Here's the flier under discussion. (Lowell - 6/11/2007 5:54:47 AM)
No sign of the word "Republican" anywhere. Or are you guys talking about another flier?
However, I just read George Barker's latest mailing asking REPUBLICANS along with Independents to vote for him in the DEMOCRATIC primary.
It's either that he is desperate to win, and will get any vote he can or he doesn't to win the Democratic nomination the honest way.
How? Winning the majority of Democratic voters in his district. That's what you do when your running for your party's nomination. Your asking your party to decide who best represents the Democratic Party for that race.
If George Barker wants to win Republican voters over, he should have run in the GOP Primary and not in the Democratic primary.
We all know of his dirty campaign hits against Greg Galligan. Greg Galligan serves his country in the U.S. Army Reserve. Greg Galligan has never gone negative.
Greg Galligan is the not only the best DEMOCRATIC candidate to defeat Republican Jay O'Brien but he truly represents the ideals and values of a united Democratic Party.
Vote for change and not the negative divisive politics of the past, vote for Greg Galligan.
Since the Barker campaign only sent mail to people it believed to be Democrats (remember, there are no party registrations in Virginia) or leaning Democratic, how do you say it was intended to win over Republicans?
Do you think George thought that the Dems would suddenly run out over the next 2 days and show this one mailer to their Republican neighbors?
Last week another blogger claimed Barker was using Greg's father to slam Galligan -- it turned out they misread the mailer. It was actually a Galligan mailer they thought was slamming Greg. I am still waiting for that blogger to issue an apology to Barker.
One note -- I don't think that Galligan has anything to do with these attacks. They seem to be going on without his knowledge.
And that's just a mailer. God knows what they are doing behind the scenes.
The front of the flier says the following:
Democrats have a lot at stake in Tuesda's primary for State Senate -- June 12 (the emphasis is mine.)
The back side has the following:
"George Barker is the Democrat with the Experience to Win in November" followed by quotes from Gerry Connolly, Toddy Puller and Dana Kaufman. Then there is a long list of elected officials in Fairfax and Prince William Counties who have endorsed Geroge Barker. At the bottom of the card is a cite to Barker's web site (www.barkerforsenate.com), the attribution line, and this reminder "Remember to vote in the Democratic Primary, Tuesday, June 12."
That is it. That is everything that is on the flier.
DAVE -- YOU OWE GEORGE AN APOLOGY!
I do not agree that he has gone negative. There is a difference between negative and pointing out the differences between the two candidates.
That neutralizes O'Brien's edge with many of us who are pro-gun (and like O'Brien's mild pro-gun stance) but are not too keen on O'Brien's nanny-state and anti-immigrant tendencies.
I did post something negative about Greg. That was not part of Barker's campaign. His campaign did not ask me to post it and I stand by it and take full responsibility for it. But George has not posted or leveled anything negative (except for the recent flier).
On the other hand, as I have recently pointed out, you and other bloggers have been posting unsubstantiated and inaccurate charges against George for 6 months. One of your fellow bloggers took it on himself to launch a baseless attack on me and other hardworking Democrats in an attempt to knock George. His web site still has a baseless accusation against George on its front page, one which you have repeated.
And you have the nerve to say the Barker campaign is "Negative?"
Show us where or apologize to George!
BARKER'S MAIL!!!
Or was he talking about Galligan so much because he was trying to get a running start on promoting him for the general? We all know he loves running.
Barker did one comparison piece to show the different qualifications of the two candidates. Was anything in there inaccurate? If so, please give a specific example. SHOW US THE EVIDENCE There is a difference between a negative campaign and a factual campaign. You may not like the facts, but they are important for the voters.
So again, I say, if you have examples, post them, give cites to them, give something that we can verify. Otherwise, all you have is, to quote Shakespeare
It is a tale told by an idiot*
full of sound of fury
signifying nothing."
* -- no offense intended.
What I have seen is evidence of the exact opposite...that George is running a very effective and focused campaign!
Barker's campaign has been absolutely disgusting.
I am talking about:
1) the fake voter guide
2) the most recent hit piece on Galligan's previous race against O'Brien and absences from certain committee meetings.
Webster's for you my good friend:
as opposed to positive:
I know it's really hard to understand this, so I'll break it down further.
It's okay for Barker to run on the slogan "Experience Matters" or to talk about how he is THE most experience candidate, etc. All of those are examples of positive campaigning. But it becomes "negative" when he talks in a non-positive way about Greg Galligan. Got that?
No sign of the word "Republican" anywhere. Or are you guys talking about another flier?
Also interesting, George put Janet Olezsek on the flier that you posted Lowell, and it appears that she has since asked him to remove her name from the website as an endorsement. Perhaps in response to George's negative campaign?
The last thing of interest coming from the Barker campaign is that Barker canvassers were on the doors this weekend, and at least one voter opened the door and heard the Barker campaign say, first thing: "Are you concerned that Greg Galligan is 32 and still lives at home with his mother?" Desperation is a hell of a thing, especially when it leads you to send out kids to disparage your opponent for moving home to care for your ill father and your mother.
How many of the other endorsements did he make up?
When I spoke with Janet she was SHOCKED her name was on anything. It is VERY clear that she never authorized it to be used for any candidate in a primary.
I urge anyone who wants to hear more about this to email Janet directly at joleszek@erols.com or call her at home (number is in the phone book, I won't list it here). BEFORE YOU VOTE YOU SHOULD KNOW IF GEORGE BARKER LIED ABOUT HIS ENDORSEMENTS.
In my opinion, by lying about his endorsements George has forfeited his right to the nomination.
Dear RK Community,
I have been very surprised and saddened to see a private misunderstanding between George and myself turn into public attacks on his integrity. I wanted to write a post today to clear up any confusion on the matter.
George Barker and I have been friends for nearly 20 years. When we met in December to discuss our respective races for State Senate, I told George he was the ideal candidate and had my full support.
Later, I reflected on whether it was appropriate for me to get involved in a Democratic primary, and decided that it was not. There was a miscommunication on this matter between George and myself, and I remained on the list of endorsers. When this was brought to my attention, I called George, and he promptly removed my name.
Again, I would like to be clear: I only removed my endorsement because I thought it was not appropriate for a candidate for State Senate to get involved in a primary in another Senate district.
This is a regrettable error in communication between George and myself, and I hope this post puts the issue to rest. Starting tomorrow, we all must work together on the real battle of defeating Jay O'Brien, Ken Cuccinelli, Jeannemarie Devolites, and all of the other Republicans who have done so little to help improve our quality of life here in Fairfax.
Janet Oleszek
Democratic Candidate for Virginia's 37th State Senate District
The right man won tonight!!!
George Barker is asking for GOP Votes, it's disgusting and it clearly shows he's desperate. I can't wait for this primary to be over with.