Nobody expects state Democrats to be happy they got trounced in the November elections. But their vituperation at the opening of the General Assembly session reveals an ugly side of a party that likes to consider itself kinder and gentler than the opposition.
When Republicans assumed control of an evenly divided Senate by relying on the tie-breaking vote of the lieutenant governor, they did nothing Democrats themselves have not tried to do. Indeed, Democrats would have done just that in 1996 if Virgil Goode, a Democrat, had not monkey-wrenched his own party's plans.
Yet last week Democrats not only lobbed rhetorical stink bombs about this year's power shift — "bad history," "grossly unfair," "purely partisan" — they also tried to mislead the public. "The citizens … voted for a 20-20 Senate," said State Sen. John Edwards.
No, they voted for a 24-16 Senate. Republican Senate candidates received more than 768,000 votes in November; Democrats got fewer than 537,000. Gerrymandering, not ballots, produced the 20-20 split.
More broadly, Democrats accuse Republicans in general and Gov. Bob McDonnell in particular of launching "an assault on children, elderly, and the poor" — despite a budget that adds more than $1 billion for K-12 education and Medicaid, and legislative priorities that include broadening access to college for Virginia's high-schoolers.
State Sen. Yvonne Miller says a Senate that was "inclusive" is now "monolithic." State Sen. Donald McEachin goes so far as to call his colleagues racist: "An African-American won the presidency, and they can't stand it," he said. Stay classy, senator. At least McEachin and his colleagues did not bolt for hotels in Maryland. McEachin spoke from Richmond, not from Annapolis. His tone came in stark contrast to McDonnell's conciliatory message, nevertheless.
Dick Saslaw, the erstwhile majority leader, has been particularly abrasive. He already has declared that one McDonnell proposal "will never survive the Senate … And charter schools? Forget it." In late December, Saslaw termed McDonnell "the most anti-public-education governor … in the last 36 years." This, mind you, from the man who frets that "we are beginning to lose a fair amount of revenue" by allowing some schools to open before Labor Day.
Spilling a river of bile is not an auspicious way to launch a legislative session, nor is it calculated to attain the Republican goodwill Democrats will need in the new political landscape. Even more important, from the voters' perspective: It gives the public a disturbing glimpse into how the party leadership's hard-edged extremism is elbowing aside whatever is left of its diminishing moderate wing. If this is how Democratic officials act, then voters are right to keep their distance.
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