News and notes from Reston (tm).

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Some Politics Are Local: French Fry Enthusiasts, Mojitos, and Neighborhood Watch Big Winners of Election '09

cheese-fries.jpgRhyming signs and vaguely menacing attack ads weren't enough to propel Republican challenger Hugh "Mac" Cannon over incumbent state delegate Ken Plum (D-Mauve). With something like 93 percent of the vote in, Plum won reelection by nearly a 60-40 percent margin. The state legislature's loss is the neighborhood watch's gain.

Fairfax County School construction bonds also appeared to be sailing to easy approval, meaning there will be plenty of fancy buildings to not have all-day kindergarten and language immersion in.

Also, that one southern dude with the funny name lost the governor's race to the guy from Fairfax County who apparently wants women to cover their arms and ankles with shawls when out in public. While Deeds, embarrassingly, appeared to have lost Fairfax County, he swept the Reston precincts by considerable, if predictable, margins. Let the pundits analyze the race to death; we know it all came down to Mojitogate, which happened right in our own fake downtown.

No word yet on the most anticipated statistic of the night, though -- the number of people who got free cheesy fries as their reward for contributing to democracy.

Posted by Restonian at 11:15 PM

Labels: , , , ,

Related Content

22 comments:

  1. Republican or Democrat, there's one thing we all can agree on... take down the signs and stop the auto-dialers!
    ReplyDelete
  2. Facebook "like" Anon 12:16.
    ReplyDelete
  3. I am on the do not call list, but still got a ton of the auto dialers from both parties- terrible.
    ReplyDelete
  4. Broke in Charter Oak (BiCO)Nov 4, 2009 06:20 AM
    As a gay person I'm incredibly depressed that my fellow Virginians would be callous enough to vote for Ken Cuccinelli. I myself voted for a couple of Republicans yesterday, including our new right-of-center governor-elect, but how on Earth could people willingly fill in the bubble to vote for a man who said his top priority will be to uphold the state's ban on same-sex marriages and civil unions (forget about all of the other more pressing problems here), who said that being gay is intrinsically wrong, who was alleged to have been planning to discriminate against LGBT state employees, etc., etc.? Nice way to send Virginia 40 years back into the Dark Ages, folks! Why don't you lobby to have Rick Santorum run for president while we're at it? After all, working women are a burden to society, right? Why should we let them leave the house at all? I thought Virginia was a "progressive" Southern state. Looks like I'd be much better off back North after all before Cuccinelli demands I get branded with a Scarlet Letter across my chest. I'm beyond outraged at his victory because all you folks did was validate that homophobia is okay and should be encouraged. Thank you! :-)
    ReplyDelete
  5. For the record, political types are exempt from the Do Not Call regulations (though I'm not sure about the details, whether it's only at election time, or what.) Charities are exempt too.

    Personally, I think it's pretty amazing that an area that continually returns Jim Moran to office and is split 50/50 (between liberal Democrats and Communists) would go as high as 40% for Cannon.
    ReplyDelete
  6. The Convict in the GulagNov 4, 2009 06:54 AM
    I feel your pain, Broke. It's tough when you want something so bad but society says "No" especially when its an issue that's very near and dear to your heart.

    All things considered, though, I firmly believe that marriage is the union between two people of opposite sexes. Lest you think I'm some kind of fundamentalist trogolodyte, I'll have you know that I'm an avid Atheist. Just because I don't believe in gawd doesn't mean that I don't believe in preserving the institution of marriage.

    Although I'm certain that this is a personal issue for you, don't take my position as a personal attack on homosexuality. I'm not saying that homosexuals are bad people. I've had the pleasure of knowing several people of the homosexual persuasion, most of whom were very decent people.
    ReplyDelete
  7. Broke in Charter Oak (BiCO)Nov 4, 2009 07:06 AM
    I'm not at all offended, Convict. You are most certainly entitled to your beliefs, and I can respect them. I'd be perfectly content with just same-sex civil unions, but Virginians even seem to oppose that by a wide margin as well. I can understand the widespread faith-based basis for same-sex marriage opposition, but I just didn't appreciate my fellow voters overwhelmingly electing a man who has said some very nasty things against gays in the past and apparently still holds those same beliefs. It would have been different if he was more along the lines of "gays are okay but shouldn't get married" instead of being more along the lines of "gays are immoral." Mark my words when I say that he's going to let his tongue slip and say something regrettable along the same lines as the words muttered that resulted in Santorum embarrassing Pennsylvania in front of the nation. He was OUSTED, and so will Cuccinelli if he follows that same path.
    ReplyDelete
  8. Broke in Charter Oak (BiCO)Nov 4, 2009 07:12 AM
    Besides, it's not only Virginia. Maine just became the 31st state where voters banned same-sex marriages and civil unions, and supposedly "liberal" Washington State just BARELY passed a resolution legalizing same-sex civil unions. This is definitely the new "Civil Rights Movement" of Generations X and Y, although I certainly do hope riots don't break out as a result as they did back in the 1960s. Virginia need not legalize same-sex civil unions; those of us who wish to join with our partners can merely relocate to another state like Iowa, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, or New Jersey where we would be welcomed. It's not really a big loss.
    ReplyDelete
  9. BiCO, I am surprised & disappointed that Ken Cuccinelli won too. And, like you, I voted both R & D. I don't think it is acceptable to judge or be judged based on sexual practices, religious practices or piano practices for that matter. I thought we were moving beyond electing people who view our fellow citizens in some sort of hierarchy of acceptability. BiCO - sorry for your pain. But doesn't it seem a little funny to have to move to find a more open minded populous? With all our education and diversity in VA - we can't beat out Iowa, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont - really??
    ReplyDelete
  10. Hickory Cluster knuckle dusterNov 4, 2009 08:32 AM
    Gay marriage does not equal an assault on straight marriage. If BiCo marries his partner, it will in no way ever touch, harm, influence, or otherwise affect my marriage to my wife.

    As far as I'm concerned it is a non issue and the homophobia which holds back the rights of 10% of our population based on archaic scripture is without merits and has no place in our society.

    BiCO I'm sorry too that the Republicans have taken back the Governor's mansion in Richmond.

    What we need is someone who is not afraid to raise taxes to help with education and transportation.

    Cutting taxes will necessitate even more drastic cuts to these essential societal benefits.

    One glimmer of hope: Plum won! Woooo-hoooooo!

    : - (
    ReplyDelete
  11. Broke in Charter Oak (BiCO)Nov 4, 2009 09:19 AM
    Even though I'm a registered Democrat I'm surprisingly moderate/centrist with a history of voting pretty much 60/40 in favor of Democrats in prior PA elections. I think it's foolish to ONLY vote along party lines as some people from each party have good things to bring to the table, but I know some people that would vote for Fidel Castro if he was running on the Democratic ticket. I voted for Bob McDonnell and nearly voted for Hugh Cannon. I was a strong supporter of both Jody Wagner (as evidenced by my handy-dandy bumper sticker that nobody could see because it was the same color as my car) and Steve Shannon, but I'm certainly not opposed to Bill Bolling as our lieutenant governor after Jody's defeat. However, the first time Cuccinelli slips up in a media interview with some sort of nasty anti-gay or anti-woman remark that he's later going to be eating crow for when the AP picks it up I'm going to be the first to write an "I told you so" editorial letter to the Washington Post.

    I have great faith in the Republican party in general, but Cuccinelli is part of that backwards uber-right-wing faction of the party that REALLY turns off moderate swing-voters such as myself with their ranting and whining. So help me God if Cuccinelli winds up being Virginia's version of Santorum---speak from the hip first instead of the brain, embarrass the Commonwealth, and then stumble to try to regain support---I'm never going to forgive my fellow voters.

    Otherwise I'm reserving judgment and am being cautiously OPTIMISTIC about Virginia's future with the rest. I just wish I knew what voters were thinking when they overwhelmingly threw their support behind Cuccinelli. Do we really want to risk the rest of the nation viewing Virginia as being a "redneck" state after you've all worked so hard to bring it so rapidly into the 21st Century?
    ReplyDelete
  12. "What we need is someone who is not afraid to raise taxes to help with education and transportation."

    Education is predominantly funded through county real estate taxes. If you're worried about the fiscal trainwreck that is the public school system's debt load, you should've voted against the bond referendum.
    ReplyDelete
  13. where does obama stand on gay marriage?
    ReplyDelete
  14. Broke in Charter Oak (BiCO)Nov 4, 2009 09:42 AM
    Obama opposes gay marriage, which is fine by me as long as he follows through with his plans to end "don't ask; don't tell" so that ANYONE can proudly serve his or her country.
    :-)
    ReplyDelete
  15. so...it is ok for obama to oppose gay marriage but not cuccinelli? interesting.

    also, can you define redneck?
    ReplyDelete
  16. Broke in Charter Oak (BiCO)Nov 4, 2009 10:15 AM
    You might wish to hone in on your reading comprehension skills a bit there, Anonymous @ 12:48 PM. My main beef with Cuccinelli isn't his lack of support of same-sex marriage but rather his antiquated and downright embarrassing beliefs in regards to homosexuality. You can be opposed to same-sex marriage while still viewing homosexuals with dignity and respect (i.e. President Obama). If Cuccinelli was merely opposed to same-sex marriage I might have even VOTED for him, but instead he goes to great lengths to cause offense---I wouldn't be surprised if Rick Santorum was his role model. People who oppose same-sex marriage don't irk me; people who oppose HOMOSEXUALITY, which is something inherent to an individual, do.

    Redneck can have a wide array of negative connotations, but I'd personally define it as someone who is ethnocentric, culturally insensitive, ignorant, intolerant, and bigoted. It would be a shame if Virginia reverted back to the days of having such an image now that much of the rest of the nation ENVIES it, but that may very well happen if Cuccinelli starts flapping his gums at inopportune times.
    ReplyDelete
  17. I stand corrected. Sorry for jumping the gun.

    -12:48
    ReplyDelete
  18. Broke in Charter Oak (BiCO)Nov 4, 2009 10:45 AM
    Interesting that my own voting patterns mirror that of Fairfax County, which went for McDonnell and then Wagner and Shannon. Maybe I'm not such an oddity after all? :-)
    ReplyDelete
  19. Broke in Charter Oak (BiCO)Nov 4, 2009 10:48 AM
    No need to apologize for "jumping the gun." I kind of jumped down your throat too a bit with the "reading comprehension" comment (sorry!) Any discussion on this "filthy web log" that concerns politics or urban planning are bound to have me on the edge of my seat even more than the famed "Macaroni Grill Death Watch" series (that SHOULD be revived! What happened to the Spectrum Center redevelopment plans, anyways?) :-)
    ReplyDelete
  20. lack of funding
    ReplyDelete
  21. I am disapointed that so many voted for Plum who is precieved as being a "nice guy," which is how one retired guy defended his vote on the trails as we walked and I asked him. We have so many "nice guys" and so many just don't give themselves permission to do something to there own advantage. We have Hudgins who was described in the news paper editorials who endorsed her as not listening to her constituents and Plum is another one. For some reason we have so many here who think who think that's just fine because they are high in the hierachy here and that's just "the way it is."
    ReplyDelete
  22. There is something sadly poetic (pathetic?) about CHEESY FRIES being the reward for voting...and that most people didn't even know about it! Yeah, I voted but only because my kids were out of school and I want to set a good example for them so when they live in an extremely complacent area they'll know how to patiently waste their vote again, and again, and again, and again, hoping that other voters will become dissatisfied with the status quo and demand their public officials actually start representing their interests. I don't know if I'm teaching them futility or perseverance.
    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)