Local Politics is Truly at the Center of it All Washington Post Columnist Marc Fisher, February 12, 2006 RICHMOND It's the purpling of Virginia. No, it's the bubbling over of frustration fomented by traffic and unchecked growth. No, it's outrage over the war in Iraq. The facts are plain: Democrats, who in 1999 lost control of Virginia's legislature for the first time in more than a century, are crawling back into contention. But why? Is there any larger meaning in Gov. Tim Kaine's November victory and the subsequent wins in special elections by Sen. Mark Herring of Loudoun County and Del. Shannon Valentine from Lynchburg? Valentine is the new darling of state Democrats, elected from Jerry Falwell's home base after a career in charity work at Habitat for Humanity. They crow about how Valentine's win shows they've learned the lesson Mark Warner taught and Kaine confirmed: Democrats who hew to a centrist line and embrace faith can and will win. Like Kaine, Herring, a former Loudoun supervisor with a low-key manner, beat a Republican who was firmly associated in voters' minds with hard-right stands on abortion and other social issues. Does that indicate a backlash against Virginia lawmakers' penchant for distracting voters from serious policy questions by focusing on social hot buttons like gay rights and illegal immigration? In the screenplay for The Mark Warner Story, a biopic coming to a primary campaign near you, Virginia is a hard-core red state where voters haven't gone for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964. The more Republican Warner can portray his state, the more alluring his presidential candidacy becomes. But the facts on the ground are hazier and much more interesting. In the past two governor's races and in the most recent legislative contests, what we've seen has not been the triumph of one party over the other, but the emergence of a real silent majority -- one that's present and mostly ignored in both Virginia and the nation. These middle-of-the-road voters don't much care for either party or for either party's base of activist supporters. Valentine describes her victory as a cry for attention from "a new generation that doesn't vote along party lines but wants to avoid the bitterness and cruelty of politics. Those of us a little left of center or a little right of center are so underrepresented most of the time. Citizens are beginning to realize that perhaps the best place to attack social issues is not in the General Assembly but in their churches and communities." Valentine notes that some Republicans -- ignoring the tumble that Jerry Kilgore's gubernatorial campaign took after viciously attacking Kaine over his personal, faith-based opposition to the death penalty -- are trying to make same-sex marriage this year's big issue, pushing traffic and growth to the fringes. But she's also quick to point out that other Republicans got the message and are as adamant as many Democrats about giving localities the tools to control growth. "These are not necessarily Democratic issues, but it just so happens that Democratic candidates are focusing on the top priorities for most people -- growth management, transportation and education," says Herring, who was elected last month from a generally GOP district. "The idea of government being best when it's closest to the people is a traditionally Republican approach at the federal level. Why wouldn't that same principle apply between state and local governments?" The only decoration in Herring's new office at the far end of a hallway is an oversize map of transportation alternatives for eastern Loudoun, a signal that he intends to focus on what got him here -- the road congestion that turns routine errands into anguished expeditions. "Perhaps my election might embolden my colleagues to follow the centrist path to solutions and have the courage to not be as concerned about social issues," he says. Or maybe not: On Friday, Republicans in the state House offered a transportation plan with no new taxes and only about half of the money in the governor's and Senate's proposals. Evidently, some in the GOP still think paying lip service to the traffic crunch will be enough. But some legislators and suburban residents, Republican and Democratic alike, are scurrying to join the movement to control growth. Andrea McGimsey, who lives in Ashburn and left a job at America Online to work for the slow-growth Campaign for Loudoun's Future, says her daily commute of three miles grew from six minutes to 20 minutes over the past few years. "Citizens are starting to panic," she says. "Their greatest wish for the new year isn't world peace but getting home to their families quicker -- and that's a bipartisan issue." Martha Polkey lives in Lucketts, in Loudoun's rural north, and has led a battle to stop the state from widening roads that she says would pave the way for expanded development. She notes that "in our group, we have people who have all kinds of radical bumper stickers on their cars, and we have somebody who used to work for Jesse Helms. I've had Republicans tell me that this is what being conservative means -- conserving." So when Del. Bob Marshall (R-Prince William) and Kaine stood side-by-side before a rally of slow-growth advocates in Richmond the other day, Marshall felt compelled to note the odd partnership. "On other issues, you wouldn't just wonder if we're from the same state, you might wonder if we're on the same planet," he said. "But on this issue, we're united." Marshall even adopted the lingo of the left to announce that forcing developers to pay for the impact of their projects is not Republican or Democratic, "but it is an economic justice issue." Growth and congestion are making local politics important to a disaffected generation. So far, the Democrats are winning many of those votes, but they remain very much up for grabs. [Email: marcfisher@washpost.com at the Washington Post]