Glenn Youngkin. Fox News.
Dear Commons Community,
Columnist Michelle Cotter had a piece in yesterday’s New York Times profiling Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin. She sees him as an up-and-coming leader of the GOP who might play an influential role in the GOP especially if after tomorrow’s election, his state moves decidedly to the Republicans. She speculates that he could have a major influence on the GOP presidential primaries.
Here is an excerpt.
“It’s a perfect fall weekend in Virginia horse country, about two weeks before Election Day, and the American Legion hall in Middleburg is decked out for a rally featuring Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who is not on the ballot but is stumping hard for his fellow Republicans. His name is everywhere: on a bright blue backdrop behind the stage, on the swag in the front room, on the side of a bus out front with the slogan “Strengthening the Spirit of Virginia Together.” The bus is a high-end prop for Mr. Youngkin’s “Secure Your Vote” tour, which has him crisscrossing the state to promote early voting. His attempt to reverse Republican mistrust of early and absentee voting is one way the governor stands apart from the leader of his party, Donald Trump. But it is not the only way.
Looking over the crowd, you can’t help but notice a dearth of Trump paraphernalia. One woman has on a blue “Nikki Haley for president” vest, and another one is rocking a “Moms for Liberty” T-shirt. Virginia’s Republican base has plenty of Trump love, yet it’s not a visibly MAGA-rific gathering. This makes a certain political sense: Joe Biden won this county in 2020, as did Mr. Youngkin’s Democratic rival in 2021. But the fact that Mr. Youngkin is aggressively campaigning in blue areas is not only a sign of his popularity, it differentiates him from Mr. Trump, who largely sticks to safe conservative spaces.
As Mr. Youngkin bounds into the hall in his signature red vest — smile beaming, cheeks ruddy from the wind — he radiates the upbeat, hunky-P.T.A.-dad vibe that helped carry him to victory in 2021. His voice ranges from an urgent whisper to a gargly rasp as he raves not about his personal grievances or some vision of American carnage, but about the “common sense” plans he and his party have for Virginia. He spotlights a handful of policy areas — jobs, tax relief, crime, mental health care, education — and contends that Republicans, and Virginians, “win” when sensible people come together. Mr. Youngkin’s sales pitch casts the G.O.P. as a party filled with practical folks who want to get stuff done — as opposed to the Democrats, he charges, who “just want to sell fear.”
Remember that “fear” line. It’s revealing about Mr. Youngkin’s brand of politics, but it’s also about as edgy as the guy gets. His performance is a far cry from MAGA.
American politics is pretty bleak these days, with the House hobbling out of a month of historic dysfunction, with everyone exhausted by polarization and inflation and now the turmoil over the war in Gaza. The race for the presidency looks like the same old, same old; the country feels a bit beaten down. But the flip side of disillusionment is this: Americans are hungry for winners. And no cohort is hungrier than the Republican Party, which looks increasingly out of control as it contends with multiple epicenters of chaos. (See: House hard-liners. See: government shutdown threats and foreign-aid fights. See: Ken Paxton, Clarence Thomas, Ron DeSantis, George Santos and the once-and-possibly-future president himself.) Such are the fruits of Trumpism, with its glorification of disruption and middle-finger truculence.
In Tuesday’s elections, Mr. Youngkin has a shot — albeit a long one — at emerging a big winner. If he manages to help turn the Virginia General Assembly solid red, it will be considered a victory not only for the state party but also for his style of leadership, so different from the Trump version. Mr. Trump may be leading the G.O.P. presidential field, but Republicans haven’t entirely forgotten that he dragged them to defeat in 2018 (the House), 2020 (the presidency and the Senate) and 2022 (those winnable Senate and governor’s races with Trump-backed losers).
For all his trademark swagger, the MAGA king hasn’t been a winner in a while. His presumed successor, Mr. DeSantis, despite his Florida triumphs, is looking more like a big meatball, and the rest of the G.O.P. pack has yet to energize voters. This leaves an opening for someone like Mr. Youngkin, if he can offer a winning playbook — and if enough Republicans decide they want an affable version of conservatism without all the crazy Trump trimmings.
This is no easy feat: The governor is selling something softer than a MAGA vision, but he’s not exactly moderate. His agenda contains plenty of harsh conservative elements, including anti-trans measures and his call for a 15-week ban on most abortions. Will enough people in the center actually want that, even if he swaddles those hard edges in feel-good vibes? And will enough people on the right want someone genial-verging-on-boring when they remain in thrall to the fire and fury of Mr. Trump?”
The entire column is a good analysis and worth a read!
Tony
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