Storm brewing: NoVA vs RoVA

Reading thru the comments in this post over at RK, it is clear that there is a storm brewing between NoVA (Northern Virginia) and RoVA (the rest of Virginia). The disconnect has been a long time in the making and the recent announcement of the Senate committee chairs just adds fuel to the fire. The power shift, as outlined in this Washington Post story, should be a concern of the Democratic Party in Virginia. (For some comments that didn’t make the story, check out this post.)

Take this RK comment, for instance:

NoVA Dems frequently treat us like the retarded cousin at the family reunion. You put up with us because you need us in general, but when it comes time to reward us for our hard work (in Hampton Roads, for example, we contributed JUST AS MUCH to the gains this year as Northern Virginia did), we frequently are ignored.

Northern Virginia Democrats talk down to us because they think we don’t know any better. Frankly, the chair appointments just reinforce that image. You wonder why I frequently rant against NoVA Democrats? It’s crap like the Ticer assignment that make me believe the things I do.

RoVA Democrats shouldn’t have to try to catch the scraps from the NoVA and Richmond Democrats’ plate.

Or how about this one?

But the rest of us downstate Dems are still pretty sure you don’t get it. And that’s fine, friend! All politics are local, and you’re not from the parts of the state we’re talking about here. I mean, heck, y’all are still looking for ways to beat Ken Cuccinelli in your own back yard, just like we’re looking for ways to beat (insert downstate incumbent Republican here). It’s okay for us as activists not to get regions of the state other than our own because we all have plenty of fights here in our own neck of the woods. But while we’re local activists, this is supposed to be a statewide party. If this party wants to “get it,” it would have made sense to put some elected Democrats from out in the political wilderness into meaningful leadership positions.

Rewarding the Dems who have had their seats longest (BECAUSE THEY WERE GERRYMANDERED TO PACK ALL THE DEM VOTERS INTO THOSE DISTRICTS IN THE FIRST PLACE) and then pointing to Roscoe Reynolds as a deputy assistant somethingorother and saying “we have rural friends, too!” is ridiculous. Saslaw ought to be embarrassed (except I’ve heard the guy speak, and it seems like it would take a lot to make him feel embarrassed about saying something).

I broached the subject of the dominance of NoVA in this post from nearly two years ago. What has changed since then? Not a whole lot. (For reference, take a look at the map Kenton did after the November 2006 election.)

Just as the Democratic Party has to stop paying lip service to minorities within the party, so must they also stop only looking to NoVA for everything. If Virginia is going to turn blue, it has to start with inclusiveness of the RoVA.

Let me also say that while I expect that the leadership in the Democratic Party to think in terms of the entire state, I have no such expectation from the blogs. I expect NoVA blogs to be slanted towards NoVA, just as I expect Hampton Roads blogs to be slanted towards Hampton Roads, or Central VA blogs to be slanted towards Central VA. Blog readers: all politics is local. You wouldn’t read the NY Times to find out what’s happening in Florida, now would you?