Area politics

[Maitre]

Another 5 year old thread rises from the grave.

Who knew that the Zombie Apocalypse would be brought on by adbots??

Actually, I'm kind of interested in the subject of the original post at this point. Commonwealth-wide elections are coming up in November here in Virginia, and the two leading candidates for governor (chief executive) are throwing ads back and forth in the Northern Virginia area about their various transportation plans, and "making sure that we get our fair share of state spending."

I find these things interesting for a couple reasons, but first, here's a bit of background on the two items. First, the one candidate's "transportation plan" has only revealed improvements to the road system outside Washington DC, which only seems relevant to the surrounding 3-5 counties (Arlington, Fairfax, City of Alexandria, Loudon, Prince William). Secondly, the "fair share" campaign seems to be a divisionist tactic, seperating the above 5 counties from the rest of the state, and highlighting the difference in the tax base between these counties and the rest of the counties in the commonwealth. I'm sure that these ads are not running in Richmond (capital), Norfolk/Hampton/Newport News (major shipping ports/naval installations), or anywhere in the west or south west of the commonwealth (more rural areas).

My biggest issue is: if these ads are so focussed on the county I live in and the areas around it, what are the candidates promising to other voters in other ads that are not running in my area? Why should I vote for this person to be in an commonwealth wide oversight position when they are demonstrating a point of view the centers on concerns of individual regions without bringing them into context of the concerns of other areas? It seems unavoidable that the first thing either candidate will do when elected is to pronounce that they are re-evaluating their commitments in light of commonwealth wide concerns, and that each promise will be reviewed as part of this process. Why is a divisive approach the one that both candidates have chose to try and get enought votes. I'll agre that many of my neighbors think of themselves as the only forward thinking people in the commonwealth (and the corolary that the folks south and west of Richmond are backwards thinking "locals"), but it seems wholy inappropriate for politicians to cater to this rather than emphasizing a more comprehensive perspective.

Oh, and both candidates (the Democrat and the Republican) seem convinced that the answer to "the [commonwealth's] worst economic downtown since the 1930s" is to make Virginia even more business friendly. This, after the existing governor has, in his tenure, already reduced government oversight (as well as reducing the number of commonwealth employees), cutting aid to colleges and reducing K-12 education spending (primary and secondary schools), and reductions in aid to police and sherriff's departments.

P.S. Yes I tried to be consistent in my use of commonwealth, and yes it is appropriate. Bonus points to those who know the 3 other non-state members of the 50 United States (and +2 for those who know the further 2 commonwealths that are not on equal footing).