GOP Looks for Its Lost Edge in Va.

[electropop]

"By BOB LEWIS Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va. Nov 9, 2005 — How could this happen in a state supposedly as reliably Republican as Virginia? A Democrat who objects to capital punishment, had a clear record of backing gun control and even boasted of supporting a $1.4 billion tax increase beat a conservative Republican by six percentage points Tuesday.

This is a state where Republicans dominate the congressional delegation and the Legislature a state that has not voted for a Democrat for president since Lyndon Johnson in 1964.

The race this time was not marked by the GOP infighting that helped departing Gov. Mark R. Warner also a Democrat win office in 2001. As a result, the latest Republican loss was all the more perplexing to party loyalists.

As Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine's victory over former Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore became apparent Tuesday night, GOP conservatives were shocked into silence. Men and women wept and children huddled in prayer circles, eyes closed and heads bowed, as Kilgore's victory party became a wake..."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1298100

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Sorry, it's petty of me, but I just had to snicker at

"Men and women wept and children huddled in prayer circles, eyes closed and heads bowed, as Kilgore's victory party became a wake..."

[electropop]

2. A "wake."

:rofl:

I loved that.

[Clark2008]

4. A wake...

Yep... Virginians WOKE UP. They are now AWAKE.

:7

[callous taoboy]

11. SO! I threw up when bush was reinstalled.

[insane_cratic_gal]

3. Maybe this is the edge they lost

They don't have to look far this is the answer to all of their woes and the fact that they became spineless twits in the face of tyranny

[vademocrat]

5. Lights were out at his "victory" party by 10:45 tuesday night -

Local news in Richmond had a reporter there - he looked bummed that he'd gotten stuck at the loser's party...

It was a WONDERFUL sight!

[Burried News]

6. God's will or God willful? Put your big girl panties on and deal

with it, Freeps.

[davepc]

7. Clear record of backing gun control?

He ran as a pro-gun Democrat.

He had the NRA aligned against him, but his position was clear.

Tim Kaine strongly supports the Second Amendment. As the next Governor of Virginia, he will not propose any new gun laws. Instead Tim Kaine will guarantee strict enforcement of our existing criminal laws. He will also expand the use of such enforcement strategies as Project Exile that target criminals who use guns rather than law-abiding gun owners.

Both the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of Virginia guarantee that the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

...

In Tim Kaine’s view, Project Exile and Juvenile Exile provide a powerful illustration of the right way to combat the problem of gun violence: crack down on the criminals who use guns instead of restricting the rights of law-abiding gun owners.

http://www.kaine2005.org/issues/guns.php


Personally, I don't think its any coincidence that he gained a lot more support in more rural areas compared to the last Democrat who was elected governor.

[electropop]

8. He also waffled on the death penalty:

Said he opposes it but would sign death warrants anyway. This Kerry-esque position may have been expedient in the short term, but I hope from his new bully pulpit he works to get people to examine the reality of the death penalty. First, people who claim to support a "culture of life" need to be asked why they advocate killing people. Second is unfairly (racially) applied, and at least in Illinois, was found to be applied to the wrong person about 50% of the time.

Surely even right wingers can see that killing innocent people is not a very good thing? Of course, these are the same people who feel we should kill Iraqis for what a group of Saudis did to us on 9/11.

[marions ghost]

9. Ask why Virginia Beach turned....

and the GOP will find some of the answer to the question of where their edge went...

[insane_cratic_gal]

10. In my little town of PA

It was Dem sweep.. of local offices. From the Mayor to the magistrate to the school board.

And it's far from a blue town.

People are pissed and it's showing.

[electropop]

12. My DC Suburb (near Dulles airport) dumped its longtime GOP VA delegate.

For the county as a whole (traditionally quite red), every delegate's race where a Dem ran, the Dem one (3 races). In the 2 races where no Dem ran, there were a surprisingly high number of write-ins.

In my county and statewide (again, a RED STATE), the office of Attorney General is still too close to call.

The only thing we didn't get was Lieutenant Governor, but that's a largely ceremonial job, and that race was also very close.

[dean_dem]

13. I'm really getting tired of the "reliably Republican" line

The Post ran with that label the other day, and I don't think it's accurate. VA undoubtedly has it's element of whacko fundies and other such embarassments, but overall there's a pretty big Moderate faction that at least outweighs in number what the fundies make up for in visibility.

Like most places, the cities lean pretty Democratic, NOVA is a good balance for the much more conservative Southern part of the state, and Hampton Roads is pretty unpredictable when it comes to political leanings. Not to mention the most important point, that we have a Democractic Governor with something like a 70 percent approval rating.

I worry the state is tilting more to the right, but "reliably Republican" it is not. "Reliably Moderate" is more like it, and overall I think that's a good thing.