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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThis is what a blue state looks like: Rapid change roils Virginia Republicans
RICHMOND One Republican delegate warns that Virginia is splitting in two. Another would support returning liberal Arlington and Alexandria to the District of Columbia. Lawmakers in West Virginia have offered to annex rural Frederick County, outside Winchester, to liberate it from its rapidly urbanizing home.
The change that Democrats promised in last falls election campaigns is hitting Richmond with full force, casting new light on political and cultural divisions that have simmered for years. As leaders quickly advance gun control, womens rights and LGBTQ protections, many Republicans charge that theyre trampling on the interests of a new minority: rural conservatives who long held sway in the Capitol.
We dont need one part of Virginia pitted against another just because of a political agenda, House Minority Leader Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah) said.
Last weeks massive gun rights rally was the rawest reaction yet to the demographic shifts turning Virginia from red to blue. While the states electorate has been tilting Democratic for more than a decade, this years General Assembly session shows what consolidated power looks like, with blue majorities in the legislature joining forces with Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam.
The abrupt change is playing out in ways large and small. Democrats grabbed national attention for approving the Equal Rights Amendment, while also changing the pronouns in official House rules from he/him to she/her. The weekly Speakers Bible study has become an interfaith devotional that kicked off with a rabbi. The word Militia is gone from the name of the House Public Safety Committee.
Democrats say the changes are meant to be more inclusive. Were telling people, Yes, you belong here, you have someone you can relate to here, said Del. Danica A. Roem (D-Prince William), Virginias first openly transgender state lawmaker.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/this-is-what-a-blue-state-looks-like-rapid-change-roils-virginia-republicans/2020/01/26/de8aa188-3d75-11ea-b90d-5652806c3b3a_story.html
AleksS
(1,665 posts)They didn't mind pitting rural v. urban when THEY were in charge. Rather short term memory they've got.
As always in GOP-land, it's always OK if you're a republican.
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,484 posts)ThoughtCriminal
(14,050 posts)Never mind the "Tyranny of the majority". The GOP has proven how much more horrible it is to live with a "Tyranny of the minority".
Progressive Jones
(6,011 posts)with the fact that they're a rapidly shrinking minority.
Aren't we all Americans? City mouse, or country mouse -- we're all in it together.
Live out in the country if you will, but don't expect special treatment. Those days are coming to an end.