Pr. William Blue Dog Dems Could Benefit from GOP Shortfalls

By AL ALBORN
Contributing Editor

Prince William is a supposedly conservative county. When presented with an acceptable Republican candidate, we tend to lean right. That being said, we aren’t that Conservative: when we don’t get a Republican candidate we like, Prince William County has no problem veering left.

Face it, we’re Purple.

We supposedly have a Republican dominated Prince William County Board of Supervisors. Six out of eight means that we even have a “spare” to drive toward a fiscal conservative tax policy. With the leadership of our ultra-conservative Chairman, Corey Stewart (R-At Large), and the support of at least three real Republicans, Wally Covington, Mike May, and Peter Candland, one would think that there is never an issue regarding a tax policy that lets us keep our money rather than fuel an ever expanding local Government.

So, what happened?

If you want to win in most of the Magisterial Distracts within Prince William County, you really need the support of the Republican Committee, the Tea Party, and local conservatives. That means your campaign has to follow the party line.

You have to say the right stuff to get elected.

The political calculus is that it not that many people actually care what you say, because they don’t actually vote in our off-year local elections, and even fewer care what an elected official does after he or she gets elected.

So, some of our Supervisors may take their coat of many colors out of the closet once every four years, promise what appeals to the most people to get the most votes, and then tuck them away for four years after the votes are counted.

Or, at least, that’s the way it used to be.

Blogs have instrumented the business of governance in Prince William County. We now measure the performance of our elected officials for the entire four years of their term, and report on the results in real time.

As I have said before, I expect politicians to live up to their brand. When Supervisors John Jenkins and Frank Principi fulfill their responsibilities as Democratic supervisors for the Neabsco and Woodbridge districts, respectively, advocating for higher taxes, bigger government, more programs, etc., I might object to the policies they propose while respecting the fact that they are fulfilling their obligations to the residents who voted for them.

I consider Jenkins and Principi honorable men who should be fighting an uphill battle against a Republican dominated, fiscal Conservative Board. While I expect the Conservatives on the Board to compromise to recognize the 100 thousand plus or minus residents who these guys represent, I don’t expect the Republican we voted for to give away the store.

When I see some Republicans sitting behind the Dias acting like Democrats, advocating for higher taxes, bigger government, more invasive local government, I shake my head.

We may not have noticed in the past, but we are noticing now.

I suspect that the Prince William County Republican Committee knows it has a problem.

It’s brand is being challenged. Its ability to deliver true fiscal conservatives is in question. We routinely see Prince William County veer left in National and State elections. I suspect the keepers of the flame of fiscal conservative values in our county understand that the Prince William County Democratic Party has been waiting for years for an opportunity like this, and is looking for fiscal conservative “blue dogs” as we speak.

As I told Bill Card, the Chairman of the Prince William County Republican Committee, recently, “I’m a Libertarian. That being said, I look to the Republican Party for leadership and fiscal conservatism while ignoring the stuff I don’t like (as my compromise in the voting booth), and generally feel welcome in that tent.”

I also talk to Harry Wiggins, the Chairman of the Prince William Democratic Committee. occasionally. He clearly recognizes the vulnerability of the Republican Party and can only smile at the years worth of “instrumentation” he will have in 2015 to run some Blue Dog Democrats who appeal to fiscal conservative independent voters such as myself.

Candidates who understand that independent voters often look for fiscal responsibility while perhaps not being quite as thrilled with the baggage that comes with bringing social issues and personal choices into public policy would find Democratic Blue Dogs very attractive.

I know I would.

I’m watching the FY2014 budget discussion play out with great interest. I’m not as interested in the actual tax rate that is established for next year as I am in the behavior of the actors who establish that tax rate. I’m not as interested in specific public policy as I am in who supports the growth of government and who fights to keep it small, and focused on core services.

Like many bloggers, I have “instrumented their behavior”. I won’t give Republicans in Name Only a pass any more. I know there are lots of Democratic alternatives in the wings seeing this opportunity to change the math on the Board, and the future of Prince William County.

I was just notified that its time to renew my Dog’s license. It seams like I just put the new tags on their collars “yesterday”. Time really flies…and 2015 just isn’t that far away.