WP, pg1: In Virginia Ballot Booths, No Fixation on Immigration; "decline of Republican brand"

ANALYSIS
In the Ballot Booths, No Fixation on Immigration
By Amy Gardner
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 7, 2007; Page A01

Voters across Virginia chose candidates in state and local elections yesterday not out of anger over illegal immigration but based on party affiliation, a preference for moderation and strong views on such key issues as residential growth and improving traffic. With a few notable exceptions, the trend benefited Democrats and not those who campaigned the loudest for tough sanctions against illegal immigrants.

Fairfax County continued its transformation into solid Democratic territory, with as many as five legislative seats poised to fall out of Republican control. In Loudoun County, Democrats who campaigned on a promise to slow residential growth appeared headed toward control of the county board. And even in Prince William County, where the board's chairman, Corey L. Stewart (R), was poised to win easily on a promise of a crackdown against illegal immigrants, the volatile issue was tempered by the victory of state Sen. Charles J. Colgan (D-Manassas), who had been painted as soft on the issue.

The returns provided the sharpest evidence yet that Democratic gains in recent state elections represented more than a temporary Republican dip in popularity. Yesterday's initial results showed that a more long-term structural realignment might be occurring and that voters are increasingly drawn by Democratic promises to improve schools and ease traffic and away from Republican conservatism on such issues as taxes and social policy, particularly in fast-growing Northern Virginia.

"I did not think that immigration in and of itself would carry the day," said Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax), who will become majority leader under Democratic rule. "The results are proving that, while immigration is a concern to people -- and it should be -- it is not returning the votes that they thought that it would."...

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Robert D. Holsworth, a political science professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, called it the "decline of the Republican brand" and credited it with rallying Democratic activists, bringing forward credible Democratic candidates and attracting hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions to Democratic campaigns....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2007/11/07/ST2007110700119.html?hpid=topnews

Pretty hefty promises for that region....

What's next??

The 'Lying Cheney Syndrome' ?

The 'Republican Hubris Disaster' ?

What nifty, three word title will they name this phenomena ?

It is what they deserve, no matter what you call it ....

It also shows they arent using Voting Machines to their advantage this time around (or: They cannot reverse enough votes to make up the shortfall) ....

HOORAY for America and the world ....

I believe the GOP leadership is pouring over the results tonight and know, that if something doesn't happen to change the swing in the mood of the country, they are in deep trouble...

And not just for this election...

This, and not Bush's theft in 2000 and his retheft in 2004, has the makings of a real realigning election...

And I am as certain as one can be that this is why the media is concentrating on the democrats running for president and really ignoring the GOP candidates...

They, meaning the media, wanted something exciting to happen over in Terror Terror Tax Cut land but when Fred Fizzle completely, well, fizzled, the realization hit hard that there is no there there...

Which is anathema to Republicans. Remember they are the party of the lizard-brain and fear. Just like the dinosaurs, they will not have a clue what meteor hit them until it is too late.

You can only cut taxes so far, and then when all the bridges fall down and all the buildings burn because there's no money for firefighters, what do you do? Blaming those problems on undocumented foreigners is a stretch.