Thursday March 16, 2023
COMMENTARY: The Politics We Need (Martin Davis) | ANALYSIS: Birds in the Burg (Jon Gerlach) | PUBLICATION
COMMENTARY: The Politics We Have; the Politics We Need
by: Martin Davis
The routine at The Free Lance-Star became almost comical - to me, anyway.
Every week, I fought the temptation to write about the Spotsylvania County School Board’s Three Stooges (Lisa Phelps, April Gillespie, Kirk Twigg) and their stooge (Rabih Abuismail). And most every week, this group found a way to go even lower and take an action that demanded I write about it.
I could almost hear the moans coming from the managing editor’s office as she back-read yet another story about the train wreck in Spotsylvania. She, like all the rest of us, was tired of hearing about it.
It seems we’re all growing tired of political train wrecks. And people are acting out in a variety of ways. Some blame the media (not without some justification) for beating the same negative story repeatedly. Others lash out at politicians. Still others demand that “something be done,” and want to know why it’s allowed to continue. And increasingly, people simply tune out.
But there are signs that we are beginning to turn on the source of the problem - the politics that we have, versus the politics we need, in the United States.
Growing Tired of Setting Fires
My friend and intellectual sparring partner Shaun Kenney wrote a piece this week that touches on the growing agitation with the politics that we have.
He begins his piece with a quote by Russell Kirk, from his 1953 book The Conservative Mind.
Men cannot improve a society by setting fire to it: they must seek out its old virtues, and bring them back into the light. England is still great, capable of regeneration; but if committed to the hands of the doctrinaire innovator, she must fall. [T]his must be restoration, not revolution.
From there, he lays out an argument that Gov. Glenn Youngkin is not angling for the residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but the much nicer home behind the gates at the Naval Observatory.
And the price of that will be Republican “Robespierre’s” looking to turn neighbor against neighbor in an effort to get Youngkin there.
There are dozens of little Robespierres who claim the world would be just perfect if we just got rid of X personality. Little consultancies paid handsomely asking you hate someone who agrees with 85% of what you believe in. Little minds looking to get rid of the political in service to the totalitarian — and turn you against friends and neighbors for a short-term gain in November in The Most Important Election In Our History (TM).
In his concluding remarks, Kenney says: “It doesn’t take a revolutionary to fix these things. Just a restoration of common sense against the compromise and craziness of the times. But it does take a certain amount of political will.”
I would contend that we are beginning to see a spark of that political will. Voters siding not with the politics we have, but the politics we need.
Turning to the Politics We Need
Kenney claims in his piece that the Democratic Party is already rife with people who would turn fellow Dems against those that other Dems would typically mostly agree.
He’s right, but his fear that this trend is taking over the Republican Party is misplaced by about 20 years. Ronald Reagan’s mantra - First, speak no ill of a fellow Republican - has long since passed away.
Here in Virginia, Dave Bratt’s surprising defeat of Eric Cantor in 2014 was the beginning of Republicans’ viciously eating their own. The circle of who’s in and who’s out of the party shrinks daily, pushing more and more Republicans out of the fold.
Among Democrats and Republicans who no longer feel at home in their parties, a move toward restoring sanity has begun in a push to vote not for or against a party or policy or leader, but for those who are fighting back against the system that has created Kenney’s Robespierres.
A book published last year, The Independent Voter, exposed this new movement and chronicled the growing number of people willing to vote for leaders demonstrating the political will to stand for what is right - even if that means standing up to your own party.
The mid-term elections in 2022 showed that the authors were on to something. Across the country, a string of hard-right Republicans in the mold of Donald Trump were projected to win “bigly” and gain a commanding majority in the House, and retake the majority in the Senate.
We now know that things didn’t work out that way.
Whether this is a one-time fluke, or the marker of a growing trend, will be put to the test this November here in Virginia.
With every seat up in the General Assembly, and Youngkin confident that his popularity will carry Republicans to majorities in both houses (though there is reason to believe Youngkin’s popularity isn’t nearly as strong as he might think), expect to see a sizeable number of conservatives play the hard-ball politics of the past (painting Dems as crazy-eyed liberals with socialist agendas that Karl Marx himself would admire).
Democrats, emboldened by the mid-term results, believe the ball is in their court. And there will be still a sizeable number who play hard-ball politics of the past (painting Republicans as fascists and dictators).
But I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that we’re more likely to see a body of voters demonstrating a more-independent streak. Voters who will find the will to vote the politics we need.
The 27th
To a great extent, we are beginning to see this play out.
Though Matt Strickland - who is clearly interested in setting everything on fire, as Kirk said - has arguably the most name recognition at the moment, he has it for all the wrong reasons.
Calling state police officers “Nazis,” as he did when his shop was raided; calling Youngkin weak because the governor wouldn’t immediately bail him out for blatantly breaking the law; and aligning himself closely with the stooges on the Spotsylvania School Board will play to a certain segment of the Republican Party.
I would argue, however, that a greater number of voters are simply tired of this nonsense.
With just three months to go before the primaries, none of the Democratic candidates are taking a burn-it-all-down approach.
To be sure, Ben Litchfield is taking on the Democratic establishment and Big Business with his emphasis on supporting working-class voters. Luke Wright is taking a more-traditional Democratic position on topics like health care and economic growth. And Joel Griffin is running a campaign that is cut in the mold of the classic Democratic commitment to public service - those blessed with much have an obligation to serve.
Monica Gary, a true populist, is running as a political independent committed to problem-solving and moving beyond left-right debates.
And Stickland’s Republican primary contender, current General Assembly member Tara Durant, is reflective of the type of conservative that Kenney is advocating for.
That just one of the candidates is in the burn-it-all-down mode - Strickland - could be understood as him reading the tea leaves better than the other candidates and seeing something that no one else is seeing.
That was certainly true in 2015 when everyone underestimated Donald Trump and the voters.
But eight years on, Strickland’s schtick just looks tired and pathetic. No ideas. No imagination. Everyone’s the enemy. Burn it all down.
We’ve seen where that’s gotten us in Spotsylvania. It’s moving the county backwards in ways that are not sitting well with the electorate.
Megan Jackson certainly sees that. In her recent interview with F2S, I noted that she is largely apolitical. More committed to problem-solving than to pushing ideology. And it seems that style is appealing to people.
Call it a hunch. Call it a gut feeling from talking to voters.
But it feels like the tide is turning. That people are turning from the politics we have, to the politics we need.
I don’t predict elections, so I’ll leave it there. The voters will ultimately decide which politics is carrying the day.
Just don’t be surprised if it’s - finally - the politics we need.
ANALYSIS: Birds May Be Key to Diversifying Fredericksburg’s Revenue Streams
by: Jon Gerlach (Fredericksburg City Council Member)
If you’re like me, you think a lot about how the City might reduce some of its dependency on real estate taxes. One way is for the City to earn a higher share of its revenue from business development, and a smaller share from real estate taxes.
There are a lot of very smart folks working on business development in the Fredericksburg area. You have the City’s Department of Economic Development and Tourism, an Economic Development Authority (EDA), Main Street, the Chamber of Commerce, the Fredericksburg Regional Alliance, and a host of other organizations (and privately owned businesses) too numerous to list here. Virginia has a reputation for being business-friendly, and our corner of the state is no exception.
We might soon have a new tool in our business development toolkit. A new bill, if signed by Governor Youngkin, would authorize Fredericksburg (either by itself or in partnership with a neighboring county) to create a local Business Improvement and Recruitment District (BIRD), at the request of business owners. The purpose of this type of district is to attract businesses to set up shop in the district and participate in the local economy. It consists of the BIRD plan itself, including any fees charged to businesses for improvements, promotions, and recruitment activities.
It's up to local businesses and local government to get a BIRD off the ground. Essentially, businesses would work together to create a BIRD district plan and a petition, and submit it to City Council. The plan would describe the location and purpose of the district, the activities for business improvement and recruiting, and how the district would operate and be financed.
Once the BIRD plan is submitted, the next step requires City Council action. In a public hearing process, City Council would determine whether the proposed district would be in the public interest. If so and the district is adopted by resolution, a companion ordinance would need to be passed by City Council. These issues and more could be addressed in the City ordinance:
business promotion activities and services
improvements to existing businesses
economic development
encouragement and recruitment for businesses to locate (or relocate) in the district
enhancement of the district
fees, funding, operation and maintenance of activities in the district
potential tax reductions for participating businesses
As a person who owns, supports, and advocates for small businesses, I am curious to see what business owners think about BIRD plans. Is it something that might make sense here in Fredericksburg? It’s way too early to answer that question. After all, the bill isn’t final until it’s been signed by the Governor in April, and taken up, if at all, by a group of local businesses. In the meantime, you can read this new legislation here. Your thoughts are welcome anytime - I’m always interested in what you think.
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