Preston Bryant is a Republican who has represented Lynchburg and part of Amherst County in the Virginia House of Delgates since 1996.

And it’s precisely because of its conservative bent that no governor in the next decade who pushes an agenda that even smells moderate – much less liberal – will be very successful.

The House prides itself to a certain extent on being the guardian of all things conservative, whether fiscal or social. Proposed tax increases are routinely killed, and legislative initiatives that seem to diminish Virginians’ personal freedoms and liberties are generally viewed contemptuously.

The decennial redrawing of General Assembly districts a couple years ago cemented a sizable Republican – and conservative – majority for at least the next decade. Many believe it’s set for the next couple of decades. Add to this the fact that, demographically, Virginia’s electorate has been appearing increasingly conservative for the past few election cycles, and you can see why the House makeup and its members’ voting habits have trended unmistakably to the right.

Gov. Mark Warner, a moderate Democrat, was elected in 2001 over a decidedly more conservative candidate, the GOP’s Mark Earley. For most of the campaign, Warner was accused (with fair justification) of walking and talking like a Republican. That, combined with a ton of money and a well-run campaign, pushed him to victory, despite demographics and everything else.

But when the newly elected Warner hit Richmond – and when he encountered the Republican-controlled House and Senate – the good fortunes to which he’d become accustomed on the campaign trail began drying up. The patsy press had turned more critical, the faltering economy left him with no money to fulfill promises he’d made, and conservative legislators were in no mood to do him any significant favors.

While it’s true that last year’s General Assembly gave Warner a little bit of a honeymoon (thanks mostly to the get-along Senate), it’s been anything but that this year. And it’s the House that primarily has ripped the sheets off his bed.

The House, mind you, is now two-to-one Republican. There are only 34 Democrats in the 100-member body. (But when you consider that the Democrats do a terrible job of hanging together, you really can’t say there’s a reliable bloc of 34 – routine defectors who vote with the GOP render it more like 29 or 30.)

That’s why bills to raise the state sales tax and roll back the car-tax rebate have been rather easily killed and bills to do away with the estate tax (the so-called “death tax”) have been rather easily passed. This also partly explains why legislation generally friendly to gun owners and hostile to abortion providers has made it out of the House with relative ease.

So it’s against this backdrop that Warner inexplicably proposed legislation this year that even the most naïve could’ve predicted would be viewed unsympathetically. For example, he invested considerable political capital in one bill that would allow a governor to succeed himself – an anathema to the tradition-bound House – and another that would give police increased authority to ticket motorists for not buckling up, seen as government nannyism.

Both bills have been before the General Assembly for many years, and both have met defeat time and time again. The House – even before its makeup was as conservative as it is now – has always been their killing field. This year proved no different.

So why Warner would so publicly attach himself to bills virtually destined for failure is beyond most pundits’ reasoning.

The Senate, however, has not been as get-along with Warner this year as it was last. “Revenue enhancement” measures are being viewed more critically, and anti-abortion bills are no longer being summarily dismissed. Of course, this is an election year – every delegate and every senator will be on November’s ballot – and legislators have purposefully inched rightward just a tad.

The House of Delegates, though, is destined to remain the more right-of-center body. Its members run every two years, whereas senators run every four. Thus, the House – “the people’s body” – is generally thought to be more closely attuned to the whims of Virginia’s conservative electorate.

So Warner, as well as the next few governors who succeed him, would be well advised to take the temperature of the House (more so than the Senate) before launching high-profile legislative initiatives. For it’s the House, whose philosophical makeup is set for the foreseeable future, that will make or break them.