November 3, 2021 - 11:45am
Joe Biden’s problems have just got a lot worse. The result from yesterday’s Gubernatorial race in Virginia produced a shock victory for the Republican candidate, Glenn Youngkin.
Virginia is a southern state, but the Republicans haven’t won a Presidential election there since 2004. In 2020, Virginians backed Joe Biden by a margin of ten points. The Democrats should never have lost — and furthermore in picking a moderate and experienced candidate like Terry McAuliffe they didn’t take any chances.
So how did the Republicans win? The decisive issue in the contest appears to be education. In particular the backlash against the teaching of Critical Race Theory in schools (and also their closure as pandemic measure). In the course of the campaign, McAuliffe said “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.” Parents evidently disagreed.
Wokeness is a major vote loser for the Democrats, but already there are signs that the party is blaming the Virginia debacle on a lack of radicalism. For instance, here’s senior Democrat Julian Castro on MSNBC suggesting that party should run “progressive” candidates (i.e. politically correct Left-wingers) instead of “centrists”.
I wonder what Castro makes of another shock result — a by-election to the Texas House of Representatives, which is on his own home turf of San Antonio? The district in question is 73% Hispanic and in 2020 it voted for Biden by a margin of 14 points. Last night it went Republican. This is yet another sign that the US Latino vote is shifting conservative. The Democratic dream that demographic change will hand them Texas is slipping away.
Among other worrying signs for the Democrats is the razor-edge Gubernatorial race in New Jersey — a deep Blue state that no one expected to come remotely close to an upset. Then there were the Republican victories in District Attorney races on Long Island, New York — evidence of a voter backlash on law-and-order issues.
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SubscribeThis can’t be true. I’ve been reliably informed by mainstream and social media that:
But that’s why you’re reading about it in Unherd, right?
With respect, may I take exception to your grammar? I think the quote was more along these lines:
Sleepy Joe Biden (and this was before he fell asleep in Scotland):
If you’re even thinking of voting for Trump, then you ain’t black!
This shows Sleepy Joe’s affinity with the common (white) man, his relatability, how earthy he is, all important qualities in American elections. Your use of correct grammar reveals that you, sir are posh!
I was trying to up my game for the discerning UnHerd readership.
We appreciate your efforts, but if you ever try to communicate what Sleepy Joe is thinking/saying/grunting, you will have to include mangled syntax, the vocabulary of a chav, and the focus of an 80 year old with dementia.
It might help to start the paraphrase with something like:
I had hairy legs as a kid. No kidding, man! I could do 50 push ups. Now…. why am I here…..
With respect, this might better capture Sleepy Joe.
The American news media was found to be the least trusted in the West according to an Oxford study that was reported by Reuters.
Correction, if you are black you are not Republican…!
Great to see the anti-woke backlash in the USA. Floreat semper et ubique
The deciding issue may well have been education, but it isn’t just the use of CRT – the appalling handling of the horrific events in Loudon County by the local Democrat authorities play their part too.
True, but bear in mind that the disgusting behaviour of the Democrat authorities in Loudon County is the result of their adherence to CRT.
Not to niggle, but it is Loudoun, not Loudon. On your point, yes, ‘Parents for Youngkin’ was a popular sign.
Oops. Thanks for the correction.
….populism without the misrule of the man himself.
Really? What misrule? Most of Trump’s policies were excellent, and he had to fight the Deep State (a real thing) at every turn. Trump accomplished much in 4 years, despite massive resistance from mostly government employees, and of course, the media.
If you had referenced Trump’s vulgarian tone, which I like but many don’t, you would have had a reasonable point. If you believe Trump’s policies were misrule, with respect, I disagree.
Let’s go Brandon!
I also copied that line, ““Trump Lite” strategy. It might be more accurate to describe it as “Trump Minus” — that is, populism without the misrule of the man himself. “
I wondered, does the writer drive an EV with a Biden Harris bumper sticker?
“Misrule”? What are you talking about? We were in great shape with President Trump at the helm. This current whatever-it-is occupying our government would be lucky if misrule was the only word used to describe it.
Even more important than the issue of CRT is this story of a father whose daughter was sexually assaulted by a boy in a skirt in the girls toilet of her school. The school tried to cover up the assault. When the father tried to raise the issue at a school board meeting, he was arrested and described as a terrorist.
Virginia father says school board covered up sexual assault of teen daughter – Washington Times
In fairness this seems like a bit of a murky story.
It couldn’t be simpler. In a June 22, 2021 Loudoun County School Board meeting, the board were asked if they knew of any incidents involving their transsexua bathroom policy. In May, a boy in a dress had been accused of raping a girl in the girls room. The board said they weren’t aware of any incidents. The father of the allegedly raped girl objected loudly. The board had him arrested, prosecuted and fined.
The board transferred the boy in a dress to another school. He committed another alleged sexual assault on another girl in the girls room in the new school in October. He was convicted of the May rape in Juvenile Court recently.
The school board eventually admitted that the rape occurred, but still claims June ignorance of the attack. Most parents don’t buy their ignorance claim.
You relate this story–accurately–as if this is a bad thing. Is it possible that the board simply modelled itself on the Catholic Church, that beacon of virtue?
Father Jim molested some students! What again???? Let’s transfer him to the North!
I had been under the impression that this was a widely used and accepted pedagogy, which is also applied to students.
I was initially shocked by the story, but more has come out about it that makes it more murky: the girl had previously had consensual sex in the disabled toilets, as a ‘convenience’, with the boy prior to the rape.
Yes.Also the father involved, it seems, had behaved in a threatening manner at the meeting towards another parent. I am still not sure exactly what happened but it is not as straightforward as many on both sides of the divide would believe.
I was watching the results come in on CNN last night and the token Republican on the panel gushed, ‘here we have a Republican ticket that looks like America, African American, Hispanic, white’ etc. The other panel members just looked at him, turned to each other and started discussing how an advert stating a certain book containing graphic material being given to high schoolers to read was inappropriate and parents should have a say on this, was a ‘racist dog whistle’ because the book, Beloved, was written by Toni Morrison. The author of the book and the book in question was not mentioned in the ad. The CNN panel went on to discuss how Youngkin’s victory had shown the success of pairing sounding ‘moderate’ with sending out ‘dog whistles’.
Odd when you consider it is outgoing Ralph Northam and Mark Herring who have a history of dressing up in blackface. Although, to be fair, they are Democrats…
I hear this a lot about ‘racist dog-whistles’. Strange how only Democrats seem to hear it…
Dogwhistle: a signal to your supporters that only your opponents can hear.
The LA Times ran an article that said candidate Larry Elder, a black conservative Republican, was “the black face of white supremacy.” It would be comical, if it wasn’t so racist.
The Virginia Lt. Governor Elect said in her victory speech, “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m black. I have been all my life.” It was a dig at the idiots in the race baiting media.
p.s.
Your ‘shock story’ link was to a paywall
So to the Daily Mail for the paywall free results
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10161115/Terry-McAuliffe-admits-DEFEAT-Youngkin-Virginia-governor-race.html
And the quote
“I am proud that we spent this campaign fighting for the values we so deeply believe in,’ McAuliffe said in a statement.”
shows how utterly lost the country is – if the values Democrats so deeply believed in are those the campaign hinged on; destroying education and teaching degenerate concepts and ideologies to the children.
Only the mid-terms can save humanity now.
The only “shock” about this result was the fact that the Democrats didn’t manage to stuff enough ballots, carry enough cemeteries and phony up enough votes to cheat their way in.
‘Trump-lite’? Everyone knows that Trump is actually the real President and that Biden got elected through malpractice. Result? The USA in a death spiral. Let’s hope the wake-up call is not too late…
“Everyone knows that Trump is actually the real President”
Sigh. They really don’t, you know.
Or explain to me how thousands upon thousands of lifelong Republican judges, state secretaries, election officials and loyal Triump appointees decided to conspire with the Democrats to lose the election (and their livelihoods) – without anyone noticing or even selling their world-shattering story to the tabloids for a small fortune.
It is possible to be vehemently opposed to CRT, cancel culture and wokeism, yet regard Trump as an obese obscenity and an insult to humankind.
Whatever the problem, and they are many, Trump can never be the answer.
Couldn’t agree more. I think CRT is both a nonsense and an abomination and despise wokism generally but the vulgarian, corrupt Trump is not the answer. The Democrats’ folly could yet let him back in. Besides: Republican gerrymandering and voter suppression anyone? Not much of a choice is it?
“Not much of a choice is it?”
No, indeed. A damning indictment of the political class in the States.
As opposed to the UK, of course, where voters had the luxury of choosing between a bloviating, blustering, elitist buffoon, and an anti-semitic, pro-Islamist, unreconstructed Marxist, who demonstrably despised both the people and the country he aspired to govern.
Like to swap?
Now disagree with your hysterical comments there – Johnson understands what the public want and is generally delivering it, which is why his approval ratings are so high.
I am actually British! The last election I just spoiled by ballot as I had the same view of the choice on offer as you did..
There must be another decent GOP candidate surely…surely…..
I think neither party is fit for purpose.
Why is it impossible to get Democrats to admit to any 2020 election irregularites? Before the 2020 election, courts and election officials made numerous changes in election procedures, contrary to state law. The US Constitution says state legislatures set the conditions for the selection of presidential electors. During the election, unsolicited mail in ballots were sent to all registered voters, dead or alive, resident or moved, in many states contrary to law. Many of these votes were harvested by Democrats who watched voters fill out the ballots to make sure they voted for Democrats. During the vote counts election night, counting was suspended in several swing states, then massive numbers of added votes were suddenly posted with 99% plus of the votes for Biden. In several Democrat stronghold cities, Republican poll watchers were expelled during the vote count. In Atlanta, poll watchers were told there was a water main break, and counting was being halted. There was no water main break, and counting continued without the poll watchers. In many counties, rejection rates for mailed ballots dropped over 90% from 2016.
It’s a moot point who won. Tolerating vote fraud encourages more of it. Post election audits are turning up more and more problems. Finding the problems allows state legislatures to fix procedures to make future elections more honest, as long as courts and election officials don’t violate the law again.
And then there is the fake moon landing we need to discuss endlessly.
AGREED
Agreed. It’s amusing but disappointing to see so many comments from people who oppose the wokers etc, but support the blowhard Trump – making the same grievous error that the Democrats are currently making with trivia in banging on about stuff like lost elections that the electorate don’t care about.
Actual results are declared on 15th November. A comparison of vote numbers vs 2020 will be interesting. At the moment GoP is 15% down, Dems have dropped 33%.
Running more radical candidates …now where have I have heard that one before…I think it was December 2019 possibly…and remind me, how did that work out again results wise?