E. J. Dionne: Painting the Suburbs Blue

September 14, 2007
Painting the Suburbs Blue
By E. J. Dionne

As Virginia goes, so goes the Senate -- and the nation?

The decision of former Virginia governor Mark Warner to run for the seat of retiring Republican Sen. John Warner is more than just bad news for the GOP. It reflects fundamental shifts in the balance of political power in the country, the growing force and volatility of suburban voters, and the fact that the old red-state-blue-state maps are becoming obsolete.

Republicans have never had much chance of recapturing the Senate in 2008, but Mark Warner's bid and the decision of Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) to step down combined this week to make the difficult almost impossible.

If Bob Kerrey, Nebraska's former Democratic senator, decides to go for Hagel's seat, Republicans will have to defend two states they until recently could regard as bastions. And in Warner and Kerrey, Senate Democrats could add two ideologically unpredictable voices.

The Republicans are in danger of being pushed into a Southern redoubt. Their increasingly narrow regional and demographic base bears a remarkable resemblance to the old areas of Democratic strength during the Republican heyday after the Civil War.

more...

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/09/painting_the_suburbs_blue.html

The Democrats were the party that courted the southern racists after the Civil War. Since the Civil Rights Act and Nixon, the Republicans have embraced racism. Shame on them.