Frank Bruni in today's New York Times outlines the core of the Republican strategy for the 2022 midterms.
"What candidates don’t do can have as much impact on an election as what they do, and Glenn Youngkin’s victory in Virginia was a triumph of omission. It’s no accident that he never beckoned Donald Trump to campaign with him. It’s no fluke that he never appeared in public with Trump, the most popular figure in the Republican Party by far. [snip]
In no sane world and by no sound reading did Youngkin run without or away from Trump, though that’s one of the spins being applied to his election in a state that President Biden won by roughly 10 percentage points just a year ago. Youngkin simply chose Trump in spirit over Trump in the flesh, a Trump Lite tack sure to be mimicked by Republican candidates in the 2022 midterms and beyond, at least until Trump’s favor fades and his shadow shrinks." (our emphasis)
Add to that a focus on ginned-up, tried and true dog whistle racism, now embodied by the "critical race theory" canard, which is not being taught in public schools. That and other culture war issues riles up the Trumpist base of their party almost as much as an unhinged stump speech by Dear Leader himself.
Dems now have to figure out how to put their message across, but that has to follow accomplishments that the voters feel in their own lives that the message is based on. They also have to get out of the fetal position when subjected to false Republican attacks, and go on the offensive. Better still, be proactive with countering what will certainly be their strategy for 2022 and beyond. "Trump in spirit" is still Trumpism, even without the malignant, lying demagogue "in the flesh."
