Arlington Republicans

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm an Arlington Dem that votes Dem mostly for social issues such as women's rights and gay rights and considers myself pretty centrist. The Republicans have become so bonkers it's hard for them to pick up educated voters. I don't think that was always true or has to be true forever.

John Vihstadt was elected here and he ran as an independent but was really an old-school republican. He did a good job too. He lost in a high turnout year when voters just showed up and voted party line without knowing anything about local elections.

Local government works best when it's not one-party rule.

My opinion of him has gone downhill since he left office. Turns out it wasn't such a bad thing that he lost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because they are traitors with no platform. Just bigotry and misogyny.

Unlike lovely, open-minded Democrats such as yourself?

Democrats actually work to improve, they don't just obstruct and take away rights.

Oh, and they don't try to usurp election results or overthrow the government.

Unless it involves guns.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because they are traitors with no platform. Just bigotry and misogyny.

Unlike lovely, open-minded Democrats such as yourself?

Democrats actually work to improve, they don't just obstruct and take away rights.

Oh, and they don't try to usurp election results or overthrow the government.

Unless it involves guns.

Common sense gun control doesn't take away rights.

[Anonymous]

Most Arlington voters want the amenities, from the parks and schools to community programs and business development. We all get to enjoy these elements and then put a BLM sign in our yard.

Arlington is not unique in this way--it's true of almost every wealthy city and county with majority white populations.

I've lived in republican counties and the amenities reflect it. They vote against their own interests and wonder why infrastructure, schools, cultural centers are in such bad shape.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington voters are mostly intelligent and well educated.

Yep. There are a few cranks in Arlington who get whipped up by culture war claptrap - a few skulk around DCUM and ARLnow - but by and large, a highly educated populace is kryptonite for Republican electoral success.

I’m an Arlington liberal but find this viewpoint extremely elitist. Highly educated or extremely privileged? I think they usually go hand in hand and I’d rather go back to being the party of the working class. I think the Democratic Party does more for working people which is why I usually vote blue. However, the elitist TPs are a huge turnoff and the party is out of touch with most Americans (see school closures and other vax mandates). And, yes, my whole family is vaccinated but I was so turned off by the vilifying by the left.

Is it elitist to point out a very strong correlation between political affiliation and education?

This line always cracks me up. It's repeated ad nauseum and taken as dogma at this point, but let's take a step back. Yes, there are terminally online leftist scolds who seem to relish in taking outlandish positions on things (although the same can be said of the right, and they're perhaps much worse!).

Is it the Democratic Party that is out of touch with most Americans?

Or is it the party that agitates for tax cuts for the rich, dismantling incredibly popular government programs (ACA, Medicaid, SS, etc), and rolling back gay rights (that an overwhelming majority approve of) that is out of touch with most Americans?

Hmm. That's a tough one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's a pretty good correlation between higher education levels and voting blue. Arlington fits that pattern.

So do baltimore and Detroit. What are the literacy rates there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's a pretty good correlation between higher education levels and voting blue. Arlington fits that pattern.

So do baltimore and Detroit. What are the literacy rates there?

PP wrote "good correlation," not "perfect correlation," but do go on about literacy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because they are traitors with no platform. Just bigotry and misogyny.

Unlike lovely, open-minded Democrats such as yourself?

I'm proud not to have an "open mind" when it comes to traitors. Some things are just wrong.

Actually, your mind appears to be so open that everything has fallen out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's a pretty good correlation between higher education levels and voting blue. Arlington fits that pattern.

So do baltimore and Detroit. What are the literacy rates there?

PP wrote "good correlation," not "perfect correlation," but do go on about literacy.

Maybe let’s try “meaningless correlation.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm an Arlington Dem that votes Dem mostly for social issues such as women's rights and gay rights and considers myself pretty centrist. The Republicans have become so bonkers it's hard for them to pick up educated voters. I don't think that was always true or has to be true forever.

John Vihstadt was elected here and he ran as an independent but was really an old-school republican. He did a good job too. He lost in a high turnout year when voters just showed up and voted party line without knowing anything about local elections.

Local government works best when it's not one-party rule.

It's a shame that we lost one member who wasn't beholden to the ACDC. I haven't ever voted for a R and probably never will, but our local politicians tend to push things more left than a lot of voters would actually prefer.

[Anonymous]

There’s no great mystery as to why Arlington has so few Republicans. We live in a transient area, and people tend to move to places where they feel most comfortable. Arlington has been heavily Democratic for generations and most people familiar with the DMV know that. So if you’re diehard Republican you look elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's a pretty good correlation between higher education levels and voting blue. Arlington fits that pattern.

So do baltimore and Detroit. What are the literacy rates there?

PP wrote "good correlation," not "perfect correlation," but do go on about literacy.

Maybe let’s try “meaningless correlation.”

It's not meaningless at all. It's perhaps one of the most important drivers of the past few election cycles. We can sit here and argue 'til we're blue in the face about whether it's a push or a pull, but the highly-educated are increasingly voting D by increasingly larger majorities, and those with a high school degree or less are increasingly voting R by increasingly larger majorities. And, by virtue of the fact that there are many more white people than black people in the country, there are vastly more uneducated white people voting R than there are uneducated black people voting D.

These are facts. You can call it meaningless because it conflicts with your priors and you can't reason away the cognitive dissonance, or because it hurts your feelings on account of your superiority complex, but it's not a meaningless correlation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm an Arlington Dem that votes Dem mostly for social issues such as women's rights and gay rights and considers myself pretty centrist. The Republicans have become so bonkers it's hard for them to pick up educated voters. I don't think that was always true or has to be true forever.

John Vihstadt was elected here and he ran as an independent but was really an old-school republican. He did a good job too. He lost in a high turnout year when voters just showed up and voted party line without knowing anything about local elections.

Local government works best when it's not one-party rule.

It's a shame that we lost one member who wasn't beholden to the ACDC. I haven't ever voted for a R and probably never will, but our local politicians tend to push things more left than a lot of voters would actually prefer.

+1 I think it would be good for the board to have at least one "independent" (who really, the way things work, would be a centrist Republican). To me that means someone who never supported Trump and there don't seem to be any of those running for office.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because they are traitors with no platform. Just bigotry and misogyny.

Unlike lovely, open-minded Democrats such as yourself?

I'm proud not to have an "open mind" when it comes to traitors. Some things are just wrong.

+1 the “why won’t you tolerate my intolerance” trope is so tired and lame

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington voters are mostly intelligent and well educated.

Yep. There are a few cranks in Arlington who get whipped up by culture war claptrap - a few skulk around DCUM and ARLnow - but by and large, a highly educated populace is kryptonite for Republican electoral success.

I’m an Arlington liberal but find this viewpoint extremely elitist. Highly educated or extremely privileged? I think they usually go hand in hand and I’d rather go back to being the party of the working class. I think the Democratic Party does more for working people which is why I usually vote blue. However, the elitist TPs are a huge turnoff and the party is out of touch with most Americans (see school closures and other vax mandates). And, yes, my whole family is vaccinated but I was so turned off by the vilifying by the left.

You do realize schools have been mandating vaccinates for decades, right? I am in my 50s and had to have all my shots before entering schools in the 1970s.

Not sure what this has to do with the Democratic Party. It’s always been a nonpartisan and sensible health issue.