Nate
PS: I think Barker crushed in the push poll b/c he is the institutional candidate, and these results may or may not be reflective of what happens in June, we'll how good Galligan is at reaching out to non-committee members that vote in primaries.
Greg is a great candidate. So is George. I want this to be about who is best suited to take on O'Brien, and I don't want an unfounded rumor to have the same negative effect on Greg in the Primary as it seems to have had in this straw poll.
I think it's an opportunity for Greg to get his own positive message out there: issues and values that wil allow him to connect with the voters in the district.
And it is an appropriate question, depending on the office (though not so much for a part-time legislative position). If McCain had not turned into a weasel, I'd have had questions about whether someone his age would have the stamina necessary to be president, a job that is very demanding and has been shown to visibly age occupants of that office. (It was clear Reagan wasn't all there his second term.)
And I agree, the last place we want to hear negative campaigning is in a Dem primary. (A real slugfest in a GOP primary, however, would be a tad amusing. It'll be interesting to see what happens between the two Repubs running for Potts' seat.)