LABOR day has come and gone: Pools are now closed, seersucker slacks have been shelved, the football season is revving into high gear, and political candidates are ratcheting up their campaigns. However, this year in Virginia may see a new low in the usual quadrennial cycle of democratic choice. Though all 140 seats in the General Assembly are up for election, a recent study by the University's own Center for Politics reported that as many as two-thirds of the 100 House of Delegates seats and over half of the Senate seats are unopposed or face nominal opposition. Largely a result of redistricting, this statistic demonstrates the frightening reality of how little voters will shape the composition of the Commonwealth's lawmaking body. Clearly, Virginia is quickly headed "back to the future," to quote the Center's director, Prof. Larry J. Sabato. Change is required if Virginia is to continue to move forward rather than backward in growth and prosperity.
The history of partisan and political motives in Virginia points to a long tradition of trying to restrict the real decision-making capacity of the voter. Following the end of Reconstruction and continuing in many forms beyond the Civil Rights legislation of the 1960s, de jure and even de facto efforts to limit or control the electorate thrived, even bolstered by explicit constitutional restrictions. In what was truly an era of machine politics until the late 1950s, leaders such as Thomas Martin and Harry Byrd centralized power based on a controlled and limited voting public. Though free and open elections took place, a small fraction of Virginians were at liberty to cast even a ballot, let alone be faced with a real choice in choosing their government.
In a few limited but important respects, the process of redistricting mirrors these same goals. The theory is evident: aA predictable and stable electorate promises much more security to those in power. A Commonwealth composed of districts diverse in socio-economic constitution presents a less stable situation every four years when every seat in the General Assembly come up for reelection. In addition, the anti-tax, hyper-fiscal conservatives that now dominate the General Assembly will soon be buttressed by a similarly massive cohort of social conservatives who fear contraception on college campuses and the like. Virginia's step back is evidenced in the speed with which far-right Republicans slough away public support of constitutionally protected services such as education and allow economic necessities such as transportation to rot and decay for fear of levying one more penny from the electorate.
Take Del. Lacey Putney, I-Bedford, for example. Putney is a throwback to old school Virginia, and we're talking the really old school. Putney is that last of what may have once been a dying breed: the segregationalist conservatives who encouraged minimalist government and extreme fiscal restraint. This era was left behind by the gubernatorial administrations of the 1970s and '80s which brought dramatic economic investment to Virginia (think Dulles airport), caught the road and highway infrastructure up with the balance of the nation (cite Gov. Gerald Beliles administration) and funneled support into educational institutions, some of which might some day become the best in the nation. Yet, somehow, Putney's legislative career perseveres, and the legacy of his generation of regressive, elitist, good-old boys remains along with it.
The new revival of Virginia's anti-democratic principles should frighten most, especially those who remember how long it took for the Young Turks to break the Commonwealth out of its grasp. This coming election in November, resplendent with die-hard conservatives enjoying a slow, uninhibited gait back to the Capitol, should come as a wake-up call to Virginians who love democracy and fear a step back in time -- a step backward toward dilapidated schools, toward over-burdened and clogged roadways, away from a tech-driven economy and toward a fear of public investment in anything but maintaining conservative power in the General Assembly.
While redistricting plays a large role in furthering this plight, the key tools in battling such regressivism are a better equipped and able citizenry and a more cohesive party structure. Despite seemingly insurmountable odds in the coming election, the Democratic Party in Virginia must be reinvented to meet the challenge of moving backward in time. However, the battle rages within the Republican Party as well. Through strong leadership by more moderate and established legislators, the ideological outliers in the party can be mitigated. While there may not appear to be much hope for democracy in Virginia in 2003, the decision remains with the party leaders: Will the Old Dominion return to a former age of political exclusion and backward state services, or will Virginia continue to move forward, augmenting the building blocks of society, building the economy and soliciting external investment? This is a crucial time for Virginia's future and for the direction of democratic participation to follow.
(Preston Lloyd's column appears Thursdays in the Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at plloyd@cavalierdaily.com.)
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