There has been a lot of discussion of how Glen Youngkin, the governor elect of Virginia was able to defeat his opponent, former governor and Clinton associate Terry McAuliffe in a state that has been trending blue for years.
He ran on kitchen-table issues: rising prices, schools, crime. He tailored his message to his locality and avoided national debates. None of his television advertisements featured President Biden and none mentioned tradition Trump issues such illegal immigration or “stolen election”. He defined himself as a basketball-playing, dog-loving dad from the suburbs before his opponent was able to portray him as Trump in fleece. He built coalitions with parents, veterans, and minority groups.
Republicans who follow his path might enjoy similar success in 2022 and beyond.
One needs to note that Youngkin is not a seasoned political operative like McAuliffe, but actually someone who just retired from Carlyle Group after losing in a power struggle. Yet, throughout the campaign, he has consistently stayed on message. He is positive and optimistic without coming across as treacly or sentimental. I have yet to see him frown. He has what Reagan adviser John Sears called “negative ability” — the power to deflect, repel, and ignore personal attacks. Nothing seems to get under his skin to the extent that Biden has to tell a Virginia audience that extremism can come “in a smile and a fleece vest.”
Maybe to progressive democrats he may seem evil, but to average Virginian doesn’t look at Glenn Youngkin and see a neo-Nazi or a racist especially when the candidates for Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General were also member of the minorities.
Of course, not to fawn over his candidacy, both his opponent and the national environment helped Republicans greatly. Firstly, governors of Virgina can not run for re-election, Terry McAuliffe, though a former governor, does not enjoy the usual advantage that would be presented to an incumbent. McAuliffe clearly believed that demographics are destiny and that Virginia has been trending blue, so he focused on tying Youngkin as a Trump-like threat to institutional stability and social peace instead of letting the voters understand what he is bringing to the table. McAuliffe’s inability to find a galvanizing issue besides Trump bashing led him to run an idea-free campaign based on mobilizing Democratic interest groups as a result, though he still drove his base out to the polls it was not enough to win and allowed Youngkin to pull off a shocker.
The general deterioration of Biden’s presidency also proved to be detrimental to McAuliffe’s chance. The inflation, incompetence, and cultural radicalism dragging down Biden’s job approval rating are taking other Democrats with him. The red shift in Virginia, New Jersey, and elsewhere on election night hints at bad things to come for the incumbent party. Now that Youngin and the Republican has been given an opportunity to govern (except the State Senate which the Democrats still have a slim 2 seat majority) He has the chance to demonstrate that Republicans can address parental revolt, public safety, and economic insecurity in responsible and effective ways.
Starting from the issue of education, this election has been called “attack of the mama bear”. The tension between parents and local school boards became Parent Teacher Association meetings gradually became the centerpiece in the election since early summer. One incident in June that kick started the whole issue was a father accusing the district of trying to cover up an alleged bathroom sexual assault by a gender-fluid individual against his daughter in order to further its transgender rights agenda. He was arrested for disorderly conduct while at the meeting, the school superintendent denied such cover up took place, though it was later revealed that the crime did occur.
Another topic that was heavily debated in these PTA meetings is whether “Critical Race Theory” should be taught in school and also what books should be banned from its libraries. CRT has become a contentious issue in particular, it is a re-examination the status-quo discourse on race that they perceives to be told from the perspective of white men. In laymen’s term being “color blind” still benefits the "dominant race”, white people, therefore an intersectional society which transcend gender and class exist that result in a complex combination of power, advantage and ultimately, racism. Though proponents of CRT suggest that it is not officially taught in school, but opponents points to how elements of it have already been seeped through to primary education. The end result is that due to covid and school closure, parents are much more aware of what their children are learning from school through online teaching, and therefore those who are against the narrative naturally began to voice their anger at their local school board meetings.
These raucous meetings led the National School Board to send a letter to the Department of Justice requesting assistance from federal law enforcement due to “increasing threat and violence” that is equivalent to “domestic terrorism”. The letter was sent by the NSBA CEO without consultation with its board member, but it was later revealed that on the other hand, they consulted with the White House and upon receiving the letter, Attorney General Merrick Garland (who was stonewalled from becoming Supreme Court Justice) responded positively to the letter, basically labelling parents as domestic terrorists. As education made its way to be the top issue on voter’s mind, McAuliffe said on September 28 that parents shouldn’t be telling teachers what to teach. He then went on to also state that there are “too many white teachers” . Youngkin’s message on education was much broader. He defended high standards and advanced learning, inveighed against school closures, talked about the need for greater school safety, and pushed back against explicit content in education, all the while advocating higher pay for teachers.
As shown in the poll, the underlying themes in this election was not about race, not about global warming, but issues that matter to voter’s immediate livelihood. Youngkin’s economic agenda fits well with the emerging Republican coalition of non-college-educated voters. Rather than cut marginal tax rates, Youngkin would double the state standard deduction, eliminate the grocery tax, and suspend the gas tax, easing the burden on lower- and middle-income taxpayers suffering from a rising cost of living. Recently, Energy Secretary Granholm commented on her inability to increase US gas output by saying she does not have a magic wand, stating on interview that Americans should prepare for high heating cost, which we could say is a side effect of US cutting back its oil production while re-focusing on renewable energies. Beyond Virginia, the governor election at New Jersey was also much closer than expected, the biggest shocker in New Jersey was that the Speaker of the State Senate was defeated by a truck driver named Edward Durr who only spent $153 on his campaign .
Immediately, the Governor of New Jersey labelled Durr as a “dangerous” and racist person, but for someone who spent considerably less money and still beat an incumbent Speaker, one has to really ponder which side is more out of touch with their electorate? The major mid term election will not take place until the end of next year, but with what we could discern from these elections, the writing is on the wall for progressive causes, whether or not the proponents of these causes are willing to come to terms with reality, which I doubt, the result of next year’s election should be pretty clear unless something drastic changes the political landscape.
執行編輯：劉芳瑜
核稿編輯：張翔一
