Today is my last blog from the state of Georgia. By Saturday evening, I will be a resident of the Commonwealth of Virginia- I believe the more common term, according to Sarah Palin during the election last year, is the state of NoVa, or Northern Virginia.

It has been an exciting latter half of the decade for me. As many of you know, I moved from my home state of New York in 2006, and settled in Atlanta. Being the political junkie that I am, I quickly studied up on the workings of the city as well as the state. By 2008, I knew something. We were were like vinegar and water. Not Atlanta mind you, the state in general. It is true, this city is indeed a blue oasis in a red sea. It's a beautiful here, but I suspect it won't be sorry to see this yankee leave. As fate - and diligence -- would have it, my partner was offered a job in the DC Metro area. He took it and the decision was made for us to relocate. I have made friends here and leaving makes me sad, but we will be back to visit. We will see each other again.

I have one friend in Virginia, a person we all know and love here on FourFreedoms, WickedPam, (who I will rely on for as much of the inside skinny as possible- as well as feed her when she stops by for dinners!) but aside from that, I will be once again reaching out to new people and making friends. I will learn again, the working of state and local politics, and I will campaign for people I would like to see in office. And Mala gets two more of them 'Darn Libruls' living in her backyard.

Being that we are moving to Alexandria, I quickly looked up who my representative will be. It's Jim Moran, who has been in office since 1990. I still have a lot to learn about him, I'll admit, but I'm pleased as it seems as that is a solid Democratic district. My senators are Mark Warner and Jim Webb both conservative, but Dems nonetheless. Webb in particular is a good man with a solid record on veteran rights. They will have to be pushed to do the right thing, as they are not staunch ideologues. I can live with that. We all know what happened in the Governors Race in the Commonwealth. So this is the deal -- I am moving to a swing state. I referred to NoVa earlier as I have heard that it is a more blue part of the state. in that way it reminds me of NY -- where upstate is a little more conservative than the lower part. I will always, simply by my roots and life history, use NY as a way to gauge things.

When I talked with Bobber about this he made a great point. We are moving to a state where our votes and our phone calls will really matter. After living in Georgia with 2 senators that always respond with the same obstructive blather, I will be living in a state where the balance can tip easily. Prior to Georgia I had 2 solid Democratic senators in Charles Shumer and Hillary Clinton-- In one case, I felt the futility of writing, knowing that Chambliss or Isakson would not really respond with anything more than the same old GOP rhetoric of "No". In New York, I knew they had my back on the issues that mattered. Now it is different, and that is pretty exciting.

I've always tried to take a proactive approach regarding our elected representatives no matter where they lie in political ideology, but knowing that I am moving to a state Commonwealth where, when I write a letter or make a phone call, it could actually matter, is thrilling. That said- my proximity to D.C. is about 20 minutes, so I suspect many visits to offices will be made...

So thank you, Georgia for letting me hang my hat and call you home for a few years. It didn't work out, but it's not you, it's me. Politically we're just far too different. We tried. I love you for giving me the experience I needed to understand what living in a red state is really like. Bless your Heart, I wouldn't give that up for the world.

Virginia-- Here we come!

&

Raine