Virginia Republicans Are About To Put The Fear Of God Into Woke Democrats
Winsome Sears makes history as the first black woman nominated to statewide office.
First and foremost, a tremendous THANK YOU to our TRS readers. We announced that Winsome Sears won, we walked it back, and everyone took it in great stride when Sears emerged the victor at — 54%.
Right where we said she would.
I wish I could share the fan mail, which has far outpaced those who have concerns. Most Republicans are in a mood to win — and not just for winning’s sake — but to advance our principles and our ideas in the public square.
That’s encouraging.
What’s more, Virginia Republicans are in a mindset to get back to first things. If you haven’t seen photographs from the Youngkin rally in Richmond? The pictures simply do not do the crowd justice.
It was a rally.
Youngkin’s speech to the crowd was described by one veteran observer as the best gubernatorial speech he had heard ever. Better than George Allen? Better that Bob McDonnell? Not only was it an excellent speech, but the crowd sensed it as well.
Of course, Terry McAuliffe — putative frontrunner for the Democrats — was quick to attack Youngkin as the most extreme candidate ever, slamming his endorsement by Ted Cruz among others.
How did Twitter react? Mostly with jeers. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have Ted Cruz’s endorsement over Ralph Northam’s endorsement any day of the week.
While Democrats Bulldoze History, Winsome Sears Makes History
Here’s something that will shock most people on the left that doesn’t shock a soul on the right. Republicans just made massive progress on something Democrats merely pay lip service to. That’s right, actual diversity based on achievement.
You guessed it. Winsome Sears made history this week as the first black woman to be nominated to a statewide office in Virginia.
Winsome did that. Republicans did that.
Given that diversity is supposed to be the Democratic Party’s raison d’etre nowadays (HINT: it isn’t) that puts the political left in one heck of a bind vis a vis their own ticket.
Which does raise the more serious question regarding the recent Woke Democrat push for critical race theory in just about everything we do.
How come it is Republicans who are scolded on diversity, yet when it comes to Democratic office holders, two old white men hold on tenaciously to the most powerful statewide roles?
Consistency might suggest that both of them should resign in favor of minority candidates — no? Yet when it comes to power, the Democrats are anything but consistent in this regard. The Northam-McAuliffe self high-five continues and no one seems to challenge it in the media; Herring has his own problems with race, yet when offered a qualified alternative the Democratic power elite closes ranks around one of their own.
How come we aren’t hearing as much about CRT when it comes to Democratic leadership, but must absolutely worry about it in our classrooms and admissions processes? If the Democrats cannot live up to their own standards in this regard, not only does it suggest that they don’t take their own rhetoric seriously, but it certainly absolves the rest of us from taking it seriously as well.
This contrast between Democratic mediocrity and Republican excellence is the narrative of 2021.
One of the old quips about socialism is that everyone gets a pair of shoes, but they are all the wrong size. Democrats and their woke allies might claim to believe their argument is about social justice (sic), but insofar as it comes to their own leadership the hypocrisy isn’t just clear — it’s dichotic.
Of course, Democratic mediocrity doesn’t just stop with CRT and public education. Northam’s COVID-19 bungling from the shutdown to the vaccine rollout cost both livelihoods and lives. Virginia’s collapse from first in the nation to do business to middling is entirely on the shoulders of McAuliffe and Northam’s political activism in Richmond. Democratic calls to “defund the police” during a time of riots and civil unrest remains unconscionable.
In short, if the last year was a time for testing, the Democrats failed just about every test. Now they are demanding what amounts to a participation trophy from working families, and Virginians are openly resenting what the Democrats have to offer.
In contrast, Virginia Republicans are offering something far different than the caricature the media has helped craft. Successful business leaders — both large and small — with former military bona fides and a prosecutor willing to enforce the law. This is a serious, suburban, college-educated conservative ticket folks.
The opposition is about to give back in return a guy who freely admits to wearing blackface at parties, a guy endorsed by another guy in blackface (or a hood), and some middling talent from what passes for leadership among Virginia Democrats.
Of course, Republicans are coming out of convention process with sharp elbows. But as I remind so many others, even if you do not fall in love with this ticket (and it’s hard not to fall in love with this ticket) this is a Republican ticket that checks all the boxes and will absolutely stop the bleeding in Richmond.
Give me a Republican majority in the House of Delegates in 2021 and a Republican majority in the State Senate in 2023? Governor Youngkin and AG Miyares will be both pleased and proud to watch Lieutenant Governor Sears gavel in a state budget that will set the world to rights — not to mention set the tone for the White House in 2024.
This is a good day to be a Virginia Republican, folks.
Shaun Kenney is the editor of The Republican Standard, former chairman of the Board of Supervisors for Fluvanna County, and a former executive director of the Republican Party of Virginia.