I’m seeing a lot of disappointment, bitterness, and even surprise at the result of the 26th district race. The first two are understandable…after all, conservatives and Republicans felt the same things last November, in ‘06, in ‘05, etc. I’m not sure I understand the surprise though. Again, that was rated a safe Republican seat beforehand. In every analysis of the House of Delegate contests I read, it as well as the others in the Valley weren’t even on the radar in terms of possibly being close, or a Democrat pick-up. And, that possibility grew less and less likely as McDonnell’s lead grew.

And, its a safe Republican seat because that is a very conservative, Republican area. The fact is that voters in a lot of areas of the country mostly use party labels to select their candidate. Years ago I lived in a very blue district, where it was a foregone conclusion the Democrat would win. And he did, every time. My vote didn’t make any difference, but I still exercised it. And yes, such districts can be found in Virginia. Take a look at the General Assembly results from last night. Even in a bad year, I see several Democrats didn’t even have a Republican challenger. I see Democrats winning districts with 70%+ of the vote. Those were safe Democrat seats, and any Republican would be at a severe disadvantage in each. So, it works both ways.

I’d hesitate to criticize the district’s voters, though, and insist they’re just partisan robots. A lot of people automatically favor one party over another, and trust that particular one to look after their interests, to share their values and priorities. How many Hart supporters, for example, voted for Deeds? You certainly could not have done so based on the campaign he ran. Did that not have something to do with the “D” beside his name? Also, its important to remember what Megan said when she discussed why she was voting for Lohr:

But back to the point, I don’t have a history of voting for Lohr. After reading much of what Lowell and Bubby have to say, I realize that it is so very far to the left of what I believe that I can’t vote for someone that wouldn’t distance themselves from that kind of condescending partisan hatefulness.

I understand disliking candidates. There have been plenty of elections where I’ve wanted to pull my hair out in exasperation, wondering why in the world anyone would even consider voting for a particular candidate. But, attacking their character, suggesting their not good husbands/fathers, wives/mothers, and engaging in over-the-top hyperbole is not helpful. I don’t know Lohr obviously, but he’s probably a decent guy. Voters in the area have gotten to know him and agree, so attacking him personally is only going to turn people off. Look at the governor’s race. Deeds spent so much time railing against McDonnell that, in the final analysis, Deeds’ unfavorables were higher than his favorables while a majority of voters had a favorable view of McDonnell. That negative vibe backfires. People in general like their legislators. They may hate Congress or the General Assembly, they may feel their representative hasn’t “done” anything for them, but they like them. That’s why incumbents win re-election the vast majority of the time. It stands to reason that attacking the voters, too, isn’t very helpful.

I do commend the Democrat candidates for jumping into those races. They must’ve known they probably wouldn’t win, but they gave it a shot anyway.