Smash255
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Posts: 15,454
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« on: December 25, 2006, 04:32:09 AM » |
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Fairfax is pretty much out of reach for the GOP. Even the most moderate of Republicans would have serious trouble in Fairfax at this point. And the only type of Republicans who can be competitive in Fairfax have very little shot at getting past a GOP primary (nationally or state level). Someone running a county wide position possible, but not statewide.
Fairfax has become slightly more urban and their has been a demographic shift due to an increase in the immigrant population. However, that has only had a small impact on the changes in Fairfax. The changes in Fairfax have been similar (though a few years later) to the changes that have occured in the NYC suburban area (especially Long Island and Westchester) and the suburban Philly area, in that the old base of the GOP has left in droves. Highly educated middle to upper middle class white suburbanites for a long time was the base of the GOP. However, the hard right turn the GOP has taken over the years has turned this group off, and they have left the Republican Party in droves. So not only has the GOP lost ground because of demographic shifts, but it really has taken a beating because their old base in this part of the country (the Lincoln Chafee wing of the party) no longer votes Republican.
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