Title: The Dynamic Dominion
Description: The Dynamic Dominion tells the dramatic story of Virginia's political transformation since the Second World War. The cradle of American democracy--and thus of the democratic movement that is sweeping the globe today--the venerable Old Dominion has emerged again in the second half of the 20th century as a dynamic political pacesetter for the nation. In 1945, Virginia was a one-party, one-faction state under the aristocratic rule of conservative Democratic Senator Harry F. Byrd and his famed "Byrd organization." From his perch as the uncontested leader of the state that led the South, Virginia's Byrd became a regional symbol, a congressional kingpin, and a national power. With its political system and culture static, Virginia's voice was heard nationally mostly in dissent, as it had been for a century. Within a few decades, emerging two-party competition and an unprecedented party realignment combined to place the rapidly changing commonwealth in the national vanguard.^

Well before Republican parties throughout the South became competitive, Virginia's Republicans in the 1970s compiled the most impressive winning streak of any state party in the country. They did it by constructing a coalition of rural conservative Democrats and suburban Republicans--the same coalition that Ronald Reagan assembled nationwide in 1980, ushering in the Reagan Revolution. Ironically, while the Reagan Republicans were dominant in Washington, Virginia's Democrats enjoyed a resurgence in the 1980s, this time under the centrist leadership of Chuck Robb and Douglas Wilder. Wilder's celebrity status as the first black elected governor of an American state placed Virginia in the national limelight in 1989, and focused attention on the prospect that the Robb-Wilder themes of fiscal conservatism and social liberalism might supply a formula for Democratic Party renewal nationwide.^

So it is that Virginia today has become a national bellwether, studied by political analysts and strategists in both parties for clues to the direction of the nation. As told in The Dynamic Dominion, the Virginia story contains all the excitement, drama, conflict, and intrigue of a fast-paced thriller. It is a story of triumph and tragedy, celebrities and statesmen, heroes and scoundrels--of shifting party loyalties and makeshift coalitions, hard-fought campaigns and razor-close elections--of ambition and cynicism alongside sacrifice and idealism. Best of all, the tale is true. It is the fascinating story of contemporary democracy flourishing in Virginia...the place where it was born.
Subjects: History, Politics and government, Republican Party (Va.), Political parties, united states, Virginia, politics and government, Political parties, Republican party (u.s. : 1854-)
Places: Virginia
Time periods: 1951-, 20th century