Wow, the stench of Alexandria Democratic politics keeps on making the Blue Plains Wastewater Treatment Plant in D.C. smell like a rose garden! For Alexandria Republican City Committee members, this must be like the gift that keeps on giving, especially with the fact that new allegations are exposed, every day, in regards to the cowardly and nefarious PAC that Gail Gordon, and now Danny Barefoot, were both involved with, to try to sully the reputation of Boyd Walker, who, as I've mentioned before, would never ever have been elected anyway. Plus, if you're Boyd Walker, he's got to be thinking that he's getting more press attention for his very weak and tragically underfunded campaign that he could never have expected, let alone paid for. Gail Gordon, Danny Barefoot, and crew, have mistakenly given Boyd Walker more time in the spotlight than he probably deserves, but nonetheless, it shows how crooked and devious the machinery of the Alexandria Democratic Committee REALLY is! And to think that both John Chapman and Sean Holihan didn't know anything about the PAC is a complete joke! How can either one of them feign ignorance on something that can be right under their noses. John 'fired' Gail, well, their still friends, and will Sean 'fire' his partner, Danny, as well? As a Democrat, I have always voted for Democratic candidates in any election, but with the stench that Gail Gordon and Danny Barefoot have cause, who can be trusted this Tuesday? Tragically, no one!

Whoa. I find it incredibly difficult to believe that Sean Holihan's partner, Danny Barefoot somehow managed to fork over $3,000 to a PAC without Sean's knowledge. This also still does not answer who else was involved and who produced and mailed the hit piece. There is still more to this story.

Needless to say however, it is good to know what kind of person Sean Holihan really is before heading to the polls. I for one will not be voting for Sean and will urge others to do the same.

I'm sorry but - for Sean Holihan NOT to know that his LONG TIME Life Partner Danny Barefoot donated $3,000 to a PAC is laughable. Anyone in a long-term relationship akin to a marriage knows when $3,000 goes missing. If Holihan didn't know and he truly is "shocked and disappointed", I'm guessing they have a lot to talk about prior to Tuesday.

THE FACT IS: SEAN HOLIHAN NEW EXACTLY WHAT DANNY BAREFOOT HAD DONE - HE SIMPLY HOPED IT WOULD BE OVERLOOKED.

I don't like Boyd Walker anymore than ANYONE else in this City but I like this process much less.

The plot thickens.......

"Alexandria City Council candidate Sean Holihan says he was unaware of Danny Barefoot's donation to Alexandria Democrats for Responsible Government until after he made it."

“Sean was not aware of my donation,” Barefoot said.

Do they really think that we so stupid to believe that?

Of course Holihan knew. That's not even worth debating. Maybe not all the details, but like John and Jason said, he had to know Barefoot was making a sizable contribution for a hit piece against Walker. Getting into cahoots with Gale Gordon was a stupid move that was never going to end well.

Boyd is the weakest candidate in a crowded Democratic primary with no shortage of weak candidates. Sean was a strong candidate, seemed like a nice guy, and he ran a good campaign. His partner did not need to stoop to dirty politics. Sean will lose votes over this. Boyd will pick up votes. It's a shame since it doesn't have anything to do with selecting the "best" candidate. It is about who stinks the least. The worst of all is that the Democrats look like idiots, and now the Republicans are fully committed to interfering in the Democratic Primary.

Chances are, we'll go into November with a weaker slate because of this. Gee thanks, Danny and Gale. Why couldn't you just stick to pointing out the positive attributes of your chosen candidates?

So Alexandria City Council candidate Sean Holihan didn't know that his partner donated $3,000.00 to fund this mean spirited attack?

Frankly, it would have been better for Mr. Holihan to tell the truth than to expect us to believe this falsehood.

Mr. Holihan, we're not that stupid.

So the score is now two City Council candidates who simply had "no idea" that their closest friends and associates were behind this smear campaign. I wonder how many candidates participated in this scheme.

They are either lying or terrible judges of character. Alexandria can do better.

Boyd sure honked off the professional politicians. I wonder why one lone voice of democracy frightens them so much.

With enemies like this, who needs friends?

If Boyd ends up on city council (which would be horrible), we will have Sean Holihan to thank. First, Holihan and his supporters led the movement to have a primary instead of a caucus because Holihan, a newcomer to Alexandria, did not think he could win a caucus. Boyd would NEVER have won a caucus, but he has a chance in a primary.

Second, Holihan's team put out this hit piece that waved a red flag to the Alexandria Republicans. Now they will bullet vote for Boyd just to mess with the Democrats, making sure we elect the worst candidate. Not to mention the sympathy votes Boyd will get from Democrats.

Holihan may win, but starting Wednesday every time he looks over and sees Boyd on the dais, he should know that he put him there.

I am completely floored! I've just talked to eight friends of mine who are all Alexandria Republicans, and they all independently have told me that there is a strong movement afoot, for the Alexandria Republican City Committee to try to orchestrate a 'get out the vote' campaign for Boyd Walker on Tuesday. Boyd Walker should be thanking both John Chapman and Sean Holihan for having to bumbling idiots like Gail Gordon and Danny Barefoot, who have unwittingly put the Alexandria Democratic Committee on notice of how underhanded their members are and can be when it comes to politics in the City of Alexandria. As a Democrat I am extremely embarrassed that members of the Alexandria Democratic Committee, although working independently of the committee, itself, could be involved in such an obvious 'swift boat' campaign against Boyd Walker. Alas, neither Gail Gordon or Danny Barefoot, just two names of many unnamed Alexandria Democratic Committee members who were involved in the unscrupulous PAC to try to tarnish Boyd Walker's campaign, which was sinking so fast that most people weren't giving it any attention, until now. Both Gail Gordon and Danny Barefoot are noted for underhanded gutter politics, so it's no surprise to anyone to see how they've been rightfully exposed and outed. Regardless of what happens on Tuesday, the Alexandria Democratic Committee will play dumb, like none of this has ever happened, and Gail Gordon and Danny Barefoot will both be members in good standing.

Sean Holihan and Danny Barefoot some months ago tried to flame out on Frank Fannon for being against gay marriage, when, in fact, said nothing of the sort. I know because I checked thoroughly online, and also talked to friends who are Democrats and Republicans, all who also know Frank Fannon, and they ALL said that Frank is such a nice guy, without a mean bone in his body, that he wouldn't be 'anti-anything' when it comes to people and how they are treated. I'm a loyal progressive Democrat, and I don't know Frank Fannon, personally, but even though he's a Republican, I'll be urging my friends all over Alexandria to vote for him. Why? Because of actions by Gail Gordon and Danny Barefoot, both who are closely tied to John Chapman and Sean Holihan. John says that he has dismissed Gail from his campaign, but that's so laughable, because he had to know about her work for the PAC, along with Sean Holihan pretending not to know that the person he sleeps with, Danny Barefoot, just wrote a $3,000.00 check to the PAC, too. Interestingly enough, there has not been any kind statement made by Dak Hardwick, who's the chairman of the Alexandria Democratic Committee involving this matter. Maybe that's because he too had full knowledge and complicity of Gail Gordon's actions so he can't give any public condemnation for her and Danny Barefoot's actions with the PAC? Why do we, as Democrats, have to do this? Why does this have to happen in Alexandria? Shame on Gail and Danny! Shame!

Interesting. The treasurer for one council candidate's campaign, and now the life partner of another candidate running for council, were both involved with this short-lived PAC, whose sole function appears at this point was to have paid for, and distributed, the attack ad. I understand from what I have read that both candidates in question, associated with these two individuals, have denied any knowledge or involvement. I am not questioning that. I would like to know, however, who else is or was involved in this PAC and do they also have connections to any council candidates? Will they remain above board, come forward, and acknowledge their involvement in this PAC, even if they are not required to be known and named until the July filing date, well after the primary on Tuesday? Are there other members of this PAC who are choosing to remain anonymous, and if so, why? If they believed in the appropriateness of this PAC's intentions and actions, why not come forward?

I thought Sean Holihan's attack on Fannon (a republican) at the beginning of a democratic primary was weird, especially on an issue that does not come before city council. (Why not at least wait until the general election?) I let it go, but now that Sean is involved in attacking a fellow democrat, I can not ignore what this means about his character. Democrats have to put up with enough attacks from the right wing. We don't need one of our own attacking within. Holihan can not be trusted to support other democrats or to be honest to voters. I was going to vote for Sean Holihan, but I will give that vote to a more honorable candidate. (Not Boyd Walker, however.)

John, Jason, Bud and R - For once, assume you're wrong because you are. Since my partner and I have separate bank accounts, my partner could easily donate money to something and I would have no idea. None. Nada. Zip. So I CAN believe it is possible that John and Sean did not know a thing.
How stupid are we? I remember when Bud ran as a Republican for City Council. I wasn't stupid enough to believe his promises just as I'm not stupid enough to believe Boyd's . Or any politician's.
'Sincerity' in politics should be taken with a grain of salt and a shot of tequila.

This Democratic primary is starting to look like a figure eight stock car race!!!

This sounds like something Shayna Englin would do, frankly.

Hey folks why don't we bring this all back around to the facts? This from the Post article -

The ad correctly pointed out that he fell $16,000 behind on paying property taxes and that he received one of the largest fines ever imposed for destruction of a historic property while rebuilding the Old Town Ice House into a gelato shop. He has since come up to date on his the taxes, and the $25,000 fine was reduced to $6,500, which he paid.

All you have to do is read Boyd's Blog to learn more about is character and how his behavior is juevenile.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Boyd-Walker/100003978396388#!/people/Boyd-Walker/100003978396388?sk=wall

Yes, Gina, Boyd is, ummm, not a good candidate for elected position (as nice as I can put it.) The way you handle that is promote the candidates who are good, and tell people why you wouldn't vote for the candidates you think are not good. You don't handle it by having the boyfriend of a candidate fund a PAC to send out an anonymous attack ad, setting the town in a tailspin trying to figure out who did it, followed by unbelievable denials of knowledge.... I hope this does not help Boyd get elected because he should not be. I also hope it doesn't help Holihan who is (or whose campaign is) responsible for this. I hope the Washington Post will investigate to see if the money was laundered through a campaign to the pop-up pac. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/alexandria-candidates-partner-donates-funds-to-pac-that-ran-attack-ad-on-foe/2012/06/10/gJQAvmo9SV_story.html) I hope the people who did this will be held accountable by fellow Alexandria Democrats.

This is not the first attack from political newcomer Sean Holihan. Remember this? http://oldtownalexandria.patch.com/articles/issue-of-marriage-equality-enters-alexandria-city-council-race. At least in the earlier dust up he attacked a republican. Since he's willing to attack both sides, will we more of these shenanigans in the coming month if he is elected tomorrow? Who is the next democrat to get stabbed in the back? I was going to vote for him (I was not going to vote for Boyd) but I don't think I could ever trust him after this. Hiding behind a PAC, and behind his boyfriend, claiming to be clueless, isn't working for me.

Sadly, I already voted absentee for Sean. Needless to say if he makes it through the primary I won't repeat that mIstake in the Fall. Boyd's still the worst candidate on the ballot.

You have to give credit to Danny Barefoot for the timing of this. Aside from The Patch, there has been very little news coverage and most people don't know that Holihan's fiance is behind this dirty attack. The brochure and PAC filing intentionally obscured Barefoot's role. The brochure arrived after the news cycles for the local printed newspapers. Many voters will go to the polls not knowing what the Holihan campaign did. Bravo! Of course, when they find out in the week AFTER they vote for Holihan, they'll be ticked off. It will be a long summer for him. The word forgiveness and phrases like "water under the bridge" and appeals for unity will get a great deal of use! I know there is a long political memory in this town, and I for one will never forget what Holihan did, no matter how much he claims ignorance.

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