House Editorial:From red to eggplant
Virginia Sen. Jim Webb’s response to the State of the Union carries as much weight for his state as it does his party
Posted on January 25, 2007

Last year, newly elected governor of Virginia, Timothy M. Kaine, gave what The Washington Post called an “upbeat, hopeful message tinged with a few jabs at Bush,” in response to the president’s State of the Union address. But a year ago the Democrats were the bottom-feeders in what had become a one-party system across the three branches of federal government; Kaine’s unassuming style was necessary to appear autonomous while attempting to work in a Republican political world.

Tuesday night, all that had changed. For any number of reasons, President Bush’s approval numbers were at Nixonian levels, and one of the lowest since the statistics were first gathered after World War II. Democrats had triumphantly taken both the House and the Senate in a particularly tense midterm election. And again, the Democratic Party has turned to Virginia to provide the politician to deliver the response to the president’s State of the Union.

But Jim Webb, junior senator from Virginia, was not chosen because he was known to play nice with the president. At a White House event following the election, he had a terse and fanatically reported exchange with the president over his son, a marine currently stationed in Iraq. The former secretary of the Navy demonstrated conclusively that he is not intimidated by presidential power.

More telling, however, was the speech that he delivered. Speaking for the Democratic Party, Webb chose to address two areas: the economy and the War in Iraq. In doing so, he quite literally delivered a condensed version of his campaign platform. Many of the statements in the eight-minute addresses were lifted verbatim from his stump speeches, one of which was delivered in Harrisonburg at Court Square Theater.

Though his tenuous relationship with the president helped warrant his selection, Webb was chosen because of what he — consciously or not — now represents. His fantastic rags-to-riches campaign against incumbent Republican senator and presidential contender George Allen became in the eyes of both Virginians and Americans a referendum on President Bush. As a result, Webb has become the antithesis of Bush; situating him opposite the president instead of the former senator was in and of itself an argument by antipode.

For Virginians, this carries a special significance. Once considered a bastion of Republicanism, members of the commonwealth have chosen Democrats in a substantial number of substantial races, indicating that, as many have argued, this once-red state is starting to become purple.

Election results indicate that a decent number of Virginians split their tickets, especially in regards to the marriage amendment. There were many who voted for both Webb and the marriage amendment; removing the edge such issues traditionally give Republican candidates and also showing a breakdown in ideological divisions reflective of the rest of the country. Increasingly, Americans no longer fit neatly into liberal or conservative boxes. The increased attention on our politics and politicians is a small indication that Virginia has become a microcosm of American politics.

We as Virginians know from whence we’ve come, and we’ve come a long way, baby. The question that remains is where in the next two years we are going to go.