The Democrat, McAuliffe, lost to the Republican, Younkin, in the Virginia Governor's race - 51 -48%. (Please note that there are no hysterical and ludicrous screams of a "stolen election")
Three things that I note. First, the main focus of the McAuliffe campaign seems to have been to tie Younkin to the Former Guy. Didn't work. The Former Guy was and is a hateful, toxic personality, but Republicans like to vote for Republicans, especially if they are not hateful, toxic personalities. So it is fine to make some mention of the Former Guy, I guess, but you need to have your campaign be about something much more real about yourself and your opponent and your vision of the future.
The second thing is that we live in tribes, centered primarily on personal and tribal identity, and the Reps are enraged by Dems trying to enforce Dem tribal values on them - mandating vaccines and teaching about racism for example. Terrifyingly, a substantial percentage of Reps are white supremacists, so what to do? I think the Dems are best campaigning on positive visions that include justice and equality and do their best not to make those who think of themselves as unbiased as being under the accusation of racism. Deal with racism in policy, not in a campaign. Campaign on other visions.
Push for policies of social justice, but for goodness sake DO NOT RUN ON DE-FUNDING THE POLICE. Police reform is great, but it should not be about de-funding. Re-direct funds to specially trained social worker/enforcement officers to deal with the mentally ill of the homeless, deal with social issues of domestic disturbance, etc. - that should be a welcome relief for the police to be able to be rid of dealing with mental issues and deal instead with real crime. We all know we need the police. Reps especially seem to be sensitive to the threat of crime. Don't attack the police in campaigns.
My big takeaway is Dems need to love their progressive wing, and encourage their ideas, but do not run as a radical lefty unless you are in a 40% safe Dem district. And then, do not try to take over the Democratic Party once elected - you don't have the votes outside of left wing enclaves. Take what wins you can and stop trying to force a view that gets votes only in the most left wing districts.
