The first step to solving a problem is acknowledging it exists. In that respect, one can say that Northern Virginia’s Republicans are making progress:
RICHMOND — First came “macaca,” followed by Virginia Sen. George Allen’s angry response to a question about his Jewish heritage.
Then U.S. Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr., a Republican whose district stretches from Charlottesville to Danville, generated headlines over his comments about keeping Muslims out of Congress.
And now Del. Frank D. Hargrove Sr. (R-Hanover) is on the defensive after saying last week that blacks “should get over” slavery instead of pushing for an official state apology. He compounded the incident by asking, “Are we going to force the Jews to apologize for killing Christ?
Taken together, the string of perceived racial and ethnic insults has led some Northern Virginia Republicans to say the GOP’s image has been badly tarnished. They wonder whether the party’s candidates will have trouble winning votes this fall in the diverse, well-educated region even if an agreement on transportation funding is reached.
“It is important that Northern Virginia Republicans be able to come home with something meaningful accomplished with transportation. However, that alone won’t settle the November elections,” said John Mason, the former Republican mayor of Fairfax City. “The tenor of the debate and the verbal mistakes that have been made will come back to haunt some Republicans in Northern Virginia.”
The GOP’s image problems in Northern Virginia, which mirror its troubles nationally, are magnified by the agenda of social conservatives, who are pushing legislation to ban abortion, kick illegal immigrants out of public schools, make it harder for married couples to divorce and redefine adultery.
Moderates say they are worried that their party still hasn’t learned the lessons of Democratic Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s win in 2005 and Democratic Sen. James Webb’s victory last year.
“There is an erosion of Republicans” in Northern Virginia, said Del. Vincent F. Callahan Jr., a Republican who represents the McLean area. “The Republicans are taking these far right-wing stances, and it’s doing them in.”
I don’t think it’s even so much that voters in Northern Virginia perceive the Virginia GOP as taking the party too far to the right. After all, the Amendment banning gay marriage passed in virtually all of Northern Virginia by overwhelming margins. The problem is that voters see the Virginia GOP catering to the social conservative agenda on unimportant issues like making divorce harder to obtain and reach the conclusion that the party isn’t paying attention to the issues they think are important. And they’ve made them pay for it at the polls.
And then there’s Virgil Goode and Frank Hargrave, While the rest of the country is looking at Virginia wondering where we come up with people like this, some in the Virginia GOP think the party should be defending them. Well, not everyone in the party:
Terone Green, a black Republican and onetime adviser to former Virginia House speaker S. Vance Wilkins (R), said the party’s standing among minorities, independents and even some moderates has worsened in recent months.
Green points to the Hargrove flap and the controversy surrounding Goode, who said tougher immigration laws are needed or “more Muslims would be elected to Congress.” Goode was referring to the decision by Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) to be sworn in using the Koran.
“I am embarrassed. How can you not be embarrassed?” Green asked. “The thing that is turning people off [is] Republicans just seem mean.”
As things stand now, I honestly don’t think that things look good for the Virginia GOP, at least not here in Northern Virginia, and they’ve really got nobody but themselves to blame.
“Republicans just seem mean.”
Since when was politics, in general even, nice? What I am concerned about is that Republicans are not getting vocal and defending these men. Because of the hold that liberals have on what gets out in the media, and the media seems to have no problem with seeing Republicans burn. The context or the whole story is always lost in what they say, and rather than doing something about it, we are letting the Democrats take control of the discussion. We need to be active members of the discussion, not simply the topic.
Also, if change must come for Republicans, there is a fine line right now that cannot be crossed. It might seem good to make some changes, but if Southern Republicans start to bail, this whole state will turn blue. True, such a change could lead to a complete reversal a few years later, but not before it would allow a large number of problems to arise.
After all, the Amendment banning gay marriage passed in virtually all of Northern Virginia by overwhelming margins.
That’s certainly news to me. What are you including in NoVA? The amendment failed in Fairfax and got absolutely crushed in Arlington. It passed in Loudoun, but by a much smaller margin than other parts of the state. Prince William was the worst performer, and even there the margin was smaller than the average.
The problem is that voters see the Virginia GOP catering to the social conservative agenda on unimportant issues like making divorce harder to obtain and reach the conclusion that the party isn?t paying attention to the issues they think are important.
Well, yes, because that is what they are doing. It’s worse than just looking mean. It’s that every single issue these guys seize on is a cynical appeal to fear. It’s not just embarrassing, it’s insulting to people to treat them as if they can be so easily manipulated, year after year. NoVA is both culturally diverse and highly educated, and becoming more so all the time. Some of our Republican friends are finding the courage to insist on common sense, and that’s gratifying. It’s just too bad they didn’t find it last year.
Republicans can be very “mean” little pissants.
I’ve seen this firsthand and have seen a GOP trend towards more anger, blaming, self-righteousness, emotionally abusive behavior, etc… Just look at the way people like Tucker, Cavuto and O’Reilly treat their “guests” compared to Olbermann, Franken or ???.
Anyone who can still claim to be a proud Republican at this point has to have something wrong with them. Conservatives need to completely overhaul the GOP if they want to save it.
Spinsterina, again, since when was politics nice? The old saying goes, if you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.
And of course Olbermann and Franken seem nice. It’s easy to be nice when you get guests you agree with. Olbermann’s attitude towards Republicans, however, is far from nice. And Franken? Mister “Lying liars” himself? Please. This isn’t about who is nice or not. Face it Spinsterina, none of them, Republican or Democrat, are nice, and honestly, they cannot afford to be.
You think Republicans are mean? You need to deal with it.
Or are you just going to look at my comment and say I am “mean”?