It didn’t take long for the finger pointing to begin. Richard Viguerie, the Northern Virginia direct-mail guru who bills himself as “the funding father” of the conservative movement, maintains that Republicans lost eight General Assembly seats this week because its leaders had failed to stay true to their core values. Writes Viguerie in an e-mail missive today:
The present Republican team in Richmond has failed, especially in the Senate. Grassroots activists and donors should demand these leaders be replaced for their failures. “No one should be surprised at the election results. This is a direct result of the Republican in Name Only (RINO) legislative leadership. These RINO legislators have openly collaborated with the liberals in the General Assembly and with Democratic governors Mark Warner and Tim Kaine to massively increase spending and taxes.
“As a result, the Virginia Republican Party—like the national Republican Party—has lost its brand as the party of fiscal responsibility. And the predictable election results have been the same on both the state and national levels. Liberal voters who want higher spending and higher taxes predominantly vote Democratic, while conservatives, having been betrayed by Republicans, lose heart and interest in voting.”
There are elements of truth here. The Republican Party has lost its brand as the party of fiscal responsibility. But there’s more to the story. People want low taxes and sound finances, but they also want government to fulfill certain responsibilities in the realms of education, transportation, the environment, the social safety net and other core obligations. Voters look for a package of low (or moderate) taxes, efficient government and creative solutions to society’s challenges.
From my vantage point, the now-retiring state Senate stood for the “take-your-fish oil” brand of fiscal conservatism, which translated into raising taxes in lock step with rising demand for government services. In the five years I have been covering politics closely in Virginia, I saw little original, creative or innovative legislation emanating from the senate. The House of Delegates, by contrast, has been a fount of ideas — some good, some bad. For the most part, those ideas — including the most sweeping structural reforms to transportation and land use in 70 years — were ignored by the media. (I’m not accusing the media of bias, just noting that the biggest business-of-government story of this generation went largely unreported.) The failure of the House has not been a failure to think creatively about Virginia’s challenges but to bypass traditional media channels to reach the public.
Democratic Party leaders — first Gov. Mark Warner, then Gov. Timothy M. Kaine — projected an image as men who could “get things done.” Senate and House Republicans, by contrast, warred with each other, projecting an image of fractiousness. Now that key polarizing figures are departing — John Chichester and Russell Potts foremost among them — Senate Rs may mend fences with their House counterparts. That could solve the “fractiousness” problem.
But the Rs have to convince voters that they’re both serious about fighting tax hikes and capable of addressing Virginia’s very real challenges. If what we hear from the Rs in 2008 is more politics of symbolism — flag burning amendments, prayer in schools, etc. — they will fail miserably. If they can advance an agenda that solves real problems and keeps spending/taxes in check, they can re-emerge as winners.