Obenshain Concedes and Confirms Democrats’ Advantage in Virginia

Thankfully GOP far right candidate Mark Obenshain conceded the Virginia Attorney General race to Democrat Mark Herring (pictured at right) this afternoon as the recount showed Herring's margin of victory increasing to over 810 votes per an earlier Washington Post story.  By doing the right think Obenshain saved Virginia from what some had feared would be an attempt to steal the election by pushing the election results to the GOP dominated Virginia General Assembly.  With the Democrats now having had a clean sweep in the off year election that for over 30 years has seen the party not occupying the White House prevail, the postmortems and back biting in the GOP will likely go over the top.  Not that the Christofascist/Tea Party base of the Virginia GOP will be likely to admit that the majority of Virginians do not want the toxic policies and embrace of ignorance which are the hallmarks of today's GOP.  A piece in the Washington Post looks at the growing Democrat advantage in statewide elections.  Here are excerpts:

Democrat Mark Herring’s victory in the exceedingly close Virginia attorney general’s race, which Republican Mark Obenshain conceded Wednesday, ought to end any debate about two key questions regarding politics in the Old Dominion.

First, in statewide elections, it’s now beyond doubt that Democrats start with a significant advantage. It turns out the 2009 GOP landslide, led by Gov. Bob McDonnell, was an exception fueled by the initial, tea party-led backlash against President Obama.

Since then, Democrats have won five straight statewide elections: for president and U.S. Senate in 2012, and for governor, lieutenant governor and now attorney general in November. Democrats hold every statewide elective office for the first time since 1969.

“In a statewide election, this is a state with a bluish tint. Republicans can win, but they can’t win easily,” said Bob Holsworth, a veteran Richmond political commentator.

Minority and immigrant voters, who tend to support Democrats, are growing as a share of the electorate. Populous suburbs such as Fairfax County, which used to be up for grabs, are now reliably blue. Those that once leaned red, such as Prince William and Loudoun, now lean the other way.

Second, to be competitive, the GOP needs to nominate candidates with more moderate views, especially on social issues. Republican support for low taxes and less government regulation is popular. But the GOP loses many voters because of its positions on issues such as abortion and immigration.

He [Obenshain] lost primarily because the Democrats were able to link his views to those of Cuccinelli, especially on social issues. A Herring ad pictured Obenshain riding in the same car as Cuccinelli. The Democrats called attention to Obenshain’s sponsorship of a bill that would have required women to report miscarriages to police within 24 hours.

Republican Tom Davis, a former U.S. congressman from Fairfax, said the 2013 election “should be a wake-up call” for his party. He blamed its right wing for insisting on a convention that nominated candidates who couldn’t appeal to moderates.  “It was a rebuke of the Republicans,” Davis said. “They lost it because they have a very exclusionary process for recruiting candidates. They do not understand the changing demographics of the state, and they’re not talking about issues that people care about.”

The GOP’s advantage in the House can restrain the Democrats’ agenda for now. If the Republicans wish to advance their own, however, they’ll have to win the top offices. On some issues, that will require a shift toward the center.

The comments on a post at the conservative Bearing Drift blog illustrate what the Virginia GOP  has in store for it as efforts are made to nominate candidates who are electable.  One comment sums up the mindset of the Neanderthals who do not grasp that Virginia and the nation are changing and rejecting the Christofascist/Tea Party agenda:

This is just incredibly sad. Not just for Mark O. and the VA GOP, but for Virginia. I am very much afraid that this beautiful state is going to become perverted and leftist. There is a reason why I didn't move to Maryland at one time in my life. I hope we don't lose our soul to whatever kind of "marriage" Hollywood is promoting on network t.v. this week, illegal immigrants calling the shots in the state legislature, and Medicaid expansion at the cost of our long-term access to health care providers, because it was dictated by the Federal administration.

 Meanwhile, the boyfriend and I are extremely happy that Mark Herring will be our next Attorney General and that we had the honor of holding a fundraiser for him in our home.