The election results out of Virginia Tuesday night were game-changing on several fronts, even as they are being ferociously downplayed or miscast by some of the night's biggest losers.
One of my favorite things to witness is the kneejerk reaction of those individuals or entities spanked by the voters to pompously start lecturing the very people who vanquished them to "not misread the outcome." Rather than licking their wounds and taking inventory of their own missteps, they defiantly assert it's those basking in victory confetti that need to learn a few things.
So be on the lookout for that in the coming days from this sterling group of Tuesday's 6 biggest duds:
6. Joe and Kamala: Both campaigned for Terry McAuliffe in what NBC News called "a critical test" for the President's popularity and stature with voters. Biden won Virginia by 10 points, but his increasingly unpopular administration has suffered a profound loss of support in the Old Dominion. For her part, VP Harris now carries the embarrassment of having predicted before the election that what happened in that race would, "in large part, determine what happens in 2022, 2024, and on." Oops.
5. Larry Sabato: Once regarded as America's preeminent political scientist, the head of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics willfully demoted his own reputation in the eyes of the public to be a mere activist on behalf of an unimpressive Democrat gubernatorial candidate. It's tough to say what provoked Sabato to think that Terry McAuliffe was worth shedding his veneer of objectivity for, given that he was anything but a gifted politico. But for whatever reason, Sabato shamelessly misrepresented Republican Governor-Elect Youngkin and his supporters, appeared on stage to endorse and support McAuliffe, and humiliated himself claiming a Republican win would be the result of "white" power. Not sure where he goes from here.
4. Jennifer Rubin: The Washington Post's favorite pretend "conservative" voice, Rubin is no stranger to backing Democrats and running cover for them in an effort to defeat anyone with an (R) beside their name. But this is just too good: two months before the election, Rubin wrote a puff piece about McAuliffe that not only bragged about the ease with which the Democrat would win, but suggested that other Democrat candidates around the country follow his example.
And for showing readers everywhere that you have absolutely no clue how to read a political climate or analyze a race, we can say well done, Jennifer Rubin.
3. CRT deniers: In a now viral clip, MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace appeared to be one of the hardest hit by the Democrats' defeat Tuesday night.
She's wrong about it not existing, but she's not wrong about it turning people in this election. In fact, according to exit polls, over 70% of voters said that critical race theory was an important issue to them. Exactly one-quarter of voters called it the top factor in their vote. All the anecdotal video of elderly veterans not being able to clearly define critical race theory aside, citizens know they don't want white guilt being heaped upon their children in math class, and don't want their kids' history books rewritten by factually-impaired race activists who relish tearing down monuments of Thomas Jefferson in their spare time.
2. The Lincoln Project: I guess I thought this group had officially lost their mojo when it became known that their co-founder was into sexting kids. But apparently, even after 21 men came forward with similar allegations against John Weaver, that wasn't enough for liberals to stop sending the group money. Subsequently, it was revealed that not only had the anti-Trump group of former Republican grifters failed to have any noticeable impact on swing voters in the 2020 election, but they pocketed nearly two-thirds of donations themselves. Yet somehow the group still exists.
Perhaps their genius Charlottesville tiki-torch stunt – intended to shame Glenn Youngkin but backfiring to the point that it had to be completely disavowed by the McAuliffe campaign – will finally do the trick, though some Republicans like Governor-Elect Youngkin may not actually want that:
(Okay, that's likely not accurate, but it would be hilarious if it were.)
1. Loudoun County School Board: I have no idea if any school board members were up for re-election Tuesday or when they will face the voters themselves. Truthfully, given the changing demographics of that district with the rapid expansion of the D.C. Beltway crowd, none of the radicals on that board may face defeat themselves. But there is no question that the authoritarian, speech-silencing, dissent-squashing, culture-war they provocatively waged without remorse in the classrooms of children, motivated more voters in this election than perhaps anything else.
The state of this race changed when Terry McAuliffe felt compelled to side with the teachers unions, CRT-pushers, and anti-parental involvement crowd. That doesn't happen without the Loudoun County board's foolishness. And now they may reap the whirlwind after an executive who has signaled his intent to side with parents takes office in January.
This list is far from exhaustive, but on behalf of all grounded Virginians – as well as non-radicalized Americans everywhere – a big thanks goes out to these rock stars who made it, and who made Tuesday, possible.
