FitzSimmonds for State Senate

What are the smears? How are they connected to Connaughton? Why would Connaughton need to "smear" Fitzsimmonds? Is there any reason to believe that Connaughton pays much attention to Fitzsimmonds? Fitzsimmonds is openly hostile toward Connaughton, but I've never heard Connaughton say anything publicly against Fitzsimmonds. Is it possible that instead of a cult smear, there are just a smattering of comments pro and con about Fitzsimmonds as one would expect about any candidate?

What, was this a secret? I never know ANYTHING secret ahead of time, and I knew he was running over a month ago. He's had his kickoff scheduled forever.

Charles- no of course not a secret. Just first public confirmation in the press. Sorry to give an impression otherwise.

NOVA Scout- I'd say calling him a "nut-job conservative" and saying he could only win a hot dog eating contest is a childish smear... not a rational discussion of the merits of his candidacy. And there is plenty more like that coming from the Cult of Connaughton. I've seen little rational dialogue.

A little hard to get to analytical about the merits of his candidacy until we learn more about him and know who his opponents will be. I wouldn't worry too much about the "nut-job conservative" thing. I assume that comes from Dems, not conservative republicans who support
connaughton. the hot-dog eating contest reference is a little sophomoric, but I think it was a jab at bob's physique. a lot of that kind of thing goes around in the blogworld. Generally, I think it's tongue-in-cheek and not particularly meaningful.

Sophrosyne, it's "Chairman Sean's Cult of Personality," and it's copyrighted.

All rights reserved.

Could you guys explain to me what Connaughton has to do with FitzSimmonds? I'm still missing the link on this. I suspect Connaughton would be perplexed too, if he ever wasted his time with this stuff.

NoVA Scout, I believe that you've missed the point. It's certainly not "what Connaughton has to do with FitzSimmonds"; it's what his Cult of Personality has to do with it. There are those (you among them) who worship at the alter of Chairman Sean. To that end, they suggest that he run for anything, or everything.

I don't personally know if Chairman Sean has given the issue a second thought. I certainly don't think he has given his Cult of Personality marching orders on the issue. The nice thing about a Cult of Personality is that its members will do what they believe is in their principle's interests, without regard to whether it actually is, and with complete deniability, too.

You're out of touch, James. A lot of us just happen to like Sean personally and respect him for the job he's done in PW. If you consider me an avatar of Connaughton-ism, then you should know that I don't think he should run for anything in the near-term. He's done an exemplary job and should rest on his laurels until 2009.

So, what does this have to do with FitzSimmonds? Among us "cult" members, I don't hear very many saying Sean should square-off against Fitzsimmonds. It would be too much of a mismatch and too much of a step back for someone of Sean's stature. I'm trying to learn about Fitzsimmonds, but the biographical stuff seems a little hard to come by so far. In any event, I think it would be a backward step for Sean to run for a State Senate seat (no matter who else was interested). The only reason to do it would be to prevent a GOP loss if Colgan retires. If Colgan goes another round, I don't think he would be very easy to defeat for any R.

There you go again, NoVA Scout, with the insults. [Whiny voice]: "You're out of touch, James."

I'd say that someone who purports to be active in Northern Virginia GOP politics who doesn't know Bob FitzSimmonds is more "out of touch" than someone who recognizes the Connaughton Cult of Personality, and your role in it.

And in the first comment that I'll actually make about Connaughton, he may well be a very likable guy, personally. I hear Bill Clinton is, too. But I've never had the chance to get to know either, as Chairman Sean has done very little to reach out to Conservatives in PWC. As for "respect[ing] him for the job he's done in PW," people like you can't even ADMIT some of "the job he's done in PW," i.e., raising property taxes precipitously.

It's difficult to imagine how one can respect something one can't even admit and tries, at every avenue, to hide.

James: I know who Fitzsimmonds is (i.e, I recognize him on sight), but I don't know much about his professional career, his family, his military service, his community service, or his educational background. If he's so prominent that everyone but me is very familiar with his accomplishments in these areas, I should have no trouble educating myself. But after asking around about him, more out of curiosity than anything, nobody in the most loquacious of environments seems to have much to say. I'm sure it will all be revealed in the fullness of time.

Sorry you don't like my voice. There are some things we can't change. I've had to live with it far longer than you, so think how I feel.