Ben Tribbett wonders aloud whether or not the Democratic slam-dunk in NOVA spells trouble for the GOP in the Virginia Senate:
The reason Republicans are so worried is they control four seats in Northern Virginia. These seats all saw dramatic shifts to the Democrats this year, and no one knows for sure if this is a trend, or a one time blip.
We’re pretty certain at this point that Kilgore did indeed depress conservative turnout. Furthermore, we can be reasonably certain that the lessons drawn from the 2005 elections demonstrate the following:
(1) There is no such thing as a “sensible center”.
(2) Voters want clear, distinct choices and will stay home if offered otherwise.
(3) Nothing is guarenteed in politics, even if you have a 10-point lead three months into Election Day.
It’s worth going over the fact that only Democrats are “moving to the sensible center”, largely in part because (and I still maintain this) the 2004 elections demonstrated a political shift away from the ’60’s style liberalism and towards a more conservative positioning.
In Virginia, liberals lose. Democrats have to moderate their positions in order to be electable.
On the flip side of the coin, while the Republicans could afford to elect so-called moderates while Democrats held the majority, this is no longer the case today. Conservatives are the majority, and the fact that Democrats have to pander and dilute their ideology to the conservative mainstream speaks volumes. Republicans who do not eschew the principles of conservativism are viewed skeptically.
Need proof? What happened to President Bush when he proffered Harriet Meiers? Wonder why Bush’s approval rating is really in the mid-30’s?
Conservative America is a smarter breed than its more left-leaning predecessor, and much more skeptical of half-hearted Republicans who perpetuate the socialized system Democrats have propped up over the years. It’s crumbling, decaying, and limps on only through higher taxes and blithe, willful ignorance. Voters know it, politicians know it, and the call for action is out.
In Virginia, either one of two actions will happen. Either conservatives will whip out the hatchet and start devolving the state government back into the hands of private enterprise and local governments (and not in the form of unfunded mandates either), or the liberals will poke, prod, and resist until the public gets so tired of the GOP that they vote for the Dems, their higher taxes, and the radical social agenda that goes with it. There’s a crude analogy that ends with “or get off the pot,” but you get the idea.
Will the conservatives offer a vision for Virginia? The Freedom and Prosperity Agenda is a good start, but more can be done. What happened to the recommendations of the Wilder Commission? What about local transpotation dollars being spent by the localities who make the land use decisions? What about overhauling the entire Virginia tax code? Abolishing the property tax and allowing localities to exercise more latitude in their method of taxation? School choice?
When the liberals hurl the “free lunch” epithet, they do it because they see power slipping through the fingers of bureaucrats and into the hands of families and taxpayers – where it belongs.
This debate starts and ends in the House, and the only way the GOP maintains a majority is if conservatives stand up and be counted, weather the criticisms of the liberals, and understand that doing what’s right comes with cost.
Audaces fortuna iuvat!