The Far-Left Myth

I know; I know: you read the title, and thought, "Uh, could you be a little more specific?  After all, there are so many of them."

Well, gentle reader, I will address those I read today.  One was in Blow Me ... er, "Blue Virginia," which refers to "The risk is that we will see an 8-3 Republican majority locked into our purple, almost-evenly-divided state for the next decade (just 2 years after Democrats held a 6-5 edge)."

This is, of course, a lie of Goebbelsian proportions.  Virginia is not a "purple, almost-evenly-divided state"; it is a Republican state, and only the last vestiges of old Democrat power and machinations have managed to preserved the Democrat Party as a viable force in most parts of the Commonwealth.

Then, there was Robert McCartney's take in the Metro section of today's Washington Post, entitled "No matter who gains control of Virginia Senate, neither party won a mandate."

A simple review of the election returns demonstrates that, if McCartney truly believes this, then it must be time to institute mandatory drug testing for WaPo columnists.

Just a few of the numbers indicates that McCartney may be imbibing hallucinogenic substances.  The GOP gained seven --- count 'em, seven! --- seats in the House of Delegates, bringing their numbers to an historic high of sixty-six (66), if the results hold.

Nevertheless, you might say, the GOP gained only two Senate seats, bringing them to parity in the Virginia Senate, with ties broken by Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (for the next two years, the most powerful elected official in the Commonwealth).

But those numbers don't tell the story, as Virginia's Senate Democrats managed to lose two seats notwithstanding their control of the Senate redistricting process, and an historically shameless gerrymander which, among other things, divided jurisdictions and sometimes even precincts to advantage Democrat incumbents.

In Prince William County, for instance, population increases indicate that the County would be entitled to two full Senate seats, plus a small part of another one.  Nevertheless, only one full seat was situated in the County --- unsurprisingly, the Methuselah of the Senate, Democrat Chuck Colgan, who had to tout his relationship with Republican Governor Bob McDonnell and his "bipartisanship" to survive ---  while the rest of the County and the Cities of Manassas and Manassas Park were carved up like a Thanksgiving turkey, as smaller parts of four other districts with majorities in other counties.  Thus, a county in which preliminary results indicate that 32,495 total votes were cast for GOP candidates, and 25,167 votes were cast for Democrat and other candidates finds itself represented by three Democrats (Chuck Colgan, George Barker, and Toddy Puller), with small portions of the County represented by two Republicans (Dick Black and Richard Stuart).  And among the five, only one (Democrat Chuck Colgan) actually resides in the County.

Democrat George Barker was the primary author of this plan, and that he got any votes from Prince William County residents is a testament to partisan Democrats' commitment to the pursuit and maintenance of power over local interests.

But the total numbers statewide demonstrate that it was, nevertheless, a masterful gerrymander by Senate Democrats.  Overall, the GOP won 771,698 votes in Senate races statewide, while Democrats and others won 580,773.  These numbers are staggering in comparison to the actual member-district results.  Republican nominees secured the votes of just over 57% of Virginians for the State Senate, while Democrats and others secured the votes of not even 43%.  Were the Senate to more closely reflect this electoral reality, Republicans would hold a 23-17 seat margin.  But alas, Republicans only hold twenty of those seats, if current results are confirmed.

A masterful gerrymander, indeed.

And the GOP did even better in the House of Delegates.  There, Republican candidates (I include Libertarian and Lacey B. Putney, who caucuses with the GOP) secured 775,403 votes statewide, while Democrats (I include Green candidates) and write-ins garnered only 487,514 votes.  In short, Republicans garnered a whopping 61.4% of the statewide vote for the House of Delegates, while Democrat and other candidates secured less than 40% of the vote.

So a "purple, almost-evenly-divided state"?!?!  "No mandate"?!?!?!  It would seem necessary to ascertain from the authors of those comments the color of the sky on their planet, because whatever it is, it ain't "Blue."