Before Howard Dean was a liberal media darling of TV audiences and liberal voters, he was a moderate, stingy, sometimes prickly governor of Vermont.

From 1991-2003, Dean angered liberals who wanted to spend money on programs. Democrats believed that controlling the government means the ability to invest in new ideas, social services and take some risk. 

This week I was honored by a local conservative as his “favorite liberal,’’ after an online debate about guns. 

Here’s the background. 

The NRA posted a tweet that Joe Biden had promised to make Beto O’Rourke his “gun czar’’ if elected. O’Rourke will be knocking on your door with FBI agents to confiscate your deer rifle, or so the NRA wants you to believe.

The other day I’m at the check-out at my Vermont country store buying groceries and realize I have no money. 

Don’t stop reading after you see this week’s post is about the New England Patriots! This is about how to build teams. If you are a parent, a teacher, a middle manager, coach, politician, a non-profit executive, CEO - virtually anyone - this is the most important task you have: building an organization where everyone is pulling in the same direction to the ultimate goal.