Red Dominion

Barack Obama campaigns with Rep. Tom Perriello in Charlottesville. Yes, We Can becomes No, We Can't

Virginia

Virginia is a state that was cracking down on immigration before it was cool.

As most Virginians know, Prince William County has been enforcing a tough Arizona-style immigration law since 2007. The law requires police officers to check the immigration status of anyone they have probable cause to believe to be in the county illegally. It was later revised to apply only to those who had been arrested.

A recent study by the University of Virginia argues that the policy was successful in reducing the Hispanic population (both legal and illegal) in the county. Previously, “Prince William County” had been a “hot spot” for immigration, but that is “no longer the case.” 76 percent of Prince William County residents say they are satisfied with the policy.

Any lessons to be learned here?

A Story About Charlottesville

Congressman Virgil Goode represented Charlottesville in Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District from 1997 to 2008. For years, Goode served honorably in Congress as Virginia’s fire eating equivalent of Tom Tancredo. He used his seat to repeatedly vote against “comprehensive immigration reform” and advance restrictionist immigration policies in the House. While he was in office, Goode sponsored legislation to militarize the U.S.-Mexican border.

In 2008, Virgil Goode (Republican) was defeated by Tom Perriello (Democrat), 50.1 percent to 49.9 percent. Perriello’s margin of victory was 727 votes. He was swept into office by the wave of Obamamania that buoyed student turnout on the UVA campus. Over the next two years, Perriello went on to become a darling of the “progressive” movement. Obama made a personal trip to Charlottesville on the eve of the midterms to campaign for his reelection:

“We always say we want integrity from our elected officials. And you know what, this is a test case right here in Charlottesville because this man has integrity. And in four days, you have the chance to say, yes, we can.”

The contrast between Virgil Goode and Tom Perriello was one of the major factors that caused me to reconsider my previous alienation from mainstream politics. Those who say there are no real substantial differences between “system politicians” frankly don’t know what they are talking about. There was an enormous difference between Goode and Perriello on multiculturalism and immigration policy.

Browse the Virgil Goode archive of Townhall columns. It should be sufficient to dispel the popular notion in White Nationalist circles that “elections don’t matter.” Goode’s loss was a major setback to advancing our cause in Congress and the Old Dominion.

Virginia Boomerangs – Going Blue

In the 2008 presidential election, Barack Obama carried the Old Dominion. It was the first time a Democrat had won Virginia since 1964. For a decade, Virginia was a Red State that was becoming a Blue State. Immigration to Northern Virginia from the Third World and the more liberal parts of America had dramatically increased the “Blue” population of SWPLs and Hispanics in the Washington suburbs.

Mark Warner, a Democrat, was elected Governor of Virginia in 2001. He was succeeded by Tim Kaine, another Democrat, in 2005. Kaine is now the DNC Chairman. Warner rode the Obamamania wave to became a Senator in 2008. Jim Webb, of course, was elected as a Senator in 2006. Heading into the 2010 midterm elections, Democrats controlled 6 out of 11 House seats in the Old Dominion.

Virginia’s state elections were held in 2009. In the 2009 election, Virginia had a Democratic Governor, the term limited Tim Kaine, and Republicans controlled the Virginia House. In the Virginia House of Delegates, Republicans had 54 delegates to the Democrats 44. In the Virginia Senate, Democrats had 22 seats to the Republicans 18. The Virginia Senate will hold its next election in November 2011.

Summary: As of 2009, the Democrats controlled the Virginia governorship (Kaine), 6 out of 11 House seats, both U.S. Senate seats (Warner and Webb), and the Virginia Senate by a narrow majority. Virginia had been trending so heavily Democratic that John Judis and Ruy Teixeira opened their book The Emerging Democratic Majority with the scene of Mark Warner’s election as Governor of Virginia in 2001.

Needless to say, aside from a few bright spots like Virgil Goode and Prince William County, it was a bad decade for restrictionist immigration reform in Virginia. Democratic control is synonymous with “Blue” hegemony.

Virginia Boomerangs – Going Red

Barack Obama delivered on his promise to bring “change” to the Old Dominion. It was just not the sort of “change” he anticipated. Within two years as President of the United States, Obama had become such a polarizing figure in Virginia that he not only destroyed a solid decade of incremental Democratic progress in the state, he also blew apart the Mark Warner coalition and succeeded in realigning Virginia state politics.

2009

The WARNING – IMMINENT DANGER siren went off in 2009 when Democrats suffered catastrophic losses in the Virginia state elections. The Democrats also lost the New Jersey gubernatorial election to Chris Christie that year. The results of those off year elections were spun by “progressives” as failures of local candidates (along with Martha Coakley in Massachusetts in January 2010) that were not a referendum on Barack Obama or progressive policies like amnesty and healthcare reform.

They are still saying that heading into 2011.

In 2009, Republican Bob McDonnell defeated Democrat Creigh Deeds to win the Virginia gubernatorial election with 58.6 percent of the vote; the highest vote total for any candidate since 1961, a landslide in terms of Virginia politics. In the Virginia House of Delegates, Republicans won 59 seats to the Democrats 39 (5 Democrats won by less than 1,000 votes). In the 1998 to 2000 session, Democrats had 50 seats to the Republicans 49, when they last controlled the chamber.

Next year, the Virginia Senate (now under Democratic control) will be up for grabs in state elections. The Republicans will have a shot at capturing unified control of the Virginia state government.

2010

In the 2010 midterm elections, Republicans continued the rout. Virginia’s 11 House seats were all up for grabs. Of those, Republicans won 8 out of 11 seats, with three pickups in Southwest, Central, and Southern Virginia. Tom Perriello, Glenn Nye, and Rick Boucher lost. In Northern Virginia, Gerry Connelly squeaked out a victory in Fairfax County with less than 1 percent of the vote. His margin of victory was a mere 981 votes.

Negro Robert Scott held onto Virginia’s Third Congressional District. In 1990, the Justice Department forced the Virginia state legislature to gerrymander the Third District to create a House seat for “African Americans.” In the 2010 midterm elections, Scott won reelection with 97 percent of the vote. He didn’t have any Republican challenger. Like the 35 percent of Whites in Alabama 7 and the 37 percent of Whites in Georgia 5, the 36 percent of Whites in Virginia 3 are effectively denied political representation in Congress thanks to the NAACP and the “Civil Rights Movement.”

The most interesting race was Rick Boucher’s loss to Morgan Griffith in Southwest Virginia. Democrats have controlled that seat since 1983. They are unlikely to get it back anytime soon. Bush and McCain both carried that heavily White district.

The Red Revolution

Virginia is a microcosm of the “Red Revolution” that played out across the Heartland. More than a year ago, Sean Trende of RealClearPolitics wrote a prescient article about Virginia politics in response to the 2009 state elections: Can the Clinton Coalition Survive Obama?

A year later, we have our answer: Barack Obama has destroyed the Clinton Coalition that was the basis of the Democratic resurgence in Virginia state politics.

His polarizing presidency drove the last of the White Jacksonians in rural Virginia out of the Democratic Party. That happened in the “wave election” of 2008. With the brakes on the Democrats gone, Obama’s fiscal irresponsibility with the budget, national debt, stimulus, and healthcare alienated the deficit hawk White moderates in the Washington suburbs.

The collapse of the Obama cargo cult in Charlottesville sank Tom Perriello. Perriello, who defeated Virgil Goode by 727 votes in 2008, lost by more than 9,000 votes to Robert Hurt in 2010. In fact, the results of the 2010 midterms seems to reflect massive disillusionment with Barack Obama among the Millennial constituency. From North Carolina to New York to Ohio, low turnout among Millennials sank Democratic incumbents in the House across the country.

In Virginia, the Democratic Party has been torn down to its base of blacks, Hispanics, and SWPLs. The White vote is coalescing in the Republican Party. The GOP resurgence is entirely due to White flight from the Obama coalition and the success Bob McDonnell has enjoyed in repairing the reputation of the Republican Party on fiscal issues.

Virginia and Immigration

All this partisan quarterbacking and voter analysis is fascinating to political junkies. But what does it mean for White Nationalists?

(1) In August, Virginia’s Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli of Virginia issued a legal opinion that allows Virginia state police to ask people about their immigration status in routine stops.

In effect, Cuccinelli extended the Prince William County immigration law statewide by administrative fiat. Virginia now has a de facto Arizona-style immigration law.

(2) There are an estimated 300,000 illegal aliens in Virginia. As we saw in Phoenix Farce, Arizona has succeeded in driving out over 100,000 illegal aliens this year alone. In fact, somewhere in the ballpark of 300,000 illegal aliens have departed Arizona since it began its state level crackdown in 2007.

(3) The defeat of “comprehensive immigration reform” by the Republican backbenchers under the Bush administration had huge implications. If that amnesty had gone into effect, an enormous number of Hispanics in Virginia would have become newly minted Democratic voters, putting anti-White Democrats over the top in any number of races.

(4) Also in August, Gov. Bob McDonnell sent a letter to Janet Napolitano at the Department of Homeland Security asking the federal government to allow Virginia state troopers to enforce federal immigration law.

This eliminates any doubt that Governor McDonnell would sign an Arizona-style immigration law.

(4) Republican state lawmakers in the Virginia Assembly are gearing up to introduce Arizona-style immigration reform in January 2011. This is being opposed in “Blue” strongholds like Arlington and Alexandria.

Among the other laws being considered are bills that would end sanctuary cities, allow local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration law, and deny illegal aliens access to public services, in-state tuition, driver’s licenses, and government benefits.

(5) The major obstacle to passing an Arizona-style law is the Democrat controlled Virginia Senate. Fortunately, 2011 is an election year. Democratic state senators sweltering under a massively unpopular Barack Obama will have to vote on restrictionist reform while facing anti-amnesty Republican challengers in an election season.

(6) In March, the Virginia state legislature adopted the E-Verify system which Governor-elect Lincoln Chafee has promised to dismantle in Rhode Island.

(7) As Attorney General of Virginia, Bob McDonnell supported E-Verify, barred illegal aliens from receiving in-state tuition, driver’s licenses, and supported allowing Virginia state police to enforce federal immigration law.

(8) According to NumbersUSA, Senator Mark Warner is an F- and Senator Jim Webb is a D on immigration. What about Virginia’s Democratic House delegation? Glenn Nye and Rick Boucher (both defeated) got a B; Gerry Connelly gets a C; Tom Perriello (defeated) got a D+; Bobby Scott gets an F; James Moran gets an F-.

On the Republican side of the aisle, Eric Cantor gets a B, Frank Wolf a B+, Randy Forbes an A, and Robert Wittman and Robert Goodlette both get an A+. The incoming Republican freshmen Robert Hurt, Morgan Griffith, and Scott Rigel are votes for cutting legal immigration, opposing amnesty, building the border fence, and ending birthright citizenship. Strangely enough, Jew Eric Cantor is actually a member of Tancredo’s House Immigration Reform Caucus.

(9) The pickup of 3 House seats in Virginia helped put restrictionist hardliners like Steve King and Lamar Smith in charge of immigration policy on the House Judiciary Committee. Previously, Zoe Lofgren was the chairman of the House Immigration Subcommittee and used it to invite Stephen Colbert to testify on behalf of the AgJOBs bill.

Virginia and Vanguardists

Having lived in Virginia, I spent many months and traveled many miles evaluating the White Nationalist resistance in that state. I attended meetings of both “mainstreamer” and “vanguardist” groups: Klan, CofCC, Volksfront, Amren, etc.

I can say without any sense of exaggeration that the OD headquarters that I helped establish there was the closest thing Virginia had to an organized White Nationalist cell operating on a full time basis. Literally, we were the resistance in that state.

There is a small Maryland/Northern Virginia CofCC chapter in the DC area, Jared Taylor’s Amren operation, a Volksfront umbrella group, a few scattered Klan groups and some subculturalists living off the grid. I don’t know of any active League of the South chapters. If they exist, I could never locate them.

Oh yeah … and there is Trainspotter “spreading ideas” on the internet somewhere in the vicinity of Richmond.

I’ve spent a lot of time since returning to Alabama thinking about what went wrong in Virginia. Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that the White Nationalist movement was superfluous for White Virginians, a rhetorical label that alienated people on the internet are clinging to.

Think about it: if you want to end birthright citizenship, deport illegal aliens, militarize the border, deny public services to illegal aliens, cut legal immigration, make life uncomfortable for illegal aliens in countless ways like giving law enforcement the power to query their immigration status … well, that’s already the position of the White majority in Virginia and most of their elected officials.

What’s the use of the White Nationalist movement? Every issue which we could conceivably use to bring Whites to the table (multiculturalism, immigration, foreign wars, free trade, monetary policy, affirmative action, etc.) is being responded to on some level by “system politicians.”

“The system” is far more permeable than most White Nationalists realize. As a Southern state with a heavy black population, there must be millions of pro-Confederate explicit Whites and an equal number of implicit Whites in Virginia, a constituency that cannot be excluded from representation. I don’t see any obstacles preventing us from reaching them with Alinsky-style community organizing methods.

Virginia and Mainstreamers

It is easy to see why the “vanguardists” are failing in Virginia: they are radically alienated from the White majority, reject participation in the political process, and lack any realistic plan (aside from fantasizing about The Collapse) to connect with a mass constituency and move their agenda forward.

What about the mainstreamers? They don’t seem to be that successful either.

The major failure of the “mainstreamers” lies in their assumption that White Nationalists are willing to organize. The sad reality of our situation is that the internet is overpopulated with rhetorical radicals who are unwilling to act on their beliefs. The carrot and stick of the middle class lifestyle combined with social ostracism and employment discrimination is sufficient to keep them bottled up on the internet.

The second failure is an unwillingness on the part of the “mainstreamers” to part with a rhetorical label. They water down the White Nationalist message. Marginally, this attracts a few more followers on the internet, but as with the vanguardists, the mainstreamers get their priorities wrong. Instead of focusing on organizing and seizing power, they emphasize the rhetorical content of their platform. In doing so, they fail in their objective to “mainstream” their agenda by falling afoul of the prevailing taboos, which deny them the necessary legitimacy to establish a political base in their communities.

The obvious solution: “dissolve” into the mainstream. As Greg Johnson would sarcastically put it, “shut up and blend in.”

In an area like Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District, which Virgil Goode once represented, a “mainstreamer” could successfully organize and/or campaign as a “Hard Right” conservative with hawkish views on subjects like multiculturalism, trade policy, and immigration. You could take the political platform of the Council of Conservative Citizens and openly spread the seeds of White Nationalism at the cost of a few minor rhetorical adjustments.

Is it worth it?

Of course it is worth the price. You aren’t reaching many people in your geographic area (much less a critical mass of them) by “spreading ideas” in the anonymity of the internet. Alternatively, you can dodge the prevailing taboos and openly campaign for critical parts of our agenda (like immigration reform) while positioning yourself as a respected leader in your community.

It won’t take “mainstreamers” long to catch on. You can walk into the Tea Party and say you really think we need to repeal the Immigration Act of 1965 in these terrible economic conditions. We also need to deport the millions of illegals already here because they are a fiscal burden and a culturally divisive force within their host communities.

As for affirmative action and disparate impact civil rights legislation, is it is an unnecessary and intolerable burden that big government has placed upon small businesses. Aid for Israel? America needs to cut foreign aid to help balance the budget.

Once you accept the fact that the right thing is almost always done for the wrong reasons, you will quickly see how fun this type of agitation can be. I only wish I had as much fun in the Old Dominion as I am now having in Alabama.