The club’s annual Christmas luncheon will be at Bonefish Grill in Central Park again this year.
The cost is $26.20, which includes the meal, taxes and gratuity. Entrees will be oak grill salmon, chicken marsala or imperial longfin. Appetizers will be bang bang shrimp or calamari. Dessert will be creme brule. Entree selection will be made at the restaurant.
Checks must be made out to Anne Humphrey and can be brought to the Nov. 15 meeting or mailed to Anne Humphrey, 1019 Eastover Parkway, Locust Grove, Va., 22508.
The deadline for reservations is Wednesday, Nov. 28.
Linda Carr Muller, chair of the Rappahannock Group of The Sierra Club, will speak to the Lake of the Woods Democratic Club on Nov. 15 on a proposal expected to go before the General Assembly in January to lift a three-decade-long ban on uranium mining in the state.
The November LOW Democratic Club Steering Committee meeting is at the home of Shirley Pfile at 209 Edgemont Lane. Diane and Gary Sibley will be the hosts.
Voters arrive at Clubhouse precinct on Election Day
Election Day could not have gone much better. The president won a second term, carrying Virginia in the process; Gov. Kaine was elected to the Senate; Democrats made gains in the House and retained control of the Senate. Sure, we’re disappointed that Wayne Powell wasn’t able to boot Eric Cantor out of Congress, but we can take great pride in the fact that Wayne earned a very respectable 41.3 percent of the vote, better than any Democrat has been able to do in the recent past.
It’s no secret that we Democrats are outnumbered in Orange County, at least for the time being. But the election clearly demonstrated that our disadvantage isn’t as great as it sometimes seems. The president garnered better than 40 percent of the vote countywide.
Comparing the results to the election of 2008 is problematic, due to the redistricting that took place in the county in 2011. Current precincts do not coincide with precincts in the previous contest. Voters in Lake of the Woods were confined to two precincts four years ago, but now are distributed among three precincts — Four East (402), Five South (501) and Five North (502).
But in the interest of learning from this experience, it is useful to look at the president’s performance in Orange County this year and to weigh it against his performance in 2008.
The chart below shows the vote totals for President Obama and his opponents in Orange County in both elections.
November 2008
Candidates
Votes
Percentage
McCain-Palin
8,506
53.83%
Obama-Biden
7,107
44.97%
November 2012
Candidates
Votes
Percentage
Romney-Ryan
9,301
56.71%
Obama-Biden
6,864
41.85%
So, the president received 243 votes fewer in Orange County in 2012 than he did in 2008! This despite a months-long campaign by hundreds of dedicated volunteers that included registering hundreds of new voters, house-to-house canvassing, phone banks and get-out-the-vote efforts.
There may be any number of reasons for this — not the least of which is the perception of local voters on the state of the economy. The president’s efforts have produced a sound and steady but slow recovery from the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Voters often tended to dwell on the “slow” part of the equation, but ignore the “sound and steady” part of it, demanding miracles instead of mere success.
As for voters in Lake of the Woods, the president’s opponent received a majority of votes in all three precincts: 57-43 percent in Four East (402), 60-39 percent in Five South (501) and 63-36 percent in Five North (502). In 2008 these precincts had different borders and names, but the McCain-Palin ticket won all three by similar or slightly narrower margins.
The takeaway from these data is that despite the imbalance between the parties in Orange County, there is a strong and vigorous Democratic base here.
Between now and the next election, Orange County Democrats can build on that base by advocating and demonstrating our sound social and political principles to our neighbors. We’ve always believed that every non-Democrat is just a Democrat who doesn’t know it yet. There’s still work to be done here in Orange County.
Linda Carr Muller, chair of the Rappahannock Group of The Sierra Club, will speak to the Lake of the Woods Democratic Club on Nov. 15 on a proposal expected to go before the General Assembly in January to lift a three-decade-long ban on uranium mining in the state.
The ban went unchallenged until recently, when the cost of uranium began to rise and the uranium industry began to lobby state legislators to allow mining operations throughout Virginia.
Twelve thousand acres of land from Orange County north through Fauquier County have been identified as potential mining sites.
Virginia residents have expressed concern about the dangers uranium mining poses to drinking water, air quality, farm products, fishing and tourism. They say allowing mining of the one uranium deposit already identified would open the door for exploration of other sites across the state. Almost all of Virginia’s major cities have passed resolutions to oppose lifting the ban.
Orange County is among the local governments that has asked that the moratorium not be lifted.
The meeting will begin at 1:30 p.m. in the lower level of the LOW Clubhouse. As always, guests are welcome without regard to political affiliation.
Ms. Muller served as vice chair of the Rappahannock Group from 2006 to 2010 and has been legislative contact team leader for the Virginia League of Conservation Voters from 2001 to the present for the 28th legislative districts. She is a former board member of Friends of the Rappahannock and former chair of the Stafford Democratic Committee.
Ms. Muller is an avid outdoor enthusiast and shares a deep concern for Virginia’s natural environment. She enjoys nature photography, hiking, fishing and recently returned from a summit attempt of Mt. Rainier in Washington state with her husband.
Those who would like to become more familiar with this important topic are encouraged to visit these Web sites:
