Quite the Compliment

Let me start my SST blogging career by thanking Old Zach and the other members of SST for allowing me to join what is one of the preeminent Commonwealth blogs. In the days ahead, I look forward to being a part of what is quickly becoming the next generation of information dissemination, the indepent blog. While it is too soon to tell what the long-term effect blogging may have on political campaigns here in the Commonwealth, so far the ability to quickly fact-check and provide opinions outside of the MSM, it can only be positive.
A little about myself, or as much as is possible for an anonymous blogger. I was born and raised in Northern Virginia, and despite the jokes, consider myself both a native Virginian and a Northern Virginian. Additionally, though I'm sure you were already thinking it, I'm probably less conservative than the other members of SST on most issues. I chose the pseudonym "Madisonian" because I think it describes my philosophy towards politics: Remain true to your ideology, but recognize that governing is often about convincing and compromising. It's not enough just to believe in a principle; sometimes you have to find a way to compromise without losing the core of what you want.
While I'm sure not all agree, I think we will see the debate on this writ large in the coming year, as the Commonwealth's GOP comes face to face with the reality that our largest population centers (NoVa, Richmond, Va Beach) are trending back towards the center, or at least away from partisanship. Success is statewide politics may depend on an ability to make conservative ideals palatable to groups outside our base. At the very least, a Davis v. Gilmore primary would be a perfect example of this.
Again, thanks to the other members of SST for their warm welcome, and I look forward to contributing.