Transcription
The new governor of Virginia, Abigail Spanberger. Uh, she's out with this new ad endorsing the Democratic plan to redistrict the state. Uh, this is all subject to a referendum that's scheduled on April 21st. Voting has already begun. Uh, take a listen to the ad. Here it is.
>> I'm Governor Abigail Spanberger and I'm voting yes on Virginia's redistricting amendment. It's directly in response to what other states decide to do and a president who says that he's quote entitled to more Republican seats before this year's midterms. Our approach is different. It's temporary. It preserves Virginia's fair redistricting process into the future. At this extraordinary moment, I urge all Virginians to join me in voting yes by April 21st.
So, um, she was sort of she ran as a moderate. This was not an issue she wanted to get involved with. The current split, uh, of seats in the state is six Democrats, five Republicans. The new map would, uh, try to give Democrats 10 of the 11 states. That would leave one, one seat for the, uh, V for the Virginia Republicans. Uh, Carl, uh, what do you make of the governor and and where does this thing stand right now?
>> Well, she she she hadn't said during the campaign, you're right, she didn't want to talk about it. She didn't want to talk about much during the campaign. She just ran a a rope a dope campaign and and it worked. It worked. Yeah. She had a pretty good reputation before and she ran against a candidate who wasn't strong and she just, you know, defured all this. But when when pressed, she said she wasn't inclined to do this because this was out there. Um, instead she's embraced a system that's much worse than anyone imagined. It it it pushes the the one Republican seat left in the state under this map would be run from the Shenandoah Valley up near, you know, West Virginia near Charleston all the way down down the valley into the mountains all the way to the Tennessee border, the whole the just the just the the western, you know, tier of state. It'd take you 10 hours to drive the whole district. It's it's a disgrace. And it it's an this there have been ads. This ad is um mildly dishonest. Um, she she admits at least that this was prompted by other states' considerations. But the ads, President, former President Obama's run one there's a store. You know, this is this is fairness. We're running for fairness. Um, and and this to me, Andy, is the most stark example of a phenomenon that's been go that's now lasted more than 10 years, and I don't know what you call it. The phenomenon is the people who are most opposed to Trump, who claim to dislike him the most and to think he's the biggest menace, are the people imitate him the closest. They use language like he uses language. They they mirror his behavior. They they don't like gerrymandering. They think it's wrong. So, they're going to do it. like they're going to do it even worse than Texas did it.
And you know, Spanberger met with she met with some Virginia Republicans, uh, in the state and, you know, who said to her, what what you said, you this is not how you rant? And she says to them, uh, well, you you didn't give a about this, you know, when President Trump was calling on Texas to do this.
>> Right.
>> And that is a remarkable admission that that that's the new standard. So, a state legislator in V anywhere in Virginia is supposed to speak up and denounce Donald Trump as if they wouldn't do this gerrymander if some Republican had done that. Um, and that anything Democrats do, any perversion of democracy, any thing that makes the system less accountable, less workable, more partisan, more bitter, it's all if you can mention Trump's name, you can use that excuse. It's all you get a pass on it. And I just it's despicable. I live in the state and it used to be a swing state, you know, in it's more democratic state now, but it's not it's not a 10 to1 Democratic state. It's a 6 to5 or 6 to4 Democratic state. And I think the Democrats should be embarrassed they're doing this. And I think Spanberger privately knows it's wrong.
>> Tom, what do you think?
>> I think that that district should secede and join West Virginia. Teach her a lesson. So, uh, yeah, look, this is another example of of, can you imagine? I mean, how many Republican voters in Virginia? And it's, look, it's it's it's a red state that's become purple, that's become blue with all of the influx of folks into those NOVA counties. And um, but how many how many Republicans would be effectively disenfranchised by this?
>> I mean, we talked before, millions. Right.
>> Right.
>> It ain't that blue. Uh, it's it's not Maryland, Andy, where you've only got one congressman there, one Republican.
>> Well, Maryland is very bad, too. Maryland is one of the worst states, Tom. This is the point. Virginia is trying to become the worst state.
>> Maybe Massachusetts. They have no Republicans.
>> Well, I mean, if you've seen the districts in Illinois, I mean, they're ridiculous. I mean, they're just insane. And and yet, this is, you know,
>> Oh, and here's the other part, Tom. this what Texas did was a response to what other de Democratic states have done. I mean, this is it's an arms race. And for the and for the Democrats to pretend that gerrymandering was invented last year by Texas Republicans is it's just startling in its cynicism.
>> Yeah. Um
>> but it did kick off this this we are in this spiral now where
>> it's both both sides seem to be going, you know, all the way.
>> Yeah. And and then the question is, you know, once we've done that, how how often are we going to fight these battles? Are we doing this every two years or or whatever?
>> She said it. She says it's temporary. Nobody does that even temporary.
>> Like they're going to undo this after they do it.
>> Yeah, they're they're going to do it. I think it's a five-year thing.
>> They're going to sunset it after five years. I mean, that's what they say. That's a lie. I mean, there's you know, government does never do anything for just five years. Um,
>> we were told here in Illinois that our our income tax was going to go up. Pritzker said it was going to go up just temporarily. That was like 10 years ago. Okay.
>> Never happens.
>> Uh, Politico, Oh, Axios, I think, has this interesting reporting though. It they've looked at the early voting and the early voting is, uh, at least right now, it's trending against this. There's a heavy heavy turnout in, uh, sort of historically red districts.
>> There's been no money spent on that side though, Andy. It's going to pass.
>> It's going to pass. Okay. Well, I was trying to You think so?