Tom Davis knows how to crawl in the political slime. One can see how his every move is designed to create the appearance of being middle-of-the-road while he votes with the most radical right wingers.

One example is his Bill to give DC a representative in Congress. But SURPRISE! DC has to give the Republicans an extra representative too because the next census will "probably" allocate one for them. Now let me see if I have this right. Davis gets to look all chummy with DC (and black people) while actually giving them nothing. How many other states are going to ask for new representatives they "probably" will get after this? Is this illegal or what?

This Bill is such an insult to the only part of the country which is still living in slave times. Although there are no slaves there, the black people in DC actually have less representation than black people under slavery who counted as at least a fraction of a person for representation purposes.

I met someone who knew Davis when he was in college and she said he was so excited about Nixon's Southern strategy at the time. In case you don't remember, that was Nixon's appeal to states' rights (the right to segregate) in order to bring the Southern states into the Republican Party. It was a reaction against the Civil Rights movement. Considering the f-k you portion (we get a rep to cancel yours) of the DC bill one can see the Tom Davis of old shining through.

When is Abramoff going to implicate him in the Republican's money laundering scheme?

is the heavy influx of highly educated (mostly) tech workers. What he follows up with is  another example of Repulican wishful thinking where they hope by word magic to make come true what they say is true (and is not). In this case, that these newcomers are "natural" Republican voters.  Where does Mr. Davis think the huge Democratic majorities came from recently  in those areas he mentioned? Why, from the "new" Virginians who are turning Virginia blue, being well-educated and politically aware they voted Democratic.  Why, Sidarth was the offspring of exactly such people... you remember, the "real" Virginian Allen chose to bully at The Breaks. Nice try, Tom, but once again, you missed the point. 

Davis is lobbying the powers that be in the Party to chose a NoVa resident to run for Senate. This message is really directed at them. After all, he doesn't need to tell people who moved here that they moved here.  By suggesting a non-NoVa candidate won't get support from these "new Virginians," Davis is trying to sell himself, so he will be chosen over a Senate candidate from another part of the state.

In the meantime, Davis gets to write what looks suspiciously like campaign literature for free in the Richmond Times Dispatch: unsupported drivel like, "it's been largely Republican-led policies that brought these new voters to Virginia in the first place, in search of the good life we've created here, for families and for business." What he should be saying is, hi-tech couldn't get a government contract from crooks like my friend David Safavian unless they moved a one-man office here and hired my wife to lobby for them." Davis is laying the groundwork for his Senate campaign.

Write a scathing letter to the editor at RTD including your points (perhaps phrased in that so-nice sly but courteous Virginia-way as you slip in the shiv)

that this was a writen editorial comment.  Not a comment "off the cusp".  He had time to think about what he was saying, and this is what he truly believes.

You guys managed to find the ugliest photo ever taken of him - I love it!  LOL.  I did that once on a congressional campaign site for a Democrat in the primary to face Heather Wilson.  I found the fugliest picture I could find to use for a "Heather Wilson's Rap Sheet" page.  Needless to say, the campaign loved it. ;-)

When I was a teenager (living in the Chicago area) I remember a discussion between my mother and a friend of hers.  My mother grew up in Culpeper, her friend's father was from Virginia.  The friend described herself as half Virginian, half Polish.

In this mindset, Virginian is an ethnicity far more important than being an American.

Hey, this may offend the politically correct, but regional and state identity has been a feature of American life since the getgo. Virginia's got more of it than most states because of pride in a rich history and a sense of self-importance over the "mother of presidents" legacy. Many newcomers to NoVa don't know much about this, but I'd be wary of equating it with the conservative wing of the GOP or any other political group and their agenda. Sure, this kind of thinking may trend to status quo politics and stubborn resistance to change. And Tom Davis may try to appropriate the Virginia brand of identity for his own political ends. But we shouldn't let him get by with it. There's an admirable and resurgent liberal presence among those who identify strongly with the state and its traditions. IMHO, it's more cultural than political, and it shouldn't be a cause for derision.

who are you and where are you from?

TAke this Tom Davis - My great, great, great, great, great great, (I think one more) great Grandfather came to America and lived in Williamsburg, VA in 1678....  In fact the tavern that he ran is Shields tavern that is the republica at historical Williamsburg.

But you know what - I just moved here in 2003.  So quite frankly I believe I am more of a traditional Virginia then you are....

P>S.  Raising Kaine is getting alot of play on dailykos - cool.

Face it, Davis is not only right, he is acknowledging a political reality that conservatives must adapt to: traditional Virginians exist, but their numbers and influence have waned since the end of WWII, when large numbers of folks from outside the state have moved in.

Since WWII, Virginia has changed from a largely rural, agrarian, black and white, protestant group bound together by certain traditions, including political moderation tending toward social conservatism.  The demographic changes aren't bad for Virginia; they do, however, require conservatives to re-tailor their message to make it relevent to New Virginians.  But don't take my word for it, I think Jim Webb might have written about this somewhere... 

Who is he to define who is and is not a "traditional Virginian"?  Like I said, there are ways to talk about demographic changes without this type of divisive language.

I agree with the commenter above that this is very different than Allen saying "welcome to the real Virginia". Davis isn't defining who is a Virginian, and I don't think what he's saying is particularly divisive.

What Davis said was: "Culturally, they [newer residents/voters] are not traditionally 'Virginian'."

By "traditionally 'Virginian'" (and notice that Davis himself uses the single quote), it's pretty clear he means "socially conservative."  If he'd said that, it would eliminate any possibility of interpreting his statement as divisive, but as it is, there's just not enough here to get worked up about.

There is a history/tradition of moderation-tending-to-social conservatism in this state. Virginia has not been noted for early adoption of socially progressive policies.  I wish it weren't so, but it's so.

Better to fight Tom Davis on the level of the policies he advocates; he's not handing anyone a 'macaca moment' in this statement.

though the fact that he mentions ethnicity in the paragraph above shapes the word "culturally" in the way that I've described. 

Anyway, Virgil Goode's letter has eclipsed this whole issue anyway.