On May 2, less than a week before the GOP convention, Cruz released this video endorsement of Youngkin.
After praising Youngkin as “a successful business leader” and “political outsider,” Cruz cut to the chase by declaring:
Glenn is pro-life. He’s a gun owner. He’s a defender of religious liberty. If you've ever spent time with him, you know that he's the real deal. A Christian, a family man who has his priorities straight, and a guy with common sense."
…
Glenn is the best chance Republicans have of winning in Virginia this year.”
Cruz not only made the video, but then spent several days before the convention campaigning with Youngkin at “Win Win Glenn” events around the state with stops in such cities as Salem, Bedford, Lynchburg, Danville, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and Chesterfield.
Youngkin ended up winning the nomination over Snyder by a margin of 55% to 45% in the sixth round of the ranked-choice convention voting.
And then” Cruz completely vanished from the general election campaign. A Google search showed no public campaign events featuring Cruz in Virginia, from the GOP convention on May 8 to Election Day on Nov. 2.
Youngkin obfuscated his hard-right positions on abortion rights and guns. Instead, he touted his business record and launched phony attacks regarding teaching critical race theory in schools and the need to ban sexually explicit books from school libraries, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Beloved by the Nobel Prize-winning writer Toni Morrison.
A liberal activist released a video of Youngkin at a rally saying that he had to limit his anti-abortion comments on the campaign trail for fear of alienating independent voters, but that he would go “on offense” if he won the governor’s race and Republicans gained a majority in the House of Delegates,
The Democratic nominee, former governor Terry McAuliffe, did emphasize linking Youngkin to Trump. But apart from some fundraising appeals, did McAuliffe make much of the Cruz endorsement? Would it have made any difference in a close race that Youngkin ended up winning by a margin of 50.6% to 48.6%?
And then guess who showed up to congratulate Youngkin at his victory rally on Nov. 2?
After Youngkin was inaugurated, he quickly went full MAGA, according to the Washington Monthly. He canceled school mask mandates and banned the teaching of “critical race theory.”
Republicans now control the lower House of Delegates, but Democrats retain a fragile 21-19 majority in the Senate, which can block the most extreme proposals. However, there is one conservadem, and any tie would be broken by the Republican lieutenant governor. The state Senate is up for election in 2023.
And Cruz still has Youngkin’s back. After an Arlington resident expressed disapproval that Youngkin showed up without a mask at a supermarket for an event in early February, Cruz rushed to Twitter to defend his friend.
The lesson: Democratic candidates have to confront their Republican challengers and not let them use Youngkin’s strategy of hiding their real agenda. And that includes exposing the endorsers who brought them to the dance.
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