This whole concept of "Red" America is a sham. Just because people reside in so-called "Red" - majority Republican - areas, does NOT mean they don?t desire strong leadership, affordable health care, good jobs, quality education, and a clean environment. Sure, in some of these places, Democrats lost big in 2004. However, one must keep in mind that, in many of these cases, that is simply because Democrats didn't even mount a challenge to the incumbent Republican. In part, this is because Republicans have intimidated Democrats from campaigning in those areas, using scare tactics like "God, Guns, and Gays." More broadly, Republicans have aimed to distract voters from the right-wing's shoddy record, and from the fact that conservativism works directly against the economic self-interest of working- and middle-class people. Election after election, however, the Democrats allow themselves to be intimidated. By allowing Republicans -- no matter how crazy, corrupt, or incompetent -- to go unchallenged, Democrats have, unfortunately, played right into the right-wing game plan. This must stop.
Ask yourself: are these Republicans really representing your interests when they cut Medicaid, student loans, and sustainable energy programs? Are these Republicans really supporting small farmers when they give enormous tax breaks to huge agribusiness conglomerates? Are they really supporting our troops when they cut those troops' benefits? Of course they aren't - and Democrats need to make this clear all across Virginia.
The thing is, sometimes all it takes for a Democratic candidate to win is: a) to run (80% of success in life is just showing up); and b) to get out there and talk to the voters. In fact, if the results of the 2005 gubernatorial election teach us anything, it's that Tim Kaine's strategy of traveling and speaking in so-called "Red" areas can be a strategy for success -- if you've got the right message and the right candidate to deliver it. So, let's hone that message and let's recruit those candidates. Now.
In the eleven Congressional districts in Virginia:
1) Kaine won 6 districts including 3 districts outside Northern Virginia.
2) Kaine lost only one district (9th District - SW Virginia) by more than 10 points - (55.3% to 43.1%)
3) In 2004, the same "Red" 9th District re-elected Frederick C. 'Rick' Boucher, a pro-choice, pro-labor, pro-education Democrat with a strong environmental record, to represent them in the U.S. Congress.
What this tells us is that to turn Virginia blue, we must take our message wherever voters reside. We must mount a challenge in every Congressional District held by a Republican, regardless of our chances to win, because we need to get out our message. Specifically, we need to show the citizens in those communities that we care about them and that we will work to help them create a better life for their families. We need to provide Virginia voters in EVERY DISTRICT with another option. We need to strike a bit of fear into the hard hearts of conservative candidates who think they have a monopoly on American values.
This is not as daunting as it first appears. It does not take thousands of votes to change outcomes in most districts. In fact, often times it only takes increasing Democratic turnout by 10-15 people per precinct to make the difference between victory and defeat. So let's get to work!
Here is the landscape of Congressional races across Virginia in 2006:
U.S. SENATE
Republican George Allen is up for reelection for the junior Senate seat, and the Democrats have yet to identify a clear challenger. All of us need to contact the Virginia Democratic Party as well as the Democratic National Committee and demand that a challenger be named as soon as possible. We need to spread the word that George Allen is NOT interested in what is best for the Commonwealth, or what is best for the country, and needs to be replaced!
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Out of 11 Congressional districts in Virginia, there are 8 Republicans up for re-election for their seats in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006.
1) Jo Ann S. Davis
2) Thelma D. Drake
4) James Randy Forbes
5) Virgil H. Goode
6) Robert W. 'Bob' Goodlatte
7) Eric I. Cantor
10) Frank Rudolph Wolf
11) Thomas M. 'Tom' Davis
Tim Kaine won four of these Republican-controlled districts in 2005:
To truly turn Virginia blue, we must challenge Republican candidates in the rest of the state and protect Rick Boucher (D) in District #9, which covers Virginia?s Southwest corner:
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Click here for a map of Congressional districts in Virginia and across the United States
Click here for 2005 election results in Virginia
Click here for a list of Republican Congressmen by State and by district