Red regressing
It’s not often that I’m proud to be a Virginian. Once one leaves the friendly urban confines of the beltway, Virginia is the old school South. Even the prosperous suburbs surrounding Fairfax are starkly conservative compared to their Maryland counterparts across the Potomac, never mind the yokels who dominate much of the commonwealth south of DC’s influence.
But today I am proud. Today (or actually yesterday, but let’s not worry about trifles), Virginia sent a message to the George Bush neocons and elected a Democrat to the governorship. And what of Fairfax County? The place where the three largest roads are named for Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Jefferson Davis and the only truly liberal thing is the frequency of monuments to the Confederacy? Democrat Tim Kaine beat Republican Jerry Kilgore in a landslide, 60% to 37%. The story was repeated elsewhere. Exurban Loudoun and Prince William Counties, expected to be Kilgore strongholds, went to Kaine instead. So did the heavily military Virginia Beach. Even Lynchburg, capital of Jerry Falwell’s evangelical empire, voted majority Democrat. All in all Kaine beat Kilgore by 6 percentage points, an overwhelming victory considering how close the election was expected to be and Virginia’s red-state pedigree.
And that’s not all. The national implications are significant:
- Not only did Kilgore fail, but help from President Bush (who won Virginia by almost 10 points last year) turned out to be no help at all.
- Voters soundly rejected negative campaign ads and rewarded the candidate that stayed on message longer.
- Democrats finally found a formula to get the moderate religious majority behind them (including my own usually Republican-voting mother), without offending the secular base.
- And last but certainly not least, outgoing governor Mark Warner flexed his political muscles, proved that his popularity soars across party lines and benefits anyone connected with him, and made his first case for becoming President in 2008.
Tags: politics
posted by Cirrus of Malla @ 3:45 PM ⢠Permalink
2 comments
2 Comments:
I had been following that campaign with interest. I'm glad to see the politics of hate finally losing out. The Hitler comment was a particularly low blow.
Do you think Warner has what it takes to make a run for the White House? That would be interesting. Him being a Sotherner and all.
Warner is perhaps more moderate than some in the party would like, but he's charismatic, appeals to a wide spectrum, has an excellent executive branch track record and could probably deliver Virginia. He would be a better candidate than Kerry, Edwards, Gore or Leiberman, and far less divisive than Hillary (who would be a better candidate in a divisive campaign challenging an incumbent than in one likely to trend towards the center, as this next will).
I don't see a lot of Democrats out there who could beat McCain, but I think Warner is one of them.
Post a Comment
<< Home