A Cautionary Tale From Virginia

Republicans running for office in blue-leaning swing states are examining the race for Virginia governor that Trumpist-lite Glenn Youngkin ran last year as a template for their future campaigns. Youngkin got off to a quick start with ads that played up a suburban dad image, shooting baskets and wearing a fleece vest while spouting bland platitudes, not mentioning Youngkin's background as a private equity mogul worth roughly $300 million. He also downplayed connections with Dear Leader Trump, realizing he had to win over independents and low-information voters in Northern Virginia and around Norfolk who voted for President Biden just a year earlier. Frankly, he also got a lot of help from his opponent, former Dem Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who ran a late-starting, defensive and foot-in-mouth campaign ("I don't think parents should be telling schools what to teach").

Youngkin employed dog whistle politics, particularly the latest right-wing crusade against teaching "critical race theory," which isn't taught in Virginia's schools, and dodging questions about reproductive rights for women (at one point caught on a hidden camera telling a forced birth supporter that he was with them, but couldn't say so for fear of losing moderate votes). The WaPo's Eugene Robinson on the consequences of voters not seeing through Youngkin's folksy flim flam:

"Youngkin, who squeaked into office with a two-point margin of victory, campaigned as an unthreatening, fleece-wearing suburbanite who was the soul of moderation. Political analysts saw his refusal to break with Trump or forthrightly deny the former president’s 'big lie' about the 'stolen' election as a mere tactic — not an indication of how he would behave as governor.

But Youngkin’s first week in office showed him to be a Trumpian culture-warrior. He immediately issued an executive order banning the teaching of critical race theory or any 'inherently divisive concepts' in Virginia schools. Because critical race theory is not actually being taught at K-12 public schools in the commonwealth, the order could only be an attempt to ban the accurate teaching of African American history, which necessarily covers slavery, Jim Crow repression, lynchings, 'massive resistance' to school desegregation, systematic discrimination and persistent disparities.

If you teach Black history without bringing up any 'divisive concepts,' you’re not teaching it at all." (our emphasis)

Back to Youngkin as a template. Notice the language in Youngkin's executive order banning "inherently divisive concepts" in school. It's not a coincidence that a bill is currently making its way through the Republican-controlled Florida legislature that would ban public schools and private businesses from teaching anything that would make a person "feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race, color, sex, or national origin." Incredibly, but not surprising given the white supremacist core of the Trumpist Republican / New Confederate party, similar bills have been introduced in roughly 32 states in an effort to gaslight the past if it makes Trumpist Republicans uncomfortable or guilty for positions they've taken.

It's absolutely within the realm of possibility that that party's neo-Nazi / alt-Right cohort will insist on a ban on teaching about the Holocaust because it will make them feel "discomfort" as a white "Christian." Just watch.

BONUS:  The fleecer has announced a "tip line" for parents wanting to turn in teachers for teaching "divisive subjects." 

Also, see commentary from Joan Walsh on why "Virginia is for Suckers."

(image: The fleecers. Getty Images via Daily Beast)