The Game has Changed
What McAuliffe's loss tells us about the new Republican Party and the future of our democracy
It was close, but as the saying goes, close only counts in horseshoes. The state of Virginia went from blue to red Tuesday when the race for Governor went to Republican Glenn Youngkin, leaving Democratic candidate, Terry McAuliffe, smarting from a defeat he didn’t, but should have, foreseen.
While it wasn’t a surprise to some of us, it was still disappointing. More so because it was avoidable. The hardest part about this isn’t that Virginia will have a Republican governor, it’s that the Democrats proved how inept they are at campaigning.
Granted, the failure of two much-touted infrastructure bills to pass the House and Senate, prior to Tuesday’s election, was arguably a key factor. Nobody trusts Dems to make things happen anymore. I blame that on the last few months of public sausage making. It’s been painful to listen as Dems in Congress say things like “Well, we only just recently started really talking,” as if we should congratulate them for finally doing what they should have been doing all along.
Many of us are still (perhaps, naively) hoping for childcare subsidies, paid family leave, universal health care and police reform—not to mention the obvious need for infrastructure to reinforce bridges, resurface highways, and invest in clean energy.
But instead of passing legislation meant to help us, the Democratic Party has been impotent as Republicans take away rights we have already fought for and won, like a woman’s right to choose (in Texas), and the right to vote without unnecessary and discriminatory voting restrictions placed upon us.
Democrats hold a majority in both Houses of Congress, and they control the White House, yet Republicans have systematically taken control of many state legislatures and are using that power to pass legislation like the Texas abortion law and dozens of voter suppression laws throughout the country—in violation of our Constitutional rights. Add to that the practical effect of hundreds of new federal judges (right-wing Trump appointees), and the loss of democratically minded election officials (who are resigning in droves due to fear of what Trump supporters have threatened to do to them and their families) and we have all become hostages of the Republican Party.
This is what tyranny of the minority looks like.
The only way to secure our democracy is to get more Democrats in Congress so we can break the stalemate Manchin and Sinema have been inflicting on the Democratic Party. Unfortunately, the McAuliffe campaign showed that Dems don’t have a clue when it comes to political messaging. Their reliance on anti-Trump sentiment to win the election in Virginia was as dumb as the statement McAuliffe made about not letting parents dictate what is taught in schools.
Every parent with school age kids spent the better part of the last year being entirely responsible for home schooling their children. Every one of them became a surrogate teacher under the worst circumstances. McAuliffe’s comments revealed an ignorance of this reality and a total failure to connect with those people.
He should have learned something from the past several years under Trump, and he should have used that knowledge to beat the Republicans at their own game. But he didn’t.
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Republicans think in sound bites. Give them a good sound bite, true or not, and they’ll dig in. Youngkin promised to ban Critical Race Theory. Instead of saying parents shouldn’t control the curriculum in schools, McAuliffe should have reminded people that nobody teaches Critical Race Theory in elementary schools, and they never have. McAuliffe should have pointed out that Youngkin was talking nonsense to get people riled up.
Of course, parents have a say in what their kids learn, that’s why we have the PTA. That’s why schools have things like parent/teacher night, so parents can talk to their child’s teacher about their child’s progress and what’s important to them. Nobody is planning to change that. That’s part of the American school system.
McAuliffe should have addressed the parents’ concerns, not argued against his opponent’s sound bite. He should also have pointed out the absurdity of Youngkin’s ban—yet another Republican solution to another problem that doesn’t exist (like voter fraud).
The Republicans set McAuliffe up and he took the bait. He let it play out on their terms.
McAuliffe also failed to adjust his strategy after it became clear that Youngkin was not aligned with Trump. He continued to campaign as the non-Trump candidate when there was nothing to gain from it.
Finally, McAuliffe should have recognized Youngkin as a new kind of Republican—one Democrats cannot afford to ignore or minimize: He doesn’t rely on Trump’s approval, and he doesn’t share Trump’s weaknesses. Nor does Youngkin carry the baggage an outspoken anti-Trump Republican (like Liz Cheney) is lugging around.
Nothing in McAuliffe’s campaign strategy indicated they he understood any of this. He phoned it in, and when it looked like the race was getting a little too close for comfort, he got Biden to show up and phone it in too. Both missed the point of Glenn Youngkin.
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Youngkin encapsulates the same extreme right-wing, White/male supremacist mentality that Trump supporters share, but unlike Trump, Youngkin can claim the moral high ground. He’s a fresh face and he’s not yet tainted by scandal or association. He talks about God in a casual way—referring to “the Lord” like he’s the guy next door who does him favors now and then. “The Lord sure knew what he was doing when …”
Glenn Youngkin is a true man of God—and he let’s you know it right away—he’ll fight the moral battles with you. He’s a Christian and he’s got your back.
He knows there isn’t an elementary school in America that teaches Critical Race Theory, but he also knows you’re afraid of it, so he’ll proclaim his intent to ban it. He’ll say whatever he must because he intends to win. He’s Trump without the shortcomings.
Republicans like Glenn Youngkin, lacking the obvious weaknesses of Trump, but still conveying the message of White Supremacy, male dominance, and God as a stakeholder, are the emerging face of the Republican party. And they are the biggest threat to democracy in America today.
The better life we thought democracy would bring to those who’ve historically been disenfranchised by poverty, discrimination, and repeated economic disasters created by unethical and immoral capitalistic greed is rapidly retreating, as a fundamentalist right-wing political movement does its best to take us back in time, where White men rule and the rest of us scramble to survive.
Donald Trump may fade into oblivion, but the desire of the White Christian coalition to maintain their privilege at others’ expense, will not fade. The more threatened they feel, the more dangerous they will become. The only way to beat Republicans is to stop letting them lead the conversation and force people to acknowledge what this is really about: racism and male dominance.
The recent voter suppression laws and the Texas abortion law make this clear. No matter what cause they hide behind, the essence of the current Republican Party is the primal fear that White people will lose their privilege and women and POC will take jobs White men want.
That’s the difference between Republicans and Democrats today: Republicans want the old-world order—Democrats want democracy.
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The Democrats will need to change their game and fast if they hope to survive in 2022. First, they need to debunk every myth Republicans are spouting and do it repeatedly. Second, they need to call out the real issue here. They need to remind everyone that what Republicans are fighting for is fueled by fear and the desire to maintain White privilege—a desire antithetical to democracy. This issue will galvanize women, POC and anybody else concerned about the future of democracy in America.
If we allow Republicans to obfuscate this message, we will fail to mobilize enough Democrats to keep the House and the Senate—and if we lose those, all bets are off.
Democrats may be better at governing than Republicans, but if they don’t learn to campaign effectively, we may have already seen our last free and fair election.