"Buckle your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night." --Bette Davis as Margo Channing, in the 1950 classic “All About Eve”

Virginia Democrats have a stunning opportunity come the January start of the General Assembly session. It stares them in the face. It begs them to take, as we say out here, ‘holt.’

Sure, it’s going to be a bumpy night. A lot of them. But not for Democrats. Those coming sleepless nights have ‘Republican’ written all over them.

Let’s think about it for a minute.

The budget? Forget about it. Not a Democratic problem. Democrats didn’t cause this problem. The biggest problem Democrats have is trying to resist the urge to claim it! Let it go! Not your problem.

Tax reform? Fffssst. Make me laugh. The Republicans are doing everything they can to make a mockery out of that two-word phrase. Let ‘em!

All those mad folks standing in line at the DMV offices? Those prosecutors saying some of the state’s petty criminals won’t likely see the inside of a court room, because of the budget cuts? The thousands of state employees spending the holidays on the unemployment line? The local governments from one end of the state to the other -- the boards of supervisors, the town councils, the school boards -- all in an uproar, all feeling betrayed? The tens of thousands of students across Virginia -- and their parents -- facing tuition increases? Where will this collective ire find home?

Think about that for a minute.

Virginia Democrats, for the moment, are spared the burden of performance. Yet, they still feel the impulse to make things right.

The urge to ‘fix,’ to practice again the notion of ‘good government’ is a strong one for Democratic legislators. A few courageous ones here and there speak of cigarette taxes, brakes on the car tax give-back, and so on. They bemoan cuts in mental health and law enforcement and highway funding. They are loath to put the least among us at further risk. And that’s understandable, that urge.

The same is the grip Gov. Warner feels. Surely, these few feel it in tandem. In fact, it reminds me of something Lady Percy said about Hotspur in Shakespeare’s "Henry IV": “… and by his light did all the chivalry of England move to do brave acts.”

Even in a minority, do not Virginia Democrats have a role to play? Of course they do. And it is more than just a role. It is a responsibility.

Relieved of the burden of governance, Virginia Democrats must become the conscience of the legislative process. Every day, every step, every bill, they must articulate choices and put those choices on the board of public opinion.

Where to begin? Where to take that ‘holt’? Public education. Virginia Democrats must claim this issue, once, now, and forever if they are to remain viable. They must dig in now and resist to the death any diminishment of K-12 funding.

Not only is this a political opportunity. It is the right thing to do. Now is the time. To acquiesce on this issue is unpardonable.