There’s an election every year in Virginia because we do Commonwealth and local elections in odd-numbered years. These off year elections don’t garner the attention of Congressional races every two years and the big show – POTUS – does every four years. For a number of years my fellow un-indicted, co-conspirator, Conservatives and I have called for a Contract With Virginia to unify Republican candidates. Regrettably, the Republican Party of Virginia and the candidates aren’t interested. Regardless, what could or should be a state-wide, party-wide, winning platform? Could it work in other states?
Reality check: What gets you elected in 125 cities and counties won’t win in 8 other cities and counties in Virginia. The large Black population in Richmond, Petersburg, Portsmouth, Newport News, Hampton, and Norfolk as well as some rural counties vote Democrat as a cultural norm. Gov. Glenn Youngkin earned 13% of the Black vote. Likewise, the Yankees and other foreigners in the Federally-Occupied Zone of Northern Virginia aren’t the same voters as in Real Virginia.
With over 6m voters, here are some Virginia demographics:
- Breakdown by sex: 48.7% male, 51.3% female
- Breakdown by age: 20.9% 18-29 years old, 24.3% 30-44 years old, 33.5% 45-64 years old, 21.3% 65+ years old
- Breakdown by race: 70.6% White, 19.9% Black or African American, 5.2% Asian, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 0.3% Native American or Alaska Native, 0.0% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander (Note to my West Point roommate and best man in my wedding that He is in the 0.0%!), 2.6% two or more races
- Breakdown by education: 2.4% less than high school education, 6.1% some high school (no diploma), 25.1% high school graduate or equivalency, 21.8% some college (no degree), 7.9% (technical?) degree, 21.3% bachelor’s degree, 15.3% graduate or professional degree.
And what’s missing..
- 10% of Virginia voters weren’t born in the U.S.
- 30% Evangelical Christian, 12% Catholic, 2% Mormon, and 12% Black Protestant.
- 708k Veterans live in Virginia.
- How many Virginia voters didn’t grow up in Virginia?
How do you build a Virginia-wide coalition with such disparity?
The obvious, politics-as-usual answer is to build the coalition of Conservative and Libertarian constituencies.
Ok, then are there specific issues that unite these constituencies and bring in some others? Yes, sometimes. Gov. Youngkin got elected with a razor-thin majority when the Commie Dems argued that schools, not parents, are in charge of children.
Is there another gift issue this year – 2023? Illegal alien invasion? Federal issue. Inflation and the economy? Federal issue. Fentanyl poisoning? Federal failure creating local poisoning.
Abortion is a state issue. “Trans” school policy is a state issue. Roads and taxes are a state and local issue. But, none of these issues is a clear winner when all the votes are counted. What wins in Blue Virginia won’t win in Red Virginia and vice versa.
So, what could win big(ly) in Red Virginia and cut deeply enough in Blue Virginia to win a majority in the House of Delegates and the State Senate this November? And across America next year?
How about an idea, instead of an issue?
An idea that cuts across issue after issue. An idea that can encourage, energize, and embolden young people, women, Hispanics, and Blacks to break ranks with the Commie Dems sufficiently winning numbers?
Consider, “Who Decides?”
Who decides what for you and your family?
Healthcare? Reducing Governments’ emergency powers after Democrat abuse? Restoring small businesses? Building more production, industry that makes things? Save more unborn babies from abortion up to and beyond the moment of birth? Stop the illegal alien invasion? Decide what to do with 30 million people – that doesn’t result in an amnesty and new Commie Democrat voters? Clean up voter rolls and keep illegal aliens from voting? Provide school choice and public school safety? Protect your right to defend yourself? Reform the laws and regulations where mental health, drug use and alcohol abuse, and crime meet? Keep more of your paycheck, allow more giving and savings, and create economic autonomy?
The Republicans could offer Virginia voters the choices to make government decide far less and you, the citizen, decide much more in every aspect of your life. To build the communities of common interest to pool resources to provide new, and more efficient and effective, safety nets for every social ill. Conservatives could lead Republicans to do it in other states.
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