As a constituent in Northern Virginia, I watched with dismay two years ago as Glenn Youngkin rode his fleece vest and a bunch of contentless commercials bragging about what a great basketball player he was into the Governor’s mansion. His whole appeal was that he was a common sense, non-threatening moderate. From long years of observing Republican politicians in my state, I had him pegged as a phony from day 1, but too many of my fellow Virginians fell for it. In reality, he was ex-CEO of the private equity fund Carlyle group, with a net worth of $500 million, and didn’t give a rat’s ass about the every day struggles of ordinary Virginians, but he took advantage of discontent with the pandemic, and a number of miscues from his opponent, the overly complacent Terry McAuliffe, to sweep into office — the first Republican to win statewide in Virginia since 2009. This immediately led to talk that he could be a post-Trump GOP savior.
But as soon as he took office, the mask came off. He immediately proposed an abortion ban, set up a hotline to report teachers who supposedly indoctrinated their classrooms with critical race theory, opposed trans rights, appointed polluters to environmental boards, tried to ban teaching of “divisive content” (in other words, truths that made reactionary whites feel uncomfortable), opposed sensible gun control legislation, thwarted the will of Virginia voters who had passed a bill decriminalizing and regulating marijuana by refusing to put the regulatory framework in place, pushed “school choice,” and enthusiastically supported attempts to censor and ban books with “objectionable” content in school libraries. In other words, he was a typical MAGA Republican, albeit in a “kinder and gentler” disguise.
Luckily, the Democrats retained control of the state Senate by a hair, which protected Virginians from implementation of some of Youngkin’s more radical policies. But make no mistake, he is MAGA in everything but name and affect. He doesn’t yell and call names, he avoids some of the most crazy Trump views like disbanding NATO, and he even recently, grudgingly, conceded that Biden won the 2020 election. To my mind that actually makes him more dangerous. A Kari Lake could never win in Virginia, but a MAGA wolf in sheep’s clothing could, and did.
In his own mind, Virginia was just a stepping stone. Youngkin looks in the mirror and sees a President. He went all in on the Virginia legislative elections this year, directly providing millions of dollars and campaign support to Republican candidates, including many campaign appearances. In his hubris, he thought he could win a smashing victory, gaining control over all levers of Virginia political power. Such proof of electoral prowess in a purple state like Virginia would propel him to the Presidency; he would altruistically swoop in at the 11th hour and save the Republican party from the curse of Trump, making the world safe from critical race theory forever and ever, amen.
Well, things didn’t go quite as planned last night. Democrats not only kept the Senate, they flipped the House. Youngkin is now not so much a lame duck as a dead duck. His legislative agenda is a smoking ruin, like a Russian artillery piece hit by HIMARS. His press conference announcing his candidacy for President has been placed on an indefinite hold that looks to be permanent.
Words of wisdom for Governor Youngkin: “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” Abraham Lincoln said that. “Ha ha ha, hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!” Renmin said that.