Beyond the Smear: Allen's Old Politics of Division

By: Howard Park
Published On: 8/16/2006 4:14:16 PM

Beyond "macaca" -- George Allen was clearly playing to the politics of division and racism in Southwest Virginia 2 or 3 or 4 explanations or apologies ago.  I can't wait for his next explanation, I hope, whatever it is it's enough to make the front page of the Washington Post (as printed) for the third day in a row. 
 
Allen is a young face on age old political practices in the "Old Dominion."  That Virginia, however, took root in the days when Virginia was a mostly rural state whose economy depended on farms, mills and the military.  Virginia, however, is changing rapidly.

Where the votes are in the new Virginia are in the suburbs, especially Fairfax County.  Fairfax County voted for John Kerry in 2004, the first Democrat to carry the populous county since LBJ in 1964.  Mark Warner won Fairfax by 6 points in 2001, Tim Kaine won by 20 points in 2005.  27% of the population in Fairfax, Co., is foreign born.  Only 15% is foreign in supposedly more cosmopolitan Washington, DC.  Every year Fairfax & the rest of Northern, VA inch up in terms of their proportion of the statewide vote.

Jim Webb is going to kick Allen's racist butt in Fairfax County.  That is still not enough to win, but it is the base of a possible victory.

George Allen insulted and offended far more than Indian-Americans a few days ago.  He picked up the torch of old Virginia and told the growing minority and ethnic voters of the state to go to hell.  Without the Netroots and YouTube, he could have gotten away with it.  Thanks to you, and you know who you are, George Allen will not be able to say one thing in Danville and another in Reston.  Welcome to the new politics and the new Virginia Mr. Allen, come next January you won't have to spend quite so much time in wicked Washington, DC.
 

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