FROM THE EDITOR: On Tuesday, Remember This ...
... despite the handwringing and endless warnings of doom and gloom, Democracy in America remains vital. Apathy and ignorance, however, could undermine it -- more than any one politician.
By Martin Davis
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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“It is clear we must head down the right path … because if we don’t, Virginia is lost.”
—Gov. Glenn Youngkin
“Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy.”
—Jay Jones, candidate for Attorney General
To watch candidates on the campaign trail is to be drawn into ever-escalating rhetoric about the fate of democracy as Election Day draws near and the reality that only one candidate can win a given race sets in.
Speaking at a rally this week for Republican gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears, sitting Gov. Glenn Youngkin gave his version of the “this is the most important election of your life” speech that tends to surface when Election Day gets measured in hours, not days.
“Let me be really clear, standing in the middle is not a choice,” Youngkin said Saturday. “It is clear we must head down the right path … because if we don’t, Virginia is lost.”
Unlikely.
Jay Jones hasn’t said Virginia is lost should his Republican opponent, Attorney General Jason Miyares, wins, but he has consistently suggested that a Miyares win would pull Virginia closer to the MAGA movement and draw it closer into Donald Trump’s vortex.
“No one has done more for Trump in Virginia than Jason Miyares,” says one Jay Jones ad.
Again, unlikely.
Democracy never feels further away than in the waning days of an election.
To anyone who chooses to pay attention, however, democracy is showing yet again that it is viable and responsive even as rumors of its death continue to dominate popular opinion.
The Power Is Still with the Voters
Government by design moves slowly. This can give the impression that the people in power are unresponsive to everyday citizens. In recent weeks, however, evidence that people in power are responsive to voters has been evident.
The pending expiration of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) dollars, for example, has proven a bridge too far for Gov. Youngkin.
Youngkin has aligned himself with Trump and the MAGA movement throughout his governorship. The SNAP crisis, however, has pushed him to act. This past week he announced the creation of the Virginia Emergency Nutrition Assistance (VENA) program that will cover Virginians enrolled in SNAP during the federal shutdown.
Yes, Youngkin took every opportunity to place blame on U.S. Senate Democrats during his press conference announcing the temporary program.
“To be honest, I think our nation will be in a state of complete disarray if the Democrats in the Senate continue to drag out this complete shutdown and hostage-taking that they have engineered,” Youngkin said.
But voter anger over the lapse in funds coupled with Virginia’s massive rainy-day fund meant the governor — despite Donald Trump’s misguided claims that SNAP mainly benefits Democrats — could not afford to ignore a crisis that would potentially leave some 850,000 Virginians hungry.
Nor could he ignore the potentially decisive blow his inaction might deal to Winsome Earle-Sears’ campaign, which has struggled since she announced her candidacy. In the last poll before the election, the Emerson Poll has her trailing Spanberger by 11 points.
Jay Jones is feeling the voters’ ire, too, and reacting. Jones appeared on track to win the attorney general’s race by a relatively comfortable margin. And then text messages emerged in which he brazenly spoke of killing a Republican member of the house. On top of that, Virginians also learned that Jones had also been arrested for driving in excess of 115 mph in a 70 mph speed zone.
The result? Jones and Miyares are locked in a dead heat according to the latest Emerson poll, as voters have clearly taken notice and are re-evaluating who they will support.
And then there is the Virginia House. All 100 seats are up this election period, and despite Youngkin’s popularity, the Republicans are facing strong headwinds heading into Tuesday.
Actions by Donald Trump — federal job cuts, tariffs, and ICE activity — have riled up Virginia voters. The result? Democrats are predicted to expand their current narrow lead in the House by some 9 seats, according to State Navigate.
If correct, such an outcome would mark a complete turn from four years ago when Youngkin took control in Richmond and appeared unstoppable.
Yes, voting matters.
A Toxic Pairing
An argument against voting’s importance could be that politicians ignore citizens until a crisis emerges. Hence, these are examples not of voting’s importance, but that the system is working poorly.
Perhaps, but more likely is the reality that Americans’ dismal attitude toward politics, coupled with apathy toward voting and a rising ignorance of basic civics explains why crisis seems to be what moves politicians to action.
In short, because we are unengaged, politicians only feel pressure when things reach breaking points.
This is the only real threat to the republic.
Apathy toward voting — a longstanding issue in the U.S. — is nothing new. There are signs, however, that it is getting worse. Especially among younger voters.
As one 26-year-old told PBS NewsHours following a poll showing an increase in younger voters’ apathy toward the exercise, “I can’t say either way that voting matters …. It’s just picking the least bad option. That’s what I remember my whole life — both sides are bad, but this side is less bad.”
More worrisome is that this apathy is combining with a decline in awareness of how government works. It’s a toxic pairing.
A study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation found that “more than 70% of Americans fail a basic civic literacy quiz on topics like the three branches of government, the number of Supreme Court justices, and other basic functions of our democracy.”
Fortunately, there are a number of initiatives underway to strengthen civics education. But education is just the first step.
What we must regain is confidence that citizens and voting matter. We must regain our heart for democracy.
The past several weeks has shown us that voters and citizens can push politicians to do what’s right. Yes, politicians will play the blame-game, but at the end of the day, when they sense that voters are turning, they will respond.
That is the message that must be made clear.
As Constitutional scholar Paul Carrese told a group recently at the University of Virginia, “Don’t despair about America, don’t be afraid of politics, don’t check out…. Our constitutional order isn’t self-perpetuating. It requires effort from its citizens, and that effort can be one of the most rewarding parts of a fulfilling life.”
Choosing not to vote demonstrates not just apathy, but a fundamental misunderstanding of the American system of government. There is no defense for failing to vote.
At the end of the day, we elect the politicians we deserve. If we’re unhappy with them, there’s one way — and one way only — to change it.
Vote.
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I try to listen to what others are saying. I do. In fact, I've spent hours over the years, which have probably translated to days - counseling and talking down the most vulnerable people imaginable on their worst days.
Bipolar, depressed, schizophrenic, substance impaired, suicidal. Those in the midst of catastrophic rages or abject hopelessness. Learned through formal training and clinical experience. For decades.
So again, when I say that I've listened, it's not a casual comment.
Still, in each of those situations - there are limits. It does no one any good to deny reality.
On a certain level, I do find Mr Davis's continual simplistic, pollyanna, hubristic analogies tiresome.
On another, I understand that's how he sees it. Again, on a certain level, I respect his right to not only believe it, but to preach it.
Though I do find the lack of respect and dismissiveness he shows to others more than a little off-putting and unrealistic.
That it denigrates and diminishes the views of so many others. Where he sees just another day at the office - I see a sea change in this country that has been building for decades, and is reaching a crisis point.
Not based upon a desire to inject meaning in my otherwise meaningless life, but because when I look at the totality of the circumstances, in as an objective way as possible - that is what I see. Furthermore, so many of those whom I have long admired for their adherence to scientific methods and clinical observation have also reach the same conclusions.
Not because they wanted to, but because it is true.
When Mr Davis and other deniers see just a bunch of old people coming out in the thousands to protest the actions and plans of their government - he considers them hysterical. Whereas I see people who have lived their whole lives as productive and valuable members of society who have found these actions so serious that it has moved them to something they've never done before, at a time in their lives where every other instinct tells them not to.
To see such actions casually dismissed is galling.
When I see my government occupying its cities for political reasons, casually taxing citizens or withholding government funds for political gain. Rights long secured are dismissed without explanation, notice, nor debate. As it kills on the high seas, uses secret police to detain anyone, ships citizens to gulags without due process, threatens and creates wars of conquest, abandons allies and treaties. Looks the otherway on genocide or deliberately withholds medications and foods paid for by taxpayers, typically based upon race or religion.
When I listen to respected Nobel Prize laureates, dissidents, economists, diplomats, businessmen, generals, Presidents, and scholars warn of the harmful effects these actions are having on our country. Who explain that these actions are exactly how democracy was lost in other countries in a world where now 70% of the people live under such a system.
And we are told that 25,000 troops are currently being trained to occupy American cities. While Republican leadership openly calls for our destruction while laughing and that they consider us as merely those to be sh*t upon from their crown wearing tyrant. As they throw gals for themselves as citizens go hungry. Youngkin didn't release money because he cares about people. He did it because he thought it might harm his party before this election, or his chances when he runs for the Senate or Presidency if he didn't. Hardly a cause for sainthood.
And as we watch open corruption or persecution of political allies with nary a whisper of dissent from the Republican party faithful.
To see such actions casually and continually dismissed, again, is galling.
I get it that is the way it's always been. But the damage that has been and is being done to this country, people, finances, honor, and trust by Republicans is real.
No matter how many beers Mr Kenney buys you.
I'm truly sorry someone such as yourself can't see it.
Doesn't mean it isn't true.
Thank you to the voters at the LOCAL election in 22401 Fredericksburg for your advocacy for YOUR vote. That you understand that cities in Virginia are NON-PARTISAN. That candidates run as Independents.
In the past months, we have seen THE TIME & THE EFFORT expended by the 4 TRANSPARENCY & TRUST candidates for Council: KEN GANTT, ANNE LITTLE, MATT KELLY, & JESSE DOMINGUEZ. and Ward 3 School Board candidate SARAH STELMOK.
What a LOCAL Dream Team to be working with: Supporting each other. Weekly meetings to share strategies. Dividing up the data analysis. Listening to voters and one another. They're already working together.
That's who we want on Council 1-1-2026. Ones who respect UNITY in CommUNITY and actually live it: They WALK the talk. They will represent ALL voters in 22401, not just those who voted for them. That's been their promise since the team formed.
Their opponents? They've held House parties to bring a piddling amount of the same voters to attend for some free food and drink.
Knocking doors to actually slip on the icy sidewalks and front door steps in Jan 2025 or drink coconut water during the extreme heat of the summer so as not to face plant on a sidewalk? not much effort. Maybe a few blocks. but not the repeated engagement with voters at their doors that the TRANSPARENCY & TRUST candidates have given their BEST effort to earn each and every vote.
Those opponents are relying on the LAZY candidates' way of getting an easy Vote. That divisive blue piece of paper, the Fredericksburg Democratic Committee's ENDORSED (not sample), ENDORSED ballot in which the party bosses are taking voters out on Facebook to tell them false info and that their vote is wrong.
Nope, LOCAL voters have become engaged. They comment on the divisive blue paper. and that's residents who will be voting their party at the state level, GOP, but more telling: the Dems and Independents .
As one longtime Dem voter told us: 'The local GOP tolerates ALL their members. But the Democrats: they eat their own.'
22401 voters have always had the freedom to vote for THE BEST CANDIDATE. Notice FDC calls it a 'SAMPLE' ballot? classic Orwell '1984' propaganda strategy: It is NOT a SAMPLE ballot: A 'SAMPLE' ballot is not bubbled in.
The FDC ballot is an ENDORSED ballot. Voters came over to our LOCAL VOTE non-partisan table outside the 601 Caroline St building (corner of Wolfe St) to AVOID the blue FDC-endorsed ballot.
They dislike it, they're sick and tired of the Dems making the LOCAL election 'political'. I told them just go upstairs on 5th floor, Fredericksburg City Visitor Center, 601 Caroline, outside the Registrar's Office.
Take a screenshot of the SAMPLE ballot: Not bubbled in. Informing the voters of ALL the candidates running in the LOCAL election. so those voters can read candidate websites to determine who to vote for.
Voters get it, they understand. LOCAL elections don't need a political party telling them what to do. LOCAL issues such as fixing roads, providing public safety, and managing sanitation, the trash, are practical, everyday concerns that affect all citizens, regardless of their political affiliation. A pothole on a neighborhood street is a shared problem that requires a functional solution, not a partisan debate.
The Dem, the GOP, the Indpt (including those who refuse to accept a political party endorsement at the LOCAL level) is NOT going to fix that pothole on Virginia Ave in 22401 any better than the next candidate. Frankly, just call the Public Works Dept.
Contrast the straightforward needs of LOCAL government with the DIVISIVE FDC ballot and the unproductive nature of national party politics. The focus of municipal candidates should be on COMPETENCE and TANGIBLE results, rather than national political ideologies.
Look at the TRANSPARENCY, BALANCE (Diversity of thought), COMMUNITY through UNITY candidates' websites: KEN GANTT, ANNE LITTLE, MATT KELLY, JESSE DOMINGUEZ, and School Board Ward 3 SARAH STELMOK to see the QUALITY and EFFORT they will bring to the Council dais.
They're distinguished from the FDC endorsees, who rely on voters coming to court them at house parties and meetings rather than getting off their bottoms and wearing holes in their shoes knocking at thousands of doors like the TRANSPARENCY & BALANCE candidates are doing, even this morning. On Round 2 to 3 sweeps of neighborhoods and housing in each of their Wards, EVERY SINGLE DAY. Thousands of doors.
These invested, independent, NON-PARTISAN candidates are going TO THE VOTERS to LISTEN to their concerns at the VOTERS' doors. That personal outreach to each voter speaks well to voters. The voters notice they're getting a HARD-WORKING Councilor.
At the LOCAL level Council elections: "Fixing roads isn't about red tape or blue tape, it's about asphalt".