The future of the nation could be at stake today in Virginia.
Admittedly, this is a bold statement. Time after time and year after year, many a political pundit employs the standard “this is the most important election of our lifetimes” hyperbole to try and add additional drama to what’s about to take place. I’ve used the reasoning myself on a number of occasions, including both times Barack Obama was on the ballot as well as the epic 2016 showdown between Hillary Clinton and Washington outsider Donald Trump, and then again last year in the lead-up to Trump’s reelection fight against bumbling basement dweller Joe Biden, a man so utterly incompetent and stupid that his Democrat handlers wouldn’t dream of letting him loose to openly campaign.
Now that it’s World Series time, baseball commentators preach that starting pitchers have what’s called a “short leash” -- meaning, if the thrower screws up, the team manager calls in the relievers quickly before a game gets too far out of hand. Joe Biden’s campaign team obviously held a short leash with the Democrat nominee -- so much so they didn’t let him pitch at all.
Based on the total disaster that is the Biden administration, calling last November 3 the “most important election of our lifetimes” was entirely justified. The new Democrat president has failed the country so miserably that even some of his staunchest supporters have abandoned his capsizing ship. Judging by senile Joe’s approval ratings, many who actually voted for the swamp lizard have realized the error of their ways.
But the current “most important election” of all time isn’t even a federal contest. It’s taking place today in Virginia, where truly heinous liberal former governor Terry McAuliffe is running to finish the job he started in 2013 -- to transform the Commonwealth into a “woke” fiefdom where abortion on demand is the rule rather than the exception and Critical Race Theory is pushed in every government school classroom.
Mild-mannered Republican Glenn Youngkin is all that stands in the way of Democrats’ unhindered trampling of the territory that spawned the intellectual foundation of the United States, courtesy of the brilliant minds of Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, George Mason and the unshakeable leadership of George Washington. Were these giants alive today, what would they think?
The Virginia election is incredibly relevant for those who live in Virginia, myself included, but the balloting is vital for the entire nation as well. Simply put, Joe Biden’s agenda could hinge on what happens in northern Virginia, the Shenandoah Valley and along the eastern shore.
“A win by Republican Glenn Youngkin in the Virginia governor’s race presents a mortal threat to President Joe Biden’s agenda, prompting congressional Democrats to accelerate efforts to enact legislation before Election Day.
“The vote is set for Nov. 2… leaving Democrats little time to resolve their differences and pass some version of the $3.5 trillion ‘reconciliation’ package proposed by Biden and supported by congressional progressives but opposed by centrists. If Biden’s agenda heads into Election Day still in limbo and Democrat Terry McAuliffe loses to Youngkin in reliably blue Virginia, bridging the gap between the progressives and the centrists could prove futile...
“...[A] loss in the commonwealth, where Republicans have not won a major statewide contest in more than a decade, would be interpreted as a stinging rebuke of the president and his party. Democrats on Capitol Hill are likely to respond by assuming a protective crouch as they prepare for the 2022 midterm elections.”
It seems clear that Democrats have already adopted a defensive approach to next year’s congressional midterm elections, but nevertheless, Drucker’s point is well taken. The liberal (bare) federal majority party has all but taken over Virginia in the last decade or so. The Old Dominion used to be considered a true toss-up state with competitive partisan balance, but not any longer.
Having lived within its boundaries for over a quarter century, I’ve seen Virginia go from a state where conservative (relatively speaking) George Allen could win the governorship and then hand it over to another conservative, Jim Gilmore, to a place where an establishment political hack like Terry McAuliffe narrowly beat who would’ve been the best state executive in the nation, Ken Cuccinelli, in 2013. (Note: current Democrat Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine were Virginia Governors in the early 2000’s)
Infighting and petty “it’s my turn” bickering within the Virginia GOP sabotaged Cuccinelli’s chances, and the party has never recovered. Republicans held majorities in both houses of the state legislature until relatively recently, but now Democrats hold every state elected office and the senate and assembly, too. “California, here we come” is what I tell folks who ask how it’s possible that such a beautiful place with unmatched historical importance could tolerate being ruled by blackface/Klan hood liars like Gov. Ralph Northam.
Politically speaking, Virginia now looks more like liberal Maryland than a southern or border state. The drastic expansion of the size of the federal government has meant more and more bureaucrats invading the DC suburbs on the southern and western sides of the Potomac River. Locales like Fairfax County and Loudoun County -- and even Prince William County -- were once GOP strongholds. Not anymore.
Unlike my boyhood home (The Golden State), I don’t believe Virginia is a total loss -- yet -- but if national Republicans don’t make inroads into traditional Democrat constituencies (African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians, etc…), the slide will only accelerate, since northern Virginia is home to a massive influx of immigration (legal and otherwise). Change is inevitable, but the newcomers have tended to vote for big government.
I’m not necessarily inclined to agree with Drucker’s main argument -- that congressional Democrats will become too timid and gun-shy to pass senile Joe’s agenda if they lose Virginia’s governor’s race -- but it definitely could give them pause about what might be coming in a year’s time. For one thing, a Youngkin triumph will put to rest the notion that Biden and his chief gal-pal, Kamala Harris, “won” the presidency because the country suddenly adopted a preference for race-based programs and the ditching of flag-revering traditional American culture.
Or that people swallowed Biden’s phony “unity” message -- that he would “restore the soul of this nation”, and “this is not who we are.” Blah, blah, blah.
Donald Trump tried to reverse the downward values spiral from Barack Obama but wound up being swamped by the DC establishment, which includes elements of the Republican Party, and of course, the media. Trump’s main themes -- border enforcement, law and order, a strong national defense, a pro-growth tax structure, less federal regulation, school choice, individual healthcare decisions and accountability in foreign policy -- were correct.
To a large extent, these themes are dominating the Virginia race today. McAuliffe’s chief selling point appears to be, “Youngkin is a Donald Trump clone who will kill public schools and give all funding to private schools”, which is obviously a fabrication. The mild mannered Youngkin is nothing like the bombastic Trump, which is thought to be a positive in the “moderate” Commonwealth. The 54-year-old is also not intimately tied to the state GOP establishment, though he isn’t exactly considered a flame-throwing conservative government cutter, either.
One issue that surprisingly hasn’t come up -- much -- the fact that Terry McAuliffe was governor when the August, 2017 Charlottesville incident happened, as well as the infamous congressional baseball field attack two months earlier in June. Together with numerous statue desecrations last year (including the recent removals of prominent Robert E. Lee statues), Virginia has been ground zero for leftist assaults on history.
To my knowledge, neither incident has been brought up in an impactful way. Neither has the fiscal mess in Washington played a major role. McAuliffe wanted to nationalize the contest centered on Donald Trump while Youngkin preferred to focus on statewide matters such as crime, education and job creation/economic issues. His Day One Agenda includes, "Cut Costs for Virginians", "Keep Our Communities Safe", "Reinvigorate Job Growth", "Restore Excellence in Education" and "Make Government Work for You".
It’s hard to say what kind of sway the outcome of the Virginia governor’s race will have on national politics, or whether Joe Biden’s agenda will be doomed if Glenn Youngkin beats Terry McAuliffe today. Democrats have already plenty to be frightened about, and American voters’ mood isn’t likely to improve regardless of what happens in the Old Dominion.
Joe Biden’s policies are serving as an anchor tied to every Democrat’s ankle. It’s hard to avoid or explain away rising prices, empty store shelves and an immigration system that’s so broken even the Mexican government feels a need to intervene. At the end of the day, these are the issues that put Democrats in peril, be it today or next November.
Virginia gubernatorial election
2021 elections
Terry McAuliffe
Glenn Youngkin
Joe Biden agenda
2022 midterm elections
Kamala Harris
border crisis
critical race theory
education