Tom Toles for November 30, 2012

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    ConserveGov  over 11 years ago

    DC area Virginia loves the Dems massive government idea but that will fade.

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    Doughfoot  over 11 years ago

    If you live, consciously or subconsciously, a small town or rural life, you probably vote Republican. If you live, consciously or subconsciously, an urban life, you probably vote Democratic. For cities to exist, large-scale planning and organization, i.e. government, is necessary. When you live in the middle of nowhere (actually or mentally) with few neighbors, neither government, nor the need for it, are visible. Mayberry never was real, but some folks here in Virginia still think it represents the “real” America, while in reality most Americans live in or on the outskirts of the city. There is a simple way to create a permanent Conservative majority in this country: replace one-man-one-vote with one acre-one-vote. This is quite clear in any county-by-county voting map. There are more “blue” people than “red” people in this country, but more “red” dirt than “blue” dirt. Being an “outsider” is tougher in a small well-knit community than in a big city, so those who feel themselves to be “outsiders” also tend to vote Democratic. This is what is really meant by all the talk of “minorities.” This is why Republican efforts to reach out to a more diverse population usually fail: nothing they do or propose actually serves to make those who still feel themselves to be “outside looking in” feel like they belong. Demography is on the side of the Democrats; that’s reality. But never fear, both parties will continue to change as they always have. The Democratic and Republican Parties of 20 years from now may look quite different. I doubt the GOP is going to cling to its present agenda and slowly commit suicide. I doubt the Democrats will always be able to hold together their divergent elements. But whether “conservative” or “liberal”, urban diversity is going to win out over rural home-town simplicity and homogeneity. Demography is Destiny.

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    ARodney  over 11 years ago

    Howie, I wouldn’t bring up the racial and gender profiles of congressional leaders there in your glass house.

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    I Play One On TV  over 11 years ago

    I can honestly say I have not seen a group of comments on this site (with the usual exceptions) as literate, nuanced, and researched as what I see here. Thanks, everyone.

    As a Virginian, I am worried. Our best hope, Mark Warner, has chosen to stay in the US Senate, and he will be an asset there. McAuliffe is energetic; that is all the positive I can see to him. He is an organizer, and he will run an efficient campaign. If his opponent is Cuccinelli, he has a good chance of winning, because Cooch is abrasively and adamantly my-way-or-the-highway, and that is far right tea party republican.

    I would hope, however, that another democratic contender will come along. There is no chance that a better Republican contender will announce after what the Lt. Governor went through before suspending his campaign. Cooch has his nomination sewed up, but I fear he will be a poor choice, and any republican has a decent chance in Virginia, regardless of who they are. (Recent example:a Republican running for state legislature was found to have had an arrest for domestic abuse, and that his wife had had a restraining order taken out on him, but “God has forgiven him, and therefore so can we” and he’s now in the state house.)

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    William Bednar Premium Member over 11 years ago

    “Because Obama will tax anyone working to death”#All you have to do is stop working! Then you too can join the gravy train!# "As so-called minorities become obvious numerical majorities, I wonder if use of the term will fade? "#No, former minorities, such as Native Americans, that become obvious numerical majorities can be further subdivided into new minorities, such as tribal distinctions: Apache, Cherokee, Navajo, etc. And if those start to become numerical majorities, just start subdividing again: Baptist Navajo vs Protestant Navajo vs Catholic Navajo. And on and on. The Spanish were particularly good at this when the starting encountering native peoples in the “New World”. The Spanish came up with dozens of racial and ethnic divisions, with the Spanish at the top of the list. The GOP is just following this model. White GOP voters will always for for white GOP candidates, non-white GOP voters will always vote for non-white GOP candidates if any are running, if not, they vote for the white GOP candidate, and so forth. Romney’s 47% comment is reality to him and the GOP.

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