You can't issue a dictum and expect to change the conventional use of the colors. Why don't you get in touch with the Red State blog and tell them to change their name? The use of the colors was supposed to change periodically, but the left and the MSM know that associating red with them conjures up images of the Soviets and the communists.
I think you’re unnecessarily panicking based on recent elections and presuming things will continue to worsen and that it’s all over for the VA GOP.
No, this is a real trend that will continue to worsen. I guess I should believe you rather than my lyin' eyes, which have seen what has happened over the past 34 years. I can assure you that the GOP establishment is well aware of what is happening.
Zero barely carried the state in 2012 and again, the state moved more to the GOP side over 2008. We had a horrid candidate both years, neither of which motivated Conservative voters. With a better candidate, there’s no reason to believe the state would not vote Republican.
Again, you are living in a fantasy world. Obama won VA 51.16% to 47.28%, which is a comfortable margin of victory. Obama won by 150,000 votes despite a massive GOP GOTV effort along with other conservative groups like We are Virginia. I was part of those efforts. We contacted more than ten times the number of voters that we did in 2008. We increased the GOP vote total by 100,000 votes--the highest GOP vote total ever.
By comparison, the Dems increased their vote totals in 2008 by 500,000 compared to 2004. And by 12,000 in 2012. The Dems have been on an eight year registration drive beginning as soon as the 2004 elections finished. The Organizing for Obama people are everywhere from supermarkets to metro stations lining up voters. And they have been in the minority communities doing the same thing--sometimes fraudulently. Every cohort that turns 18 in VA is more minority and more Dem. Our voters are dying out and they are not being replaced in the same numbers. It is just a fact.
Add in there’s no way Terry McAwful would’ve won in November had McDonnell’s corruption and Bolling’s sabotage not helped to do in Cuccinelli (with more than a little help from a faux Libertarian). McAwful is the first candidate since Mills Godwin in 1965 to win the Governorship with a minority of the vote. McAwful’s “win” also wasn’t able to alter the dynamics of the legislature.
Their is no doubt that the GOP circular firing squad hurt Ken, one of most effective grassroots organizer the GOP has. Even Ken had to move on to the AG office after barely holding on by a few votes to retain his Fairfax state Senate seat in 2005. In this past election, Fairfax GOP delegates barely eked out victories. It is accepted that a few more elections and the Dems will control all the Fairfax County delegate seats.
It is very difficult to reverse the GOP control over the House of Delegate seats given the gerrymandering and where voters live. Many ran unopposed as do many of the Dems. The Dems may take over control of the Senate depending on the results in the special election in the 33rd district. The old balance used to be 20-20 with the LtGov breaking ties.
The fact that a Libertarian or third party candidate can do so well shows the dissatisfaction with the GOP. Ken received 50,000 less votes than McDonnell in 2009 while McAwful got 250,000 more votes than Deeds did in 2009. In 2012 Kaine actually received 40,000 more votes than Obama.
You also presume that for the foreseeable future that voting patterns will remain a certain way based on demographics. That’s foolish, because they can and do change. My state, TN, changed dramatically. So has West Virginia. It was pronounced at the end of the ‘90s that VA would be Republican without exception. NoVA was wealthy and suburban Republican for decades.
I don't know who made such a prediction, but I can tell you that the demography of NoVA has changed dramatically since 1990. In 1990 the foreign born comprised 15.6% of the population of Fairfax County compared to the 30.4% in 2010. Whites were 81.3% of the population in 1990; in 2010 they are 62.7%. The population of Fairfax County has grown from 818,584 in 1990 to 1,081,726 in 2010. Essentially, all of the population increase has been due to minorities as defined by the USG.
The Asian population has more than doubled from 8.5% in 1990 to 17.6% in 2010; the Hispanic population from 6.3% to 15.6%, and other race/multi race from 2.3% to 10.2%. Blacks went from 7.7% to 9.2% in 2010.
Minorities and immigrants vote more than two to one for the Dems. Demography is destiny. You can't have such dramatic changes without having an electoral and lasting impact.
You give the example of VA going the way of NV and CO. Well, Nevada hasn’t elected a Democrat Governor since 1994, and keeps at least 1 GOP Senator (both Senators would be Republican if Reid hadn’t lucked out by getting a horrid opponent in 2010 — Reid is enormously unpopular in his state)
NV has reached a tipping point. NV went for Obama by 12% in 2008 and 7% in 2012. The demography of the state has also changed significantly since 1990. It used to be battleground state with close elections. No longer is that the case.
Colorado has had unfettered Democrat control for most of the past 8 years and it has blown up in their faces, and their elected officials are very unpopular (and aside from Governor & Lt Gov, the downballot offices are Republican). In many of these states, why the GOP doesn’t have a Senate seat or Governorship is because of damaged nominees or party infighting... the exact problem that has plagued Virginia.
CO has gone Dem the last two Presidential elections with Obama garnering the two largest vote totals in the history of the state. CO is mirroring what is happening in VA. The Dems control the state legislature in CO. And the demography in CO is changing.
That’s the problem with studying political science and trying to project into the future... it’s an inexact science. Dynamics change, how people vote doesn’t often make logical sense.
I know. I have a couple degrees in the subject. But there are trends and data that support them. Do you see CA going Rep any time soon?
Lastly, I wouldn’t definitively claim Hillary is unbeatable in Virginia. She’s a toxic candidate with baggage back to Watergate. Would I then claim she is absolutely beatable ? No. Because we already know the RINO Establishment is utterly comfortable with Democrats ensconced in office (how many Bollingites and Hagerites cast their lot for McAwful in ‘13 and Mark Warner in ‘01). If they foist a 3rd consecutive ringer for ‘16 (Chris Christie), it would be Hillary’s to lose (and she merely need carry the same states as Zero in ‘12).
Hillary and any other Dem start out with a massive advantage in the number of electoral votes that are considered as locks. It is far more difficult for the Reps to get the needed votes to become President. And it is getting harder each and every time. If the Dems turnout in VA, Hillary is unbeatable. And she will garner more of the women's vote than Obama. It will be another historic election--our first woman President.
I’ll add in, too, that we don’t even know the future of our current party system. How long can the Republican Party remain in its current state with the vast disconnect from its leaders on every front from its base ? They are as hostile to us as the Democrats. Although the Democrat base grumbles about their officials, they still vote the way they want them to. Getting rid of the corrupt, statist, crony capitalist, big government cabal in the GOP, the rich Willard stereotype, and forging ahead with a new coalition pledged to smaller government, reformist government and economic opportunity and personal empowerment offered by Ted Cruz and Sarah Palin and their supporters, and we’ll create a new dynamic for the future.
And who is going to bell the cat? The GOP establishment has the money and it will not relinquish control even if it means taking down the party. They would rather lose than have a conservative win.
The GOP Establishment and Democrats are terrified at such a vision and movement, because it destroys the control of the former and creates fissures in the racial/gender holds of the latter. Each has to maintain the status quo to keep power, why they’re so often in bed together. It’s this kind of revolutionary change that MUST happen if we are to keep this country for the future.
The power structure of this country will not change until the welfare state and our fiscal house of cards collapses. There are too many vested interests that want to keep riding this horse until the horse dies.
That "conventional use" is wrong, and has been since it began on Election Night 2000. It's as absurd as being called "teabaggers" by homosexual Marxists. I've been vocal about it from day #1. As I said, how can the right even win the intellectual argument when we won't even fight back against these mislabellings ?
"No, this is a real trend that will continue to worsen. I guess I should believe you rather than my lyin' eyes, which have seen what has happened over the past 34 years. I can assure you that the GOP establishment is well aware of what is happening."
The presumption you continue to make is that it won't change and heads only in one direction. Things change in politics. You seem to want to just throw up your hands and write off the state. As for the GOP establishment, it is their yoke that must be thrown off in order to break their unholy alliance with the Democrats and present an actual opposition party.
"Again, you are living in a fantasy world. Obama won VA 51.16% to 47.28%, which is a comfortable margin of victory."
Zero got a lower percent of the vote than in 2008. That means the state voting preferences moved to the right. The combined opposition consisted of (ostensibly) a center-right bloc (Willard, Gary Johnson & Virgil Goode). Again, we had one of the WORST non-Conservative phonies put up by the Republican party since Wendell Willkie, and add in the other two, and the opposition still got to 49%.
"Obama won by 150,000 votes despite a massive GOP GOTV effort along with other conservative groups like We are Virginia. I was part of those efforts. We contacted more than ten times the number of voters that we did in 2008. We increased the GOP vote total by 100,000 votes--the highest GOP vote total ever."
I'm sorry, but I'll tell you again that the nominee did not motivate the base. I did not vote for him in my state in the general (I voted for Virgil Goode). You may think you had a massive GOTV effort, but the problem remained that the candidate himself was no better than a ringer and a non-serious candidate. That he even managed to get 47% in Virginia is astounding. A real candidate who motivated the base would've won against the worst "President" in U.S. history.
"By comparison, the Dems increased their vote totals in 2008 by 500,000 compared to 2004. And by 12,000 in 2012. The Dems have been on an eight year registration drive beginning as soon as the 2004 elections finished. The Organizing for Obama people are everywhere from supermarkets to metro stations lining up voters. And they have been in the minority communities doing the same thing--sometimes fraudulently. Every cohort that turns 18 in VA is more minority and more Dem. Our voters are dying out and they are not being replaced in the same numbers. It is just a fact."
So what are you doing to reach them ? You keep lamenting the changing demographics and "shrinking pie", instead of taking notes from the opposition and pilfering their people. Used to be a time until the 1930s that the Democrats couldn't get the Black vote since it was overwhelmingly Republican. Did they sit on their hands ? Nope. They went out and aggressively courted their vote until after decades of hard work, they got a majority. Because the GOP is too timid and gutless, they don't bother to go straight into the heart of the opposition as the Democrats do. Occasionally they might put out a face, but they never put the resources behind it. I've never seen a party that often acts so eager to lose... so why should you or anyone else be surprised when they do ?
"Their is no doubt that the GOP circular firing squad hurt Ken, one of most effective grassroots organizer the GOP has. Even Ken had to move on to the AG office after barely holding on by a few votes to retain his Fairfax state Senate seat in 2005. In this past election, Fairfax GOP delegates barely eked out victories. It is accepted that a few more elections and the Dems will control all the Fairfax County delegate seats."
"It is accepted." Where's the fight ? Everything you write is dripping with defeatism and negativism.
"The fact that a Libertarian or third party candidate can do so well shows the dissatisfaction with the GOP. Ken received 50,000 less votes than McDonnell in 2009 while McAwful got 250,000 more votes than Deeds did in 2009. In 2012 Kaine actually received 40,000 more votes than Obama."
And yet the fake Libertarian's candidacy was a coordinated effort with the Democrats to draw ignorant voters away from the Republican. Where's the fight ? Where are the counter-measures ? I do feel for Cuccinelli, but he was being shithammered from all sides, including the sitting Governor and Lieutenant Governor. His campaign was ultimately less than stellar.
"I don't know who made such a prediction, but I can tell you that the demography of NoVA has changed dramatically since 1990. In 1990 the foreign born comprised 15.6% of the population of Fairfax County compared to the 30.4% in 2010. Whites were 81.3% of the population in 1990; in 2010 they are 62.7%. The population of Fairfax County has grown from 818,584 in 1990 to 1,081,726 in 2010. Essentially, all of the population increase has been due to minorities as defined by the USG. The Asian population has more than doubled from 8.5% in 1990 to 17.6% in 2010; the Hispanic population from 6.3% to 15.6%, and other race/multi race from 2.3% to 10.2%. Blacks went from 7.7% to 9.2% in 2010. Minorities and immigrants vote more than two to one for the Dems. Demography is destiny. You can't have such dramatic changes without having an electoral and lasting impact."
And what is being done to make a play for their vote ? Writing them off is not an option. Either make the play or get off the damn field. Half the reason the GOP fails to make a dent is because they don't even bother to ask for their vote.
"NV has reached a tipping point. NV went for Obama by 12% in 2008 and 7% in 2012. The demography of the state has also changed significantly since 1990. It used to be battleground state with close elections. No longer is that the case."
You manage to make 7% sound worse than 12%. That's movement in the GOP's direction. Again, NV Democrats haven't been able to elect a Governor in 20 years and barely hold a Senate seat with a massively unpopular Harry Reid. We have a talented Hispanic Republican Governor there, we also have a Latina Republican Governor in majority Hispanic New Mexico and the Republicans are making a serious play to capture the House of Representatives this year, which they are but a few seats away from capturing. By your reckoning, these states should be "gone." They're not.
"CO has gone Dem the last two Presidential elections with Obama garnering the two largest vote totals in the history of the state. CO is mirroring what is happening in VA. The Dems control the state legislature in CO. And the demography in CO is changing."
Colorado has also had major infighting within the GOP, and has put up subpar candidates. The Democrats just had to pressure a weak State Senator to quit ahead of being recalled (and with her recall, the GOP captures the State Senate) in order to preserve a paper-thin majority. Heavily Democrat Pueblo recalled a Democrat for a Republican. That has been a reliably Democrat area for close to a century. It CAN happen. You keep sounding the negative bell and I keep coming up with examples to refute your points, which you refuse to concede. If Colorado has changed, then why do the Republicans score these wins ? You seem to just want to surrender in everything you write. "Demographics, y'know. It's all over."
"I know. I have a couple degrees in the subject. But there are trends and data that support them. Do you see CA going Rep any time soon?"
You have a couple degrees ? Remind me not to get any. I've only spent the bulk of my life in independent political study rather than getting a good college brainwashing in intellectual dishonesty and negativity. Do I see California going Republican ? It can, but right now you've got an incompetent state party that serves the rich elites and won't do what is necessary to win. The state had the incredible opportunity to elect an accomplished leader in Tom McClintock as Governor. What did it elect ? A celebrity Austrian Socialist who was more fiscally leftist than the Democrat he replaced. He was so horrid that it had Jerry Brown replace him. The Republican Party does a shockingly good job at paving the way for extremist moonbats. Crap candidates, sabotage, non-Conservative policies, poor or non-campaigning. The Democrats luck out by having Republican elites as an "opposition."
"Hillary and any other Dem start out with a massive advantage in the number of electoral votes that are considered as locks. It is far more difficult for the Reps to get the needed votes to become President. And it is getting harder each and every time. If the Dems turnout in VA, Hillary is unbeatable. And she will garner more of the women's vote than Obama. It will be another historic election--our first woman President."
Her entire life from out of college is filled to the brim with corruption, malfeasance and blood. But the RINO establishment is hell bent on making sure she wins. She is a GIFT to the Conservatives to draw stark differences between good and evil. But they can't be allowed anywhere near the nomination, because they might actually win. No, we must put up corpulent buffoon clowns like Christie with the claim that only "he" can win. Just like how only McCain could beat Zero and how only Willard could win. They never win. They are only ringers. This is why we must obliterate the Republican Establishment, the enforcers for the Democrats going back for decades.
"And who is going to bell the cat? The GOP establishment has the money and it will not relinquish control even if it means taking down the party. They would rather lose than have a conservative win."
Take them down. It's not one way, it's now the only way and an absolute imperative.
"The power structure of this country will not change until the welfare state and our fiscal house of cards collapses. There are too many vested interests that want to keep riding this horse until the horse dies."
Again, why it is an imperative to take them down before everyone is taken down.