Pfotenhauer Puts Foot in Mouth

Nancy Pfotenhauer puts her foot in her big mouth. I have had second thoughts about this after reading other people's blog comments about it and talking with my partner, who was not offended by it. Here's my take: She chose her words poorly. I think what she meant was "traditional" Virginia not "real" Virginia, because, of course, the latter implies that NOVA is "fake" or "not real". Northern Virginia is different from the majority of Virginia, but you could probably argue that about lots of states that have a large metropolitan area. Is Chicago not the "real" Illinois? St. Louis not the "real" Missouri? Gary not part of the "real" Indiana?

One can argue that these cities are not representative of the state they are in, but its a foolish idea to state that they are "not real", which implies they are somehow not as genuine or as relevant. I guarantee that the votes in Northern Virginia will count just as much as those in the rest of Appalachia. The bottom line is that these words sound divisive, and given all the Republicans have been saying on the campaign trail, it looks as if she is trying to divide the state. Not the kind of message you want to hear from the campaign of a man who constantly promises to reach across the aisle. Is his campaign trying to say that they're the real Americans?