RICHMOND, Virginia — The drink of the evening is called a “Slam Dunk” (really, it’s just a cosmopolitan, but in a plastic cup emblazoned with a “74”). But Paul Ryan chooses instead to sip on a beer during the eve of the gubernatorial inauguration of Glenn Youngkin.
Ryan, the former House speaker whose fiscal focus led some Republicans to brand him a RINO in the era of Donald Trump, might seem like an odd figure to hold court at the celebration of the Republicans’ most successful candidate in the Biden era. But by design, Youngkin has crafted a vast political tent, and one that may prove the best path for the party after Trump.
Youngkin, worth hundreds of millions of dollars thanks to his success in private equity, is the sort of finance guy appreciated by the more conventional wing of the party. He is also a culture warrior who understands that Virginia’s next stand depends on solidarity with parents. His civility is a remnant of a different era, one Democrats at least pretend to appreciate.
Youngkin abided by tradition, thanking predecessor Ralph Northam during his inaugural address, only to break tradition with a thousands-strong party headlined by the Zac Brown Band instead of the usual black tie ball. Youngkin triangulated throughout his election, refusing either to tether himself to or distance himself from Trump. He effectively denied Democrats the opportunity to turn his election into a referendum on the bombastic billionaire. But Trump handed Youngkin, and thus the future of the party, a priceless gift — a reorientation of what issues constitute the core of the culture wars.
A Manhattanite celebrity like Trump understood that gay marriage and marijuana were political losers. Although he may have never intended to do so, he reoriented the culture wars toward slam dunks of public sentiment — school reopenings, critical race theory, and an alphabet soup of gender-related interests. Youngkin may personally believe that marriage is solely between a man and a woman, but as a matter of policy, he disavows any interest in fighting against the legality of same-sex marriage. Instead, his campaign focused on schools as something important not only for children but also for the working mothers who have borne the brunt of pandemic closures.
That’s a winning agenda that does not depend upon the candidate’s relationship with Donald Trump. Campaigning on radically reclaiming the power of the people, and parents specifically, from the state, Youngkin won. He won not just with the suburban security moms the Republicans once actively courted, but with a majority of independents and Latinos.
Youngkin won heading the most diverse ticket in the state’s history, and he did so while ceding not one inch to the most potent forces in the state. As promised, Youngkin spent day one of his reign in Richmond signing executive orders banning critical race theory and “political indoctrination” from classrooms, forbidding schools from mandating that students wear masks, initiating an investigation by Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares into the Loudoun County School Board’s cover-up of a horrific rape, and establishing a commission to investigate antisemitism.
Youngkin posed in the same pretentious ascot as his predecessors in a photo featuring all of Virginia’s living governors — sans Youngkin’s opponent, Democrat Terry McAuliffe. Yet by nightfall, his ticket took to the state in Richmond’s sprawling Main Street Station in jeans and cowboy boots. Rather than restrict the festivities to a few in favor, dozens of local businesses offer lobster rolls, deviled eggs, craft beers, and glasses of wine for free. (The official guide advised that guests choose “Youngkin casual” attire, with “patriotic colors & Glenn vests” specifically recommended.)
When Joe Biden campaigned for McAuliffe, he insinuated that Youngkin was an extremist tantamount to “the rage of a mob driven to assault the Capitol.” Judging by the jubilant and politically and racially diverse crowd at this celebration, Biden clearly missed the mark.
But Youngkin’s agenda is indeed radical. If Republicans have the stones to reclaim the power of taxpayers and parents, the supposed division fomented by Trump may not mean much against a Democratic opposition deluded by its own Trump obsession.
