Democrats are Doing Soul Searching of Their Own

For months, and maybe years, we have heard about the Republican Party and its "soul searching." Is it the Party of moderation and John McCain? Is it the Party of the three legged Reagan stool (limited government, national security, and pro-family) epitomized by Sarah Palin? Or is it the libertarian wing, largely represented by Ron Paul? Well, for once, we are seeing the Democrats have an identity crisis of its own as we saw in the surprising results of the Virginia Democratic Primary for Governor.

The race included a carpetbagger former Chair (and icon) of the national Democratic Party, Terry McAuliffe, who until this election cycle had been openly discussing running for office in Florida; Brian Moran, the very liberal former state legislator from the Northern Virginia area; and the underdog, State Sen. R. Creigh Deeds (the most conservative of the Democrats) who came shockingly from very far behind, to get his party's nod. It is this "come from behind" victory that only happened in the last several weeks, that has the Democratic Party so worried.

With Barack Obama, the Democratic Party and (it is safe to say) the entire country has taken the most dramatic turn to the left in our nation's history. This left turn included the state of Virginia, which had close to 2 million votes for Obama (53%) versus 1.7 million for McCain (47%). Barely a half a year after Obama's historic election, the Democratic Party of Virginia seems to be having buyer's remorse, with Democrats choosing the most conservative candidate by far of the three choices. Deeds, in his race for Governor, proposed a $10,000 tax credit for businesses, supports the death penalty (with additional restrictions), and he received the endorsement of the National Rifle Association. It is true that he is considered a "consumer advocate," pro-green jobs environmentalist, and soft (to the disliking of the right and left) on gay marriage. On the other hand, Deeds is, without question, the most Conservative of the Democratic Candidates for Governor. Slightly over a year ago, over 60 percent of Democrats in Virginia chose Obama over the other candidates. To make matters worse for Democrats, Pollster.com is reporting that the Republican nominee (Attorney General Robert McDonnell) has a 46% to 40% lead over Deeds. None of the Democrat choices had strong numbers against Republican McDonnell.

There is a growing theory since the 2008 elections that, although Obama is personally popular, that support appears to be exclusively for him, a mile wide, and an inch deep. He will not be up for election in 2010 and if Virginia is indicative of the rest of the country, the Democrats have plenty to worry about in the next election cycle. "The Party" may already be over.

Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business, the longest running show on AM 650 (M-F at 11 am) in Houston, Texas and on AOL Radio. Eric Bolling of Fox News and Fox Business says that Price’s Blog “is very influential and moves the blogosphere.” Steve Moore of the Wall Street Journal calls Price the “best business talk show host in the country.” Find out why and visit his blog at www.BizPlusBlog.com and his show site at www.PriceofBusiness.com. You can also find Price on Strategy Room at FoxNews.com.

The Best Cities for Jobs

With unemployment hoovering around 4.5 percent, unemployment is relatively inconsequential in general. However, some cities are better than others. Recently Forbes Magazine listed the top 100 cities for jobs and I noticed they have a few things in common.

* They are in low tax states, such as Texas, Florida, Arizona, and Virginia.

* They are in the South and West. This is why these states are booming in population growth as well. All of the top ten cities are in the South and West (Hawaii being the far West). Some would call DC a northern city and although it has characteristics of such, the demographic includes Southern cities in Virginia. Furthermore DC is a boom city for jobs because of government, which can only happen in the nation's capital. Everywhere else, government is a job destroyer. The next ten cities are also all in the West and South except for number 11 which is made up of cities in Maryland. They, too, are near DC and make money off of big government. The South and West remain the primary job drivers through out the list. Florida is particularly strong, including Orlando, Florida (Home of Disney World, above).

* They are all mostly in states that are predominantly governed by Republicans in the State Houses. These Republicans largely have created jobs through their tax, regulatory, and licensure laws that are friendly to business. Some of these Republicans got beat in the last election cycle, I suspect that people that came from poor performing states inadvertently booted them out. I discuss phenomenon in a previous blog entry.

* These cities are growing rapidly. This could change if the policies in the states they are in change (as the governments have) and become anti-jobs.

I hope people take more than a casual look at the growth of jobs in this country and recognize what the cities (and states) that foster growth have in common. Furthermore, I hope governments practice the policies of low taxes, sensible regulations, and reasonable licensure laws. All of these are factors that contribute to positive job growth.