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May 23, 2013
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 The New DominionPosted on Jul 14, 2008RUTHER GLEN, Va.—If the 2008 election is destined to break up a frozen electoral map, Virginia is one of the most likely venues for the great political thaw. The state has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in 44 years, yet the trends are decidedly in the party’s favor. Demographic change, often a driver of realignment, is occurring at a furious clip. The Old Dominion is now the New Dominion, particularly in the suburban and exurban counties north of the Rappahannock River. Barack Obama could not have carried Virginia as it once was. But he is running even with John McCain in a paradoxical state that was home to the Confederacy’s capital but also gave the nation its first elected African-American governor, Doug Wilder in 1989. And no other state can boast that it has had three plausible names on the list of potential vice presidential choices: its current governor, Tim Kaine; former Gov. Mark Warner; and Sen. Jim Webb. Only Kaine has stayed in the running. Warner’s withdrawal was not surprising. He had already announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate and leads Jim Gilmore, a former Republican governor, by as much as 2 to 1 in some polls. Advertisement A former Reagan administration official, Webb is so proud of his Scots-Irish heritage that he wrote a book about it, “Born Fighting: How the Scots-Irish Shaped America.” His people settled Appalachia, Webb has written, “and they pressed onward, creating a way of life that many would come to call, if not American, certainly the defining fabric of the South and the Midwest, as well as the core character of the nation’s working class.” It is that part of the white working class that seems particularly resistant to Obama. Yet Webb, who has been in the Senate less than two years, saw his obligations there and thinks he can best help Obama by campaigning in Virginia. Kimberly Hunter, Webb’s press secretary, also acknowledged that the vice presidential speculation was already leading his critics to ransack his earlier writings, particularly on the role of women in the military. When his old statements were raised against him in his Senate race, Webb said that had he been “a more mature individual,” he wouldn’t have written some of the offensive lines. “The Senate race was already starting to replay itself with the same old oppo research being thrown back,” Hunter said. “If we have no intention to pursue this, there’s no reason to be distracted by questions that are unrelated to the Senate.” That leaves Kaine, whose political approach is remarkably similar to Obama’s. Kaine is broadly progressive in his views. But like Obama, whom he supported in the primaries, Kaine has been a vocal critic of partisanship. Indeed, Virginia Democrats have been gaining ground since 2001 partly by casting theirs as the party of nonpartisanship and Republicans as the ideologues. “We’ve been doing that here in Virginia for a while,” said Mo Elleithee, a top Kaine consultant who worked for Hillary Clinton this year. “We did that with Warner in ‘01, Kaine in ‘05 and Democratic legislative candidates in ‘07.” Elleithee sees the path for Obama in Virginia as similar to Kaine’s: Win just enough in the state’s rural areas and overwhelm McCain in the Washington suburbs and among African-Americans, notably in Hampton Roads. Yet Elleithee also says McCain makes the state “very challenging” for the Democrats, particularly because his war-hero status appeals to its large population of active and retired military voters. Gerry Scimeca, the communications director of the Republican Party of Virginia, said the state’s history made McCain’s standing as “a man who sacrificed himself” especially resonant. But the issue in Virginia may well be whether history is just history this year. Christopher Peace, a 31-year-old Republican who represents this area, just north of Richmond, in the state House of Delegates, argues that the election will be decided by “people in their mid-30s, married with two children and two dogs, professional families.” “A lot of that rhetoric about ‘working families’ is about them,” Peace said. “They are not duty-bound to their party anymore. They are duty-bound to their pocketbooks.” Such voters made Kaine governor, and they’re the ones Obama needs to win.  TAGS:
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More Exposés, Less Action
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By nrobi, July 16, 2008 at 2:10 am Link to this comment
One question I have is, why is Virginia so paradoxical? Is there something in the water that makes the Old Dominion more paradoxical than any other state in the Union?
Report thisTo myself and possibly others, this is quite the misnomer and also a slam against a state that has the most open record for voting against the stream, why else would a Southern, white middle class, working class demographic elect an African-American governor for the first time? This is not a telling sign, that Sen. Obama, would have a hard time with the voters of a state that has a retired and active military background. Especially since the majority of Americans, are against the “war” in Iraq, by a majority of more than 2 to 1, and among these people against the war are active and retired military service personnel.
Mr. Dionne, not true to his normal and quite extensive vision of an election, has not seen the real Virginia for what it is, another state that wishes the American armed forces to withdraw from the Iraqi national scene and as the Iraqi government wishes to leave them to their own devices to fight out the conflict of sectarianism and religious fervor that has swept the nation since the illegal and immoral invasion of a sovereign nation that had nothing to do with the “war on terrorism.”
Mr. Dionne, is sadly lacking in his normal vision, of who and what the country says and does about any election. Are we to believe that, Virginia alone holds the key to Sen. Barack Obama’s victory in the presidential election? I would hope not.
Any state, holds the key to victory, there are myriad polls and millions of voters that are looking for change and wishing that the authorities in Washington would listen to the voice of the people and conduct the business of the United States of America in an equitable and legal environment. Not standing above or below the law, but doing the business of government as it has mostly been done in this country with pride and adherence to the laws of our land and the treaties that we are signatories to, nationally and internationally.
Should the next administration, carry on with the policies of the shrub’s quite unimaginable cowboy style, go it alone without any adherence to the law, then we are in fact as a nation, going to become on the world stage a third world country with no influence and very little if any moral compass, that would help the world in its fight against a foe that has no moral compass.
We, the American people must demand of our elected representatives, fair and honest elections, just and equitable actions on the stage of the world, so that in the future we can and must become again the nation that we once were, a nation that people looked upon as a beacon of light in a dark and dreary world.
But there is one thing we must not do any more and that is to become, “the policeman of the world.” We cannot afford either financially or in the lives of our children, the sacrifice that it takes to, by ourselves be the sole guardian of justice and integrity in the world.
By cyrena, July 15, 2008 at 3:57 pm Link to this comment
.since he enjoys broad support in the partys netroots for his strong stand against the Iraq war and as an antidote to Obamas weakness across Appalachia
Very revealing about Appalachias resistance to Obama. Dionne explains why without really calling it what it is, other than to address the core as the white working class.
When his old statements were raised against him in his Senate race, Webb said that had he been a more mature individual, he wouldnt have written some of the offensive lines
He said that had he been a MORE MATURE INDIVIDUAL..he wouldnt have written some of the offensive lines
My level of respect just jumped several levels. (not that I didnt respect him to begin with). Anybody else listening here? Probably not the ones who should be.
Indeed, Virginia Democrats have been gaining ground since 2001 partly by casting theirs as the party of nonpartisanship and Republicans as the ideologues.
Very, very, very, wise. And, thats the way it is anyway. The Republicans are the ideologues, and neither reality or reason has anything to do with their policies or positions. Its all and only about the twisted ideology.
Humm, I was just mentioning this earlier
But the issue in Virginia may well be whether history is just history this year. Christopher Peace, a 31-year-old Republican who represents this area, just north of Richmond, in the state House of Delegates, argues that the election will be decided by people in their mid-30s, married with two children and two dogs, professional families. . A lot of that rhetoric about working families is about them, Peace said. They are not duty-bound to their party anymore. They are duty-bound to their pocketbooks. Such voters made Kaine governor, and theyre the ones Obama needs to win.
The repugs have definitely shot themselves in the foot or worse. When the rubber hits the road, and the going gets as tough as theyve made it for most working families that party ideology goes right out the door in favor of survival.
The decision to be UNduty-bound to party and an unsustainable ideology is of course the only thing that will save us all.
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