As I write this I can hear the sound of freedom. And no, not the astroturfed documentary about human trafficking. I mean the ACTUAL sound of freedom – the noise from Naval Fighter Jets that we hear day and night in certain parts of Virginia Beach, my district especially. It's a thundering roar that can wake the dead and stop a telephone conversation in its tracks. But it’s also a comforting rumble that reminds us we are protected here by our military.
At least 20,000 Virginia Beach residents are part of the active Naval community. Add in all the other military installations in my city and throughout the Tidewater region, and that figure grows to almost 83,000. Norfolk Naval Air Station is the largest Naval base in the world.
The Tidewater area has the largest concentration of military personnel in the country outside of The Pentagon.
But wait, there’s more. Let’s not forget the retired military and military adjacent people (the 40,000 civilians working to support the mission who will be furloughed in a shutdown) who chose to settle here because, well, it’s a beautiful place to live.
We have the largest concentration of military personnel in the country outside of The Pentagon and they are about to go without pay, maybe even until December, if hardline Republicans in D.C. get their way.
Military is big business in this part of Virginia and the impact of a government shutdown will bring many of our residents to their knees.
The effects of a looming shutdown are far-reaching and could be agonizing, particularly for those who can least afford a disturbance in pay or benefits. Those Republican lawmakers refusing to budge, even though most are already wealthy, will still get their pay. The sailor standing watch to keep others safe, she won’t get her paycheck. But she won’t get a vacation day either. She’ll remain unpaid but at the ready.
Does her governor care? Nope. Glenn (he’s so tall) Youngkin has his head in the clouds (and in a presidential bid) if he doesn’t think voters (especially those in my Navy-laden district) aren’t going to oust Virginia Republicans straight outta office for speaking out of both sides of their faces – praising our military heroes while taking away their ability to feed their families and pay their bills during a shutdown brought about by the extreme right’s insatiable need to create chaos.
Youngkin and his ilk are hardly history scholars – we knew that already. But here’s what WE know about history – recent history. In the wake of the 2013 shutdown, Virginia Democrats won. They won all the statewide races. All. Of. Them. And that was without issues like abortion driving voters. Are Republicans giving Democratic candidates in Virginia a gift? You tell me.
In the event of a shutdown, here are my predictions:
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In Virginia House and Senate races considered to be toss-ups, expect Democrats to win.
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In those races where Dems were slightly favored, expect Democrats to win by landslides.
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And in those races like mine, leaning hard right but still competitive for a Dem like me – expect Dems to win. Well, let me phrase that slightly differently – Expect Democrats who have enough support to get their message out with paid advertising to win. There are some of us out here who need that extra financial push – opportunity is knocking.
Within just two weeks of a shutdown, the military and military-adjacent voters in my district will be feeling the repercussions of this asinine power play. When the groceries run out, when the pill bottle is empty – they won’t be blaming Democrats. And that’s exactly when the GOP is going to inject all the cash they can into my far-right opponent’s campaign – they aren’t going to see her as a sure thing any longer. They have the money, they just need to move it to her. They are going to look at that seat as a “must hold” and with help, we can force them to lose their grip.
God bless Charles Gabba – Daily Kos’s own Brainwrap – my race is on his radar – he identified early on those of us who stood a real chance at flipping seats and he’s been raising money for our races. Some of us may not be on the Democratic caucus’ radar – but wait until you see how quickly that changes. And once their eyes are upon us, we need to be ready. Cinderella is about to get an invitation to the ball. We need our fairy god-people to show up for us.
Virginia is voting right now and that voting continues through Nov. 7. Virginia voters are going to blame Republicans for a government shutdown. The military and military-adjacent in my district are DEFINITELY going to blame Republicans. Let’s make sure our Democratic candidates are ready for the ball.
