Comments on: Opinion, please: president & governor

By: Lamont

Lamont — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 23:37:23 +0000

“Democrats on all accounts!”

By: Opinion, please: president and governor (revisited) « VIVIAN J. PAIGE

Opinion, please: president and governor (revisited) « VIVIAN J. PAIGE — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:37:20 +0000

[...] 2009 Gubernatorial Race, National, Politics, Virginia by vjp on July 22nd, 2008 A year ago, I asked for opinions on which you would prefer, a Democratic president followed by a Republican governor or [...]

By: Kaine for VP? « VIVIAN J. PAIGE

Kaine for VP? « VIVIAN J. PAIGE — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 19:55:51 +0000

[...] of having the sitting VP campaign for the Democratic candidate in Virginia in 2009? Virginia has a long history of chosing its governor from the opposite party of that of the president. If Kaine campaigns [...]

By: Tom James

Tom James — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 01:59:25 +0000

Sorry I don’t get the science or purpose.

Is it just about feelings?

By: Anon E. Mouse

Anon E. Mouse — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 17:05:18 +0000

Who’s been filing lawsuits against the extra-Constitutional pork spending for the last seven years? I want to donate to their legal fund!

By: MB

MB — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 15:50:30 +0000

So your solution, then, is to repeat exactly what hasn’t worked for the past 7 years? You’re a smart one, aren’t you?

By: Anon E. Mouse

Anon E. Mouse — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 15:45:53 +0000

BM, I do think the Republican Party leaders have strayed from the roots of the party. But the body of the party, the people not the leaders, do believe in limited government.

The problem is that the Republicans got in power and went on their own pork binge. If we (the People) were to start filing lawsuit after lawsuit challenging such things as “the Bridge to Nowhere,” assorted museums no-one ever visits, “No Child Gets Ahead,” etc., on the basis that they are not covered by Article I, Section 8, we might finally get the limited federal government our Constitution demands.

By: MB

MB — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 14:22:33 +0000

Nah. I just have low tolerance for inane BS offered under the guise of thoughtfulness. No person, with any sense of honesty, could really say that the GOP is a party of limited government. So since I thought it might be rude to presume you a dishonest person, I went with the next most likely explanation – that you’re Rip Van Mouse. And here I was trying to be all nice and welcome you.

By: Anon E. Mouse

Anon E. Mouse — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 13:55:43 +0000

You really are a sour-puss, aren’t you, BM?

By: JACK STILES

JACK STILES — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 12:59:27 +0000

Dems get leg. and keep gov., gop get white house.

By: MB

MB — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 12:12:23 +0000

Even if in practice they stray, they are at least somewhat restrained by that theory.

Apparently you’ve been asleep for the past seven years. Welcome to 2007.

By: Anon E. Mouse

Anon E. Mouse — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 02:26:01 +0000

Clearly, a Republican for President and a Democrat for Governor.

The federal system is set up to be a limited government. It is limited to those things specified in Article I, Section 8. The Republicans claim to hold to that limited government theory. Even if in practice they stray, they are at least somewhat restrained by that theory.

It is the States where the principles of the Democratic Party shine. Education, helping the poor, roads, etc., are all the purview of the state governments.

By: Ward Smythe

Ward Smythe — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 01:57:47 +0000

Vivian and VAB, I think what your chart helps to show is the misnomer of calling Virginia a “red state.” We’ve always been a bit purple. Yes, in the Presidential years since 1964, we’ve gone for the Republican Presidential candidate. But down state from that, we’ve been pretty mixed. I think in the last 20 years we saw a hard swing to the right, basically because of 100 years or so of Democratic control.

I think we’re seeing that balance out a bit. The interesting thing will be where Virginia falls in the Presidential race next year. It would be a mistake for the GOP to take Virginia for granted.

By: vjp

vjp — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 01:49:51 +0000

I have to say that this is a really hard choice for me. Like Nova Dem, I want a D in charge due to the redistricting issue. But with the ages of some of the Supreme Court justices, I’d prefer to have a D in the White House to select their replacements.

So as long as the D’s control the legislature (at both the Commonwealth & federal levels), I’ll go along with MB and have a D president and R governor.

By: MB

MB — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 01:33:42 +0000

Given the track record of these patterns, I’m not so worried that the choice would be forced upon us. But if it were, I’d happily take Dem Prez, GOP Gov, and Dem Legislature

By: Frugal Revolutionary

Frugal Revolutionary — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 01:29:35 +0000

Why would anyone elect a republiCON for anything? Are you nuts?

By: dblhelix

dblhelix — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 01:26:03 +0000

OK, I’m in MD, which means I saw all your VA-Gov commercials

What does your GOP bench look like? If Kilgore is representative, you might be looking at Dem-Dem, regardless.

By: Nova Democrat

Nova Democrat — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 00:41:41 +0000

Call me crazy, but going into redistricting I’d like the big guy in Virginia to be a Democrat. I think the next President will be a one-termer only and wont really get much accomplished.

By: VAB

VAB — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 23:26:13 +0000

Thanks for that chart. Think of it the next time someone tells you that Virginia is a “red state.”

By: linda b

linda b — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 19:01:41 +0000

we can have both a dem prez and dem governor. what is the problem with that?
va is trending blue. go for it. don’t sit on your hands and dilly dally.
oh my gooness , we must just work real hard.

By: Bryan J. Scrafford

Bryan J. Scrafford — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 17:17:55 +0000

If anyone is interested in looking at how the Senators we elect compare, here are the Senators election results from Virginia since ’66. Presidential election years are bolded.

Harry Flood Byrd, Jr. (D,I) (won special election in 1966 as a Democrat)
William B. Spong, Jr. (D) (1966)
(Harry Flood Byrd, Jr. (I – caucused with Democrats) (1970)
William L. Scott (R) (1972)
Harry Flood Byrd, Jr (I – caucused with Democrats) (1976)
John W. Warner (R) (1978)
Paul S. Trible, Jr. (R) (1982)
John W. Warner (R) (1984)
Charles S. Robb (D) (1988)
John W. Warner (R) (1990)
Charles S. Robb (D) (1994)
John W. Warner (R) (1996)
George F. Allen (R) (2000)
John W. Warner (R) (2002)
Jim Webb (D) (2006)

By: Phil Chroniger

Phil Chroniger — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 17:16:54 +0000

How about “Right man for the job” as prez and “right man for the job” as gov??? That’s my real preference.

But if I have to follow Virginia’s voting trends, I’d say “GOP Prez, Dem Gov”.

Actually, how about “GOP Prez, Libertarian Gov”

By: Brian Kirwin

Brian Kirwin — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 17:10:37 +0000

Brilliant post, Vivian!

By: CR UVa

CR UVa — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 17:07:32 +0000

Like Johnny Camacho, I can say my answer with full confidence. I would prefer having a Republican president and a Democratic governor than vice-versa.

By: Johnny Camacho

Johnny Camacho — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 16:59:33 +0000

Without question, I’d rather have a Democratic president, and a Republican governor.