The Countertop Chronicles

I live in McLean, Virginia. Just across the river from Gun Ban, USA (otherwise known as the District of Columbia). Its in largely liberal Northern Virginia, though tends to be more conservative for areas “inside the beltway.” Lots of government officials, internet tycoons, lawyers, lobbyists, etc. Within Mclean, I live in one of the more liberal precincts.

My state Senator is the evil Janet Howell – the reigning Queen of Virginia Gun Bigots. And my State Delegate is Jim Scott. Before there was a Coleman-Frankin recount. Before there was Florida and hanging chads. There was Jim Scott. He lost a narrow race against a long term incumbant some years ago, forced a recount and using all the tools routinly available to Democrats, including one mysterious ballot box that showed up after the ballots closed, eeked out a 1 win vote. He’s been an unstoppable incumbant since.

Oh yeah, he’s also King of the Virginia Gun Bigots.

Which is the primary reason I hate him, though I have to say my opinion was recently tempered.

You see, he always sends out a voter survey. And I always respond. Well, this is the first year I ever actually saw the results. They were shocking.

The survey is sent to every resident in our district – I have no idea how many there are, but our county has over 2 million people so I suspect its a huge number. And we have lots of former military folks, NRA members, etc. And, like I said, it is a fairly conservative place.

Well, there were somewhere between 569 and 580 surveys responded to. Its a pathetic rate. But then, there is only a small pool of people (especially in a transient area like this) who pay attention to local politics. On most issues, its tough to get a sense of where the area is. Views on taxes run the gamut, and include plenty of conservative and liberal positions as well as those incorporate a little of both. Same with transportation. On many of the questions significant numbers of people simply responded “I need more info.” On one, dealing with energy, 27.9% responded they needed more info.

So, as I said, Jim Scott is the King of Gun Bigots. And he always includes a gun/public safety question. This year it was

Localities should be allowed to ban weapons in public buildings

Options included Yes, No, and Don’t know.

Now, 571 people responded to the question. I know the NRA has at least that many members in his district. And VCDL too. Heck, my local gun club has that many, not to mention the local Republican party.

500 people responded yes. Thats 87.6%.
Only 48 people responded No, a paltry 8.4%.

Folks, I can’t hold Jim Scott’s gun banning ways against him anymore. He’d be a fool to be anything but a gun banner. We have no business complaining about his votes when in a District with diverse views on everything else, nearly 90% of his constitutents who care are against our gun rights. Until the large gun rights crowd in McLean makes their voice heard, his votes fall on their inactive hands.

But, this is the challenge, how do I get all those NRA/VCDL members, plus the republican’s to respond to his survey?