Political Red and Blue Teams count on their dedicated followers to turn out at the polls. If both are successful in mobilizing their base the winner is determined by independent voters. In the Virginia governor's race CNN said "independents broke in favor of Youngkin."
Youngkin spent considerable time managing his image to appeal to independents. He told one supporter he could not reveal his "anti-abortion" stance during the campaign. The candidate appeared to be the alter ego of the diversity promoting, ESG loving Carlyle Group executive. He ignored his business record of pulling out of public-private partnerships, exporting U.S. automotive part manufacturing jobs to China, and Carlyle's operating hundreds of Cayman Island based corporations.
The Cottage on Substack reported
... he isn’t being straightforward about his connections, his intentions, and his political agenda. Youngkin is shaped by a religion that, over the decades, has slowly and surely given its soul to Trump Republicanism, revealing it worst motives of inequality, racism, and authoritarian order. But Youngkin also learned to cloak whatever may be off-putting or seem extreme regarding his faith in regard to politics. He knows how to speak to the secular world and how to use power. The fleece, the smile, the genteel “Anglican roots,” all serve to smooth over an exclusivist and literalist faith, right-wing political activism, and its theo-political quest for the Kingdom of God on earth. It is Christian nationalism with a human face, and carrying a prayer book to boot. All designed to comfort and reassure suburban Virginians that all will be well, especially when the patriarchs regain control.
And it reminds me that I’ve heard someone warn of this before. Oh yes. Jesus.
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” (Matthew 7:15)
Do fleeces count as sheep’s clothing?
Glenn established a breakaway Anglican Church in Northern Virginia. He fled the Episcopal Church after it appointed a gay bishop in Vermont. The Cottage reported on a follower's e-mail:
"Saw your tweets on HTC, the Youngkin church. We’ve gone a few times. It feels very evangelical and not overtly partisan. For instance, big push to help Afghan refugees right now. But the last time we were there, maybe 6 weeks ago, left the sanctuary and went into the lobby and Josh Hawley was out there shaking hands. Had a visceral reaction. Never went back.”
Senator Josh Hawley of MIssouri disappointed his onetime mentor on January 6th. Former Missouri Senator and UN Ambassador John Danforth noted Hawley's actions and the harm they caused.
In the aftermath of the riots, Danforth on Jan. 7 said supporting Hawley “was the worst mistake I ever made in my life.”
Speaking with Bulwark's Swift, Danforth acknowledged that those words may sound cliche but that he meant it because “I really was part of creating something that has just turned out in a really terrible way. So, yeah, I feel, I guess, a little like what Dr. Frankenstein must have felt. I was part of creating something that was really wrong.”
Danforth spoke to the split in the Red Team and how traditional conservatives need to assert themselves and take their party back from dark forces. He told PBS News Hour:
But the worst thing is that we have become really kind of a grotesque caricature of what the Republican Party has traditionally been. We were founded as the party of the union, of holding the country together. And now we have got on this populist tack, which is very much us against them.
There are conspiracies out there involving liberals and corporations and big tech. They're picking on you, the American people. You should resent this. You should feel your grievances. We feel them for you. And we're going to continue to create wedges to drive Americans apart.
So, it really is, as I say, kind of a grotesque departure from the tradition of the Republican Party.
Danforth has a Divinity degree from Yale and is a member of the Episcopal Church. The Missouri Independent reported:
The purpose of politics under the Constitution is to reconcile interests and resolve grievances, keeping diverse communities united as one people, Danforth said. Populism’s aim, he said, is to divide people based on those interests and grievances.
The Republican Party was founded on the principle of keeping the states united and now it is the party of division, Danforth said. As a result, the GOP is not a national party anymore, he said.
He expected Josh Hawley to be an honest voice in the Senate. That has not happened. Glenn Youngkin was not honest with voters in his campaign for Governor.
Just as Senator John Danforth learned about Josh Hawley, independent voters will learn about Glenn Youngkin, Profit from division. That's his and the Red Team's history. Their future is in independent voters' hands.
Update 1-31-22: "Youngkin raised about $2.2 million in around six weeks before even taking office, despite being barred by state law from seeking consecutive terms." He needs his campaign to pay him back for the $20 million in loans. It's Glenn's latest big money wash. First, it was PEU then it was politics.
Update 2-2-22: To stamp out the canard of voter fraud Texas banned the mailing of vote-by-mail applications by local election officials. It did not bar Red Team incumbents from that very practice. Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick did just that using official looking letterhead as did Rep. Dan Crenshaw. I believe they have pointed out the speck in the other's eye while ignoring the log in their own. This is the party of Glenn Youngkin. Red Team overlord Donald Trump has an upcoming fundraising event to garner his stake of the big money wash.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger called out fellow Red Team member Josh Hawley, after Hawley encouraged President Biden to abandon Ukraine's possible joining of NATO. "I hate to be so personal, but Hawley is one of the worst human beings, and a self egrandizing [sic] con artist," Kinzinger wrote on Twitter. "When Trump goes down I certainly hope this evil will be laid [sic] in the open for all to see, and be ashamed of......We are in weird times. Like having a Senator more interested in pleasing Tucker and playing to worst instincts than leading. Denying Jan 6th truth despite fomenting it, among other things.""
Update 2-4-22: The Red Team's RNC censured Rep. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger in a bizarre resolution. The editorial board of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch slammed Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) in an editorial on Thursday, calling him “grossly unfit” for office regarding his position on rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine. A maskless Governor Youngkin was encouraged to read the room by a Northern Virginia grocery shopper. "My body, my choice" for privileged white males.
Update 2-6-22: Economic bully Glenn Youngkin has the might of the Office of Governor to push people around. Picking on a high school student is bad form.
Poor choice, Gov. Youngkin.
Update 2-12-22: Glenn wants white parents to be comfortable with any teachings on racism. He established a hot line for parents to call with complaints. What if those same parents were the ones issuing death threats to a black physician for sharing her experiences? How would that work Governor Youngkin?
Update 1-14-23: It seems independent voters aren't buying Youngkin's brand of politics.
